Five Things Learnt from England/France
Football is the real winner from last night’s emotional friendly
England took on France last night in an international friendly at Wembley, but with the devastating attacks that took place on Friday night in Paris, it was a real emotional occasion for all involved.
There were initial talks of cancelling the friendly due to what took place in France on Friday night, with over 100 innocent people losing their lives during a horrific terrorist attack.
However, the English FA and the French FA both wanted the game to go ahead and that’s what happened.
Although the result wasn’t the important thing, England came away with a solid 2-0 win thanks to goals from Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney.
Here are the Five Things SillySeason learnt from an emotional night at Wembley.
5) Wembley Looked Incredible
You wouldn’t usually see a stadium’s appearance make one of our Five Things lists, but last night was a special night.
Wembley looked stunning from the outside to the inside.
The arch was in French colours, there were messages on the big screen outside the stadium, and then inside there was just a ray of colours going around the seats.
French flags flying and just solidarity in one place.
It’s not common to see England and France combine as one, but last night it happened, and it was truly memorable.
4) Respect to the French
Just four days after seeing your capital attacked by terrorists, playing a game of football must have been the last thing on their minds.
However, they stuck together and took part in the friendly despite their minds obviously being elsewhere.
Above you can see Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny visibly upset during the club’s national anthem before kick-off.
Credit must go to the French players and the French FA for going ahead with the match just days after the attacks.
Respect.
3) Lassana Diarra
Respect to Lassana Diarra.
Just like the other French players, he would have been suffering following the Paris Attacks, but for him, it was a whole lot worse.
Sadly for the midfielder, his cousin was involved in the shootings and sadly passed away.
However, he still took part in the friendly last night and was given a superb ovation when running onto the pitch as a substitute.
Our thoughts are with him and his family.
2) Dele Alli Could Be The Next Big Thing
We needed to mention something about the actual match, and it was this guy who was the highlight.
Dele Alli looks sure to have a massive future ahead of him and last night he stole the show with a wonder-goal past his club team-mate Hugo Lloris.
Alli came from MK Dons in the summer, who play in League One of English football, and just months later, he’s a first-team regular for Spurs in the Premier League and is now a fully-capped England international.
What a few months and what a bright future for the young midfielder.
1) Football Unites
Football was the real winner last night.
It was emotional and incredible at the same time as two countries united as one to stand-up to terrorism.
Football is often in the press and mostly for all the wrong reasons, but last night was truly a symbol of courage and unity, and on a night where England beat France, it will only be remembered for football being the real winner.
Respect to the players, officials and the fans who made it a truly remarkable occasion.
So there were our Five Things learnt from England’s friendly with France.
A bit different to usual highlights, but it was a memorable one.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt