French soccer team back home after World Cup exit
The French football team, 'Les Bleus' arrived back in the country on Sunday amidst the praise of their supporters. The team lost to Germany in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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The French football team was eliminated from the World Cup on Friday when they lost to Germany (1-0).
They left their base at Ribeirao Preto in Brazil on Saturday.
Upon arrival at Le Bourget airport near Paris on Sunday, the 23 players were cheered by around 200 fans, some who had braved the weather since early the morning.
The Minister of Sport Najat Vallaud-Belkacem was also there to welcome them.
She told RFI that although everyone would have liked the team to go further, the country is proud of their performance.
“That’s sport, you know,” she added. “We needed a winner and it was Germany. Congratulations to the Germans.”
Vallaud-Belkacem also added: “The team was on par. They never gave up, they fought to the end and we also believed in them until the end. Ultimately, they had a superb World Cup. We are dealing with a very young team, composed of multiple individual talents. They managed to revive the support of the French public, and this in itself is already a huge result.”
The team signed autographs and posed for pictures with their fans before leaving the airport.
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