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| Didier Deschamps is in charge of lifting his players on Tuesday |
IT WAS shortly after 6pm when France, in their training gear, stepped back into the public glare to take the next step in a healing process that will surely drag on for months, if not years.
Laurent Koscielny and Morgan Schneiderlin led the way. Behind them trailed Antoine Griezmann, whose sister had survived the grotesque attack on the Bataclan theatre which claimed the lives of so many innocent victims.
Then, among those bringing up the rear, came Lassana Diarra, whose cousin had been among the 129 people murdered in the terrorist atrocities which have left Paris so scarred and the French nation united in mourning.
In some ways it felt apt that, as the players convened on the pitch, the heavens opened and those inside Wembley were drenched. This, after all, has been a country weeping ever since the horrors of last Friday night.
As the warm-up routines players would normally perform without a moment's thought suddenly felt laboured, what struck was the silence.
Only the voice of France coach Didier Deschamps' assistant, Guy Stephan, could be heard as, stopwatch in hand, he sought to inject some intensity into the session.
Deschamps believes it will be there tonight when La Marseillaise, a song written as a call to arms but now recognised as an anthem to freedom, rings around Wembley and England and France stand shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity.
"We will be on the pitch to represent our country, to represent our country with even more pride than we normally would and to wear our colours, the blue, white and red, even more proudly on the field," said Deschamps.
It is clear from what Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said that some of France's players have doubted the wisdom of the friendly being played before falling in line with the wishes of Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation.
At times Deschamps, speaking for the first time about the slaughter, struggled to find the right words or simply opted against venting his true feelings.
Asked what he thought of the cowards whom France have vowed to defy, he said: "It's difficult to reply to that, after such an atrocity, such a barbaric act.
"It's hard to talk about the atrocities in Paris. We're very aware and thinking an awful lot of the victims, their immediate family and friends. We know why we are here and what tomorrow represents: a sporting event, but so much more.
"I'm grateful for the messages of support I've had from around the world and this game will be played in front of an English public to whom I say, 'Thank you' for the show of support and solidarity.
"It will be a match full of emotion, I am sure. That is the role we have to play."
The first inclination last night was to think of the players, but Deschamps, a symbol of shimmering success as France's World Cup winning captain on home soil in 1998, cannot ever have expected to field the questions directed towards him. He is a coach, not a politician.
Yet football changed for everyone last week when the terrorists sought to cause mayhem at the Stade de France where France played Germany and the presence of Diarra, in particular, here has been as reassuring for Deschamps as his team-mates.
"It's true that it's the first time a sporting event has been attacked [in France], with all the players and supporters present in the ground," said Deschamps. "Evidently, sport is a symbol in social and economic life. It is a way of uniting people. We always consider that it's an honour, a source of pride, to represent our country and wear this shirt.
"Today it's a responsibility a bit more important, perhaps. Sport is... how can I put it... a representation of unity of diversity, of diversity coming together.
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| France trained in west London on Monday |
"Look at the words that Lassana Diarra published in his remarkable message: sport has no colour or religion. That has always been the case. It must remain so."
As France trained, the Wembley arch turned into the French Tricolore, lit red, white and blue, and the words "Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite" were emblazoned across the front of the national stadium.
Life goes on and tonight the terrorists will see the horrific events which transpired on November 13 will not cow people into changing their routines.
"It's not just this group of players, but the whole of France," said Deschamps. "We're probably even more proud of our country than we've ever been after November 13.
"Everyone has his own things to think about, his own way of analysing what has happened and reacting. But we're representing our country. "Representing your country, your national team, that's always an honour. We've never taken that lightly. To wear your country's shirt, that's a responsibility that we've never forgotten.
"The chance to represent those very beautiful colours - red, white and blue - that is something we'll be doing with huge pride."
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