Xplorich
Fresh from Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and three of his teammates brought the trophy to the French Open on Monday and presented it to fans at Roland Garros.Dembele was joined by fellow France internationals Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery and Desire Doue. The quartet received a standing ovation as they walked onto the Philippe-Chatrier court carrying the Champions League trophy. PSG secured European club football’s biggest prize for a second straight season on Saturday after defeating Arsenal in the final. The match ended 1-1 before PSG won 4-3 in a penalty shootout at the Puskas Arena.PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was also present at Roland Garros. The French Open venue is located close to PSG’s home ground, the Parc des Princes. Al-Khelaifi, a former tennis player, competed in two ATP Tour matches during his career, including one against Thomas Muster, the 1995 French Open champion. He also represented Qatar in the Davis Cup.Wearing sunglasses, Dembele addressed the crowd and led a chant familiar to PSG supporters.“Ici c’est Paris!” (This is Paris!),” Dembele shouted, prompting many fans in the stands to join in.Reflecting on PSG’s achievement, he said: “We worked every day throughout the season to win this trophy once again. We’ll try to win another one next season but before that there is the World Cup with the France team.”France will now turn its attention to the World Cup, which begins on June 11 and will be hosted by the Mexico, Canada and the United States.Dembele, Zaire-Emery, Barcola and Doue are scheduled to join France’s training camp on Tuesday ahead of the tournament.France will play warm-up matches against Ivory Coast in Nantes on Thursday and Northern Ireland in Lille next Monday before travelling to the United States for the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19.France have been drawn in Group I alongside Senegal, Iraq and Norway.
