PARIS; France want to write football “history” by winning the Euro 2016 final at home six years after a damaging player revolt and as the country recovers from the Paris attacks, skipper Hugo Lloris said Saturday.

With Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal also riding a wave of national fervour ahead of Sunday’s final at the Stade France, the home team are suddenly national heroes after several years of scandal and disappointment.

France won the World Cup on home soil in 1998, when coach Didier Deschamps captained the side. Deschamps was called upon to recreate the side in 2012 after the national team hit rock bottom with a player strike at the 2010 World Cup.

The suspension of star striker Karim Benzema this year over his link to an attempted sextape blackmail added to the troubles.

Defender Bacary Sagna said the 2010 revolt over a dispute between striker Nicolas Anelka and then-coach Raymond Domenech was “clearly a mistake” that had scarred the national side.

“We took French football to an all-time low, we showed a very bad image. It has taken a lot of effort, a lot of work to improve our reputation. Six years on, we are getting closer,” said Sagna.

Lloris told how France’s run to the final had given the country “an escape” after the trauma of the November 13 attacks, which included suicide bombers trying to get into the national stadium as France played Germany.

“Of course we’ve had some very difficult times this year, both with those tragic events, but also with events that have gone on off the field,” he said.

“The French people really needed an escape via this competition, and sport has this strength: to unite people.” France, with tournament’s leading scorer Antoine Griezmann, start the game as favourites.

Lloris told of the enormous effort made to lift the French team out of “crisis” and into contention for a potential title and also the impact of the November 13 attacks which left 130 dead.

“We have come through a crisis in French football,” the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper told a press conference.

“We have climbed back up the slope, we have done it step by step. Tomorrow we have the chance to go into French football history. It is a unique time in a player’s career,” said Lloris.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2016