Daily Times

PARIS: Waving tricolour flags and setting off flares, French supporters erupted in jubilation around the iconic Champs-Elysees avenue after France’s triumph over Morocco on Wednesday, which has put Les Bleus into the World Cup final. The celebrations were mostly peaceful around Paris, but there were some signs of unrest in other parts of the country, including a fatal post-match hit-and-run incident in the southern city of Montpellier. About 10,000 police were mobilised across France, as authorities fretted over potential clashes between French supporters and those backing its one-time North African colony. As football lovers in Paris thronged to the end of the avenue leading to the Arc de Triomphe, the mood was impassioned but largely good-natured, with Moroccan supporters accepting defeat.

“We are in the final. We are in the final,” hundreds of French supporters chanted as drivers sounded horns and anti-riot police lurked in vans lining the area. A French anti-riot police van even used one of its sirens to mark the moment when Kolo Muani scored the goal to give France a 2-0 lead. “What pleasure it will be to play Argentina in the final,” said Sylvain Badin, 24, clutching a French flag. “I came to share a moment of joy.” Dozens of Moroccan fans also made themselves heard during the match in the area, swathing themselves in national flags as they followed the match on their phones. “We lost but it’s only football and we made history by making the semi-finals.