Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Monday November 18, 2024 at 8:44 a.m.
Before the victory of the Blues in Milan at the end of the group stage of the League of Nations (3-1), the French anthem was whistled at San Siro. But the Italian players and their staff immediately reacted by starting to applaud.
Three days after a very sad draw against Israel (0-0), the French team ended the year well, and scored a double blow on Sunday evening in Milan. By winning 3-1 against Italy at the end of the group stage of the League of Nations, the Blues took their revenge for the first leg, since they had lost by exactly the same score in September at the Parc des Princes, and took the opportunity to steal first place in group 2 from their hosts thanks to a better overall goal difference (+6 against +5). This will allow them to avoid facing the first of another group, such as Germany, Spain or Portugal, during the quarter-finals in March.
If the evening ended well for the Tricolores at San Siro, where François Letexier, best referee of the Euro, was honored, it did not start ideally for the visitors.
Deschamps: “Whistling the Marseillaise is not football”
While the Marseillaise sounded first in the Lombard enclosure, the French anthem was whistled copiously by the Italian supporters. This was not appreciated by the players and staff of the Nazionale who, with great respect, then began to applaud in an attempt to cover up the whistles and show that they condemned these regrettable whistles. But this is far from being a first for the Blues. The Marseillaise had already been whistled in Qatar during the World Cup, during the last group match of Didier Deschamps' men lost to Tunisia (0-1).
And the French coach obviously did not appreciate it. “I don't know if it's really a football atmosphere. We were playing outside. Whistling the Marseillaise is not football. Nor any other sport for that matter. I'm not going to get into this debate “So much the better if they have that support, but they are eliminated this evening”, replied “DD”.
