Paris, July 11 (IANS) The French press on Monday mourned the 0-1 defeat of the national team to Portugal in the European football Championship final, but praised the players' performance during the tournament.
"Dismayed" said the sports daily L'Equipe on its front page and explained that although the team met all the conditions for the dream to be fulfilled, "the fairy tale did not end well."
The paper described the result as a "cruel defeat" and stressed that "in football, unfortunately, the best team does not always lift the cup", reports Efe.
L'Equipe added that the result was "a stab in the heart" but noted that France "can at least take comfort knowing that it has leaders for the future and a young generation with the spirit of revenge".
Le Parisien summarised the encounter with the headline "It was not our day" and described this defeat as "bitter", believing that the fatigue of players was the reason and that "losing in overtime does not constitute a failure".
--IANS
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