There are unforgettable evenings of football that must be experienced from the stands of a stadium, and Didier Deschamps’ French team has offered several to its fans in recent years. This Thursday, November 14, will undoubtedly not be one of them, and everything, from the content of the match against Israel (0-0) to the sad atmosphere in the halls of the Stade de France, will be forgotten in the sporting history of the Blues. It is enough to remember that with this point of the tie, the latter validate their qualification for the quarterfinals of the Nations League.
Very little consolation for the 16,611 people present in the stands, which constitutes the lowest attendance at the Saint-Denis stadium (Seine-Saint-Denis) during a French national team match, outside the Covid-19 period. Many of the usual Blues fans missed this meeting, discouraged by the security situation. “heavy”as Didier Deschamps described it, or sometimes guided by the desire to boycott this international meeting, due to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip after the attacks of October 7.
They were spared a match of infinite sadness, unlike the political figures who attended in large numbers. From this meeting, Prime Minister Michel Barnier and President Emmanuel Macron, present like their predecessors François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, will surely remember more the draconian security measures implemented by the authorities than the lackluster game of the Tricolors.
Around the Stade de France, the police were more numerous than the fans dressed in t-shirts or flags. “This meeting presents a strong risk of disturbances of public order, due to the international geopolitical context”the police chief said in an internal memo. Police and gendarmes mobilized in large numbers around and inside the stadium, where the atmosphere was not festive: bars and restaurants closed.
Two kilometers away, in the Popular Front square of Saint-Denis, several hundred people gathered against the holding of the meeting, denouncing Israel’s armed intervention in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. rising against “a second-rate match” reception “the presence of President Macron, Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande”Eric Coquerel, deputy (La France insoumise) for Seine-Saint-Denis, denounced the message sent by the French executive: “France is looking elsewhere. This is purely a scandal. »
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