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Under a banner of brotherhood: Football takes a back seat as France beaten by England

“Nothing will be as it was before.”

Patrick Kanner, the French Minister of the City, Youth and Sports may be the person who best summed up the atmosphere on Tuesday, November 17. After the tragic events of last Friday, England’s 2-0 win over France at Wembley was conducted under a banner of solidarity and fraternity.

“It was a tough night,” every Frenchman who stopped in the mixed zone after the match said. Each hesitated a few seconds before answering questions on events of the last week, but many of them decided to do it once more, before time has had a chance to properly do its work.

Some, like Blaise Matuidi, accompanied their words with a grim face. “It’s hard to talk about football,” the PSG midfielder admitted. “We’ve gone through three days when we’ve not spoken, there are many emotions.”

Each experienced the match in his own way, but all were aware that it was far from a usual game. “We had to quickly refocus after what’s happened,” Andre-Pierre Gignac said. “Being football players is our job; it’s how we express ourselves best. But this was too hard.”

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