France World Cup Champions

The French team receiving their trophy in a torrential rainstorm. 

We congratulate France who won their second World Cup yesterday when they beat Croatia 4-2. They won their first World Cup in 1998 and were finalists on two other occasions, but yesterday they showed they are presently the best team in the world. With so many other illustrious teams eliminated in earlier stages, the likes of  Italy, Holland, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and England, France was the only team who survived the month-long ordeal and were crowned triumphantly. Both Croatia and Belgium surprised everyone by ending in 2nd and 3rd place overall, but my best memory of this World Cup goes to the Panama team. 

The Panama players praying at the end of their England match.

In the first round of the tournament, they were losing heavily to England, eventually losing their match 6-1. But when towards the end of the game they scored their solitary goal through Baloy, the whole stadium erupted in frantic and exuberant joy. For them, that was the equivalent of winning the World Cup, and scoring a goal in the dying minutes of the games gave them the biggest thrill and joy they could have ever asked for. After the game ended, the players all knelt down hugging each other in a circle and thanked God for their presence there and for scoring a goal against mighty England.