Michael Sercan Daventry
17 November 2015•Update: 17 November 2015
LONDON
Thousands of English football fans joined French supporters in singing France’s national anthem Tuesday in a display of unity ahead of a game in London.
In France’s first major sporting event since Friday’s attacks in Paris, the lyrics of Le Marseillaise were projected on giant screens in Wembley stadium to help spectators pay tribute to the victims.
The England-France friendly saw fans hold up red, white and blue cards to form a giant French Tricoleur flag during the anthem, which was sung shortly after wreaths were laid next to the pitch by Prince William and team managers.
The stadium then fell silent as the crowd and players observed a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in Daesh-backed attacks in Paris, Ankara and Beirut.
The game kicked off a few minutes behind schedule.
France’s fixture against Germany was one of the targets of suicide bombers on Friday. Three militants detonated their explosives outside the Stade de France, killing a bystander.
Other European scheduled friendlies were called off following the attacks, including Tuesday’s scheduled Belgium-Spain game that was cancelled Monday.
Tuesday’s match between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled by police in Hannover 90 minutes before kick-off due to security concerns.
“We have concrete information that someone wanted to ignite explosives in the stadium,” Hannover’s police chief Volker Kluwe told German press agency DPA.
