France give something back at Clairefontaine
Monday, June 6, 2016
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At their final open training session before Friday's match against Romania, the France players took time out to sign autographs and meet fans in Clairefontaine.
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French fans of all ages left Clairefontaine with souvenirs of a lifetime on Monday as the host nation's players happily signed autographs and posed for photos at their final open training session before Friday's UEFA EURO 2016 curtain-raiser against Romania.
Captain Hugo Lloris led the squad over to the several hundred fans, who revelled in collecting as many signatures as possible, with Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi among those attracting attention.
During training, Atlético Madrid forward Griezmann, a UEFA Champions League finalist in May, was the only one of most pundits' probable starting XI for the Romania match to feature in an attack v defence game, which coach Didier Deschamps both directed and participated in.
The other likely starters were to be spotted stretching, or in Paul Pogba's case, working on ball juggling skills.
Once the session had finished, Les Bleus' players moved towards the stand containing their excited supporters and kicked official tournament balls into the crowd. Griezmann's kick fell marginally short and a helping hand from a kindly local media representative was required for the effort to reach its intended target.
Fans leaving the session in sunshine – at last – went home clutching their prizes and full of hope that France can do something special over the next month.
One supporter, Nicolas, said: "It's an honour to have got the ball. Andre-Pierre Gignac kicked it to me. He recognised me as he's a friend! We're going to win the EURO and today was great. This isn't the end of things, though, it's just the beginning."
Matis added: "Yohan Cabaye kicked the ball to me. I called out to him and he picked me out. All the players were really good with us. Kingsley Coman is my favourite player. We're going to reach the final."
