Saturday in Paris was not just about qualifying for the 2022 World Cup for France. Les Bleus booked their place in Qatar with no suspense whatsoever, with four goals for Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe in his home stadium in the 8-0 thrashing of Kazakhstan (stream the replay on ESPN+ in the U.S.). But they did more than that.
Six years to the day after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks across Paris — including at the national stadium while France were playing a match — killed 130 people and injured more than 400, there was a duty of remembering, of paying tribute and of honouring the memory of those lost on that dreadful night.
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The Parc des Princes, where the game was played, was filled with emotion and banners in homage to those lost on Nov. 13, 2015. There was a minute of silence perfectly respected before kick-off. There was an incredible rendition of “La Marseillaise” by the crowd on 15 minutes, to mark the moment when the first bomb exploded outside of the Stade de France on that night six years ago during a match between France and Germany, while at the same time thousands of fans lit up their phone to create an amazing wall of lights in the stadium. And there was Antoine Griezmann’s celebration after his goal, when he displayed a big heart and the date “13.11.2015” written on his t-shirt under his jersey (his sister, Maud, was one of the survivors of the attack on the Bataclan theatre that night).
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