16 July,2018 08:06 AM IST | Moscow | Agencies
France coach Didier Deschamps celebrates with his players after winning the World Cup final against Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium. Pic/AFP
France coach Didier Deschamps hailed his side's "wonderful" World Cup victory after a 4-2 victory over Croatia in yesterday's final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Deschamps, 49, becomes only the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach after leading France to their maiden title in 1998 as captain. "It's so beautiful, so wonderful," Deschamps told French TV channel TF1.
Croatia president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic embraces Luka Modric after he is presented with his World Cup runners-up medal yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
"I'm really happy for this group... It wasn't always easy, but by working hard, listening, they are on top of the world for four years." France, strongly fancied to win the final, started their tournament in France slowly, beating Australia and Peru by the odd goal before a goalless stalemate with Denmark saw them top the group.
But they moved up through the gears in the knockout stages, seeing off Lionel Messi's Argentina in a seven-goal thriller before cruising to a 2-0 win against Uruguay and seeing off Belgium 1-0 in the semi-final.
Luka Modric and Kylian Mbappe
For Croatia, the match in Moscow was perhaps one too far after they were taken to extra-time for three consecutive games. Deschamps, who captained France when they lifted the World Cup in 1998, has become just the third man to win the trophy as both a player and a manager after Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo. Croatia have brought joy to their Balkan nation of just four million people by defying the odds to progress to the final while reigning champions Germany, then Argentina and Brazil all fell by the wayside in Russia.
Football fever has slowly built over the past four weeks as France took its young national team to heart, with ecstatic scenes on the Champs-Elysees avenue after their semi-final victory.
Giant screens were erected in scores of fan zones across the country under exceptionally tight security, with the biggest gathering of all expected in Paris, where 90,000 will converge on a fanzone next to the Eiffel Tower. Red-and-white chequerboard patterns were everywhere in Croatia, on cars, in shop windows, as well as on jerseys worn by waiters.
Stars of the World Cup
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