France returned home to a heroes welcome at the Place de la Concorde on Monday night, as thousands of fans turned out to acclaim the French squad for their second consecutive World Cup final.
Juste 𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑪𝑰 💙🤍❤️#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/wturV79CCa
— FFF (@FFF) December 19, 2022
The reaction has not all been positive though. After several of France’s squad, Kylian Mbappe, Randall Kolo Muani, Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni received racial abuse online. The latter trio deactivated the comments on their Instagram in the face of such a grim response.
Real Madrid’s Tchouameni was one of two to miss a penalty against Argentina in the shoot-out, and posted on his Twitter, apologising to the fans.
“It will take time to digest the bitterness and frustration. We will tried everything.”
Il faudra du temps pour digérer l’amertume et la frustration.
On aura tout essayé. J'ai pris mes responsabilités, ça n'a pas marché et j'en suis le premier désolé.
Je suis persuadé que l’avenir de l’@equipedefrance s’annonce radieux, surtout si on peut compter sur vous 🙏🏾🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/GNgiYZvIUi
— Tchouameni Aurélien (@atchouameni) December 19, 2022
“I take my responsibility, it didn’t work and I’m the first to be sorry.”
“I am convinced that the future of @equipedefrance looks bright, especially if we can count on you.”
The reality is, of course, that Tchouameni has nothing to apologise for. He was an instrumental part of the side making the final and without his excellent strike against England, there is a good chance they do not come through that tie.
Some have pointed out that the ‘especially if we can count on you’ part of his statement may be a reference to some of that abuse.
Once again players are being subjected to discrimination for doing their job.
Votre accueil fait chaud au cœur 💙
Merci 🫶 #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/DM5CREzd4L— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 19, 2022
Boggles my mind why Deschamps lets such a young player take the penalty in his first world cup.
You let experienced players take them.
Same as Tite and Rodrygo. Fk your jobs, dont ruin our players. This destroys confidence.