Grieving Lloris keen to honor victims of Paris attacks

We heard the explosions but we were so focused we only half wondered what had happened, we didn’t realise until after when it came to light what a awful disaster had taken place around the stadium and in Paris.

Midfielder Lassana Diarra’s cousin Asta Diakite was one of the 129 people who died across the city, while forward Antoine Griezmann’s sister Maud managed to escape the mass killing at the Bataclan theatre.

He said: “The president made the best decision, I think, to play this game”.

“We’ve been touched by messages of support from all over the globe, particularly England”, the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper said on Monday.

“It’s only human to have a few doubts whether to play or not, but the whole situation has been handled very well by the manager, the backroom staff, the technical team and the FFF president”.

“The decision to stay at Clairefontaine was taken very, very quickly”. We have remained together, we have discussed stuff together and gone through the dramatic events of Friday, we have kept up to date with what’s happening through TV and the internet.

“We weren’t cut off from the world”.

He added: “We were in mourning together”.

Roy Hodgson: “I’m not sure how to balance enormity of occasion with questions about players and a football match”.

“It will be a great moment of solidarity”. It will be an opportunity to show our character.

“His desire, like that of all the players, is to be on the pitch and represent his country”. “But, in the end, the president [of the French Football Federation] confirmed we had to play this game”.

On Saturday the France coach told his players they could withdraw from the squad if they felt they were not up to playing in London, but none of them have done so.

English fans plan to sing the French national anthem Les Marseilles during the match at Wembley.

Lloris and England captain Wayne Rooney will lay a floral tribute before kick-off as 80,000 supporters gather inside Wembley in solidarity. The most important thing about tomorrow night is to be together, to share it together.

Regarding Diarra’s state of mind, Lloris said: “We have been with him through this dramatic moment”. It will make it even more emotional. “They wanted to go ahead, for mainly symbolic reasons, and we were very happy to meet their concerns”. But sport is a way of uniting people, it’s an important representation of economic and social life.

“We will be here with ever more pride to represent our colors, of blue, white and red, our country, proudly”, Deschamps said via the Telegraph newspaper.