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In last night’s international friendly between England and France at Wembley Stadium, it was the hosts that recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory, but the result was far from relevant following last weekend’s attacks in Paris.
Over 70,000 fans turned out at Wembley Stadium on what was an emotional night. Both sets of supporters were united to sing La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, in addition to an impeccably observed minute’s silence held by both sets of players and fans.
The game went ahead after the French Football Federation chose to re-schedule the match in England despite the event’s in Paris.
During the match, Crystal Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye went close for the visitors but his 25 yard effort sailed just over. Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, who was one of the seven changes from England’s previous defeat against Spain, opened the scoring on his full debut with a fine finish, before Manchester United striker and England captain Wayne Rooney sealed the win with a volley after an assist from Raheem Sterling.
Following the previous defeat at the hands of Spain, who incidentally saw their international friendly in Belgium postponed due to safety reasons, it was important for the Three Lions to show signs of improvement, of which they did. That said, you could easily forgive Didier Deschamps’s side for not competing to the best of their ability following the tragic events in Paris which kept 129 people dead.
Speaking after the game, England manager Roy Hodgson said; “I was pleased the FA set about showing our respect and marking this sad occasion.
“It was a very poignant occasion and we achieved all the things we wanted to achieve in the remembrance. An act of defiance was better than the other alternative.”
France manager Didier Deschamps said; “We would like to thank everyone for their statements and their actions of solidarity. We feel very grateful because not just the people at Wembley, but the whole nation has supported us.”
In addition to the match between Belgium and Spain being postponed, the game at the Hannover Stadium between world champions Germany and the Netherlands was also postponed.
The game had been called off because of an “intention to ignite explosives” at the Stadium, and evacuation began less than two hours before the game was due to kick off.
