Liberté, égalité, fraternité: All for one and one for Dele Alli as England host France in emotional friendly at Wembley
England manager Roy Hodgson expressed his pride after Wembley came together in an unprecedented display of unity for an emotional friendly with France last night, just four days after terrorists killed 129 people in Paris.
Home supporters joined in with the French national anthem, Le Marseillaise, the Duke of Cambridge presented the visitors with a floral tribute, and players mixed among each other for an immaculate minute’s silence.
The match, won by England thanks to goals in each half from 19-year-old Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli and record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, went ahead despite security alerts causing matches in Germany and Belgium to be cancelled.
“I think we in England can be rightly proud that we were able to put this event on. It wasn’t us pushing them; it was them saying ‘we want to do this because an act of defiance is more important than the alternative’,” said Hodgson.
“We were focused on two things: making certain we conducted the remembrance ceremony in the right way, showing the respect, solidarity and unity we wanted to express; and then concentrating on playing a good game of football when the referee blew his whistle.”
France coach Didier Deschamps thanked “not just the people at Wembley but the whole English nation” for showing solidarity. “We have had a moment of communal grief and it has been good for us,” he added.
Hodgson also praised Alli, who only made his senior international debut as a substitute in Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Spain in Alicante but enhanced his hopes of gatecrashing England’s Euro 2016 squad with a barnstorming performance.
“It was close to a faultless performance,” he added. “It is amazing at that age, to go in and do what he did tonight was quite outstanding. He’ll get a lot of praise for that performance; he certainly deserves a lot of praise.”
The sombre pre-match mood made for a subdued opening in which the visitors looked the sharper team, with Crystal Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye shooting narrowly over and Manchester United forward Anthony Martial forcing Joe Hart into a low save.
England grew into the half, though, and it was Alli who enjoyed their first clear sight of goal, only for the former MK Dons youngster to mis-control Spurs team-mate Harry Kane’s pass when charging into the penalty area unattended.
Rooney, who switched between the two flanks, was next to threaten following another slid-rule pass from Kane, the England captain turning Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny this way and that before bending a shot inches wide.
Alli made the breakthrough six minutes before half-time, winning a crunching 50-50 tackle with United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and then receiving the ball from Rooney to beat erstwhile club colleague Hugo Lloris from long distance, via a slight deflection.
Rooney ended the contest, such as it was, moments after the interval with a far-post volley that squirmed through Lloris’s grasp following a dinked cross by Raheem Sterling and another vital upfield interception from man-of-the-match Alli.