Allez les bleus! This sound was reverberating across the jampacked  Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday afternoon (night in India)  as the final between  France and Croatia was progressing. Roughly translated the three words in French means 'Go France'. Amidst the ecstasy of the frenchied crowd, France won the match 4-2 against Croatia, one of the lowest ranked teams in this World Cup whose rise to the final was meteoric  as well as surprising. After early hopefuls like Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain bowed out earlier than expected in the tournament, there remained just one of the original favourites France. A combative Croatian side, blessed with eventual golden ball winner Luka Modric in midfield, were unable to continue their fairytale as two favourable refereeing decisions set France up for a comfortable victory against the Balkan nation in an engrossing game.

The sky above was dark grey with flashes of thunder as the rain and sweat soaked French team lifted the trophy during a chaotic presentation ceremony. The winners’ medals were presented by Russian President Vladimir  Putin shielded by a black umbrella as an almighty downpour pierced a sticky, humid afternoon in the Russian capital. French President Emmanuel Macron remained uncovered and was wringing out his navy blue suit jacket on the pitch afterwards. It has been a two-year road to redemption for France and coach Didier Deschamps after the disappointment of losing the final of Euro 2016 to Portugal on home territory in Paris.

Even so, for Croatia, led by the player of the tournament Luka Modric, were the better team in what was their first final. In the last 11 days, they had come through extra-time in the three knock-out matches, twice going to penalties, which meant they had played the equivalent of an extra game and had 24 hours less to prepare. But they again showed remarkable reserves of resilience, energy and fighting spirit to pick themselves back up and off the canvas. They never, ever gave up. It is a pity two controversial refereeing decisions cost them two goals. Maybe it was injustice. No doubt, as the World Cup was presented the storm broke, the heavens opened and it poured down. Maybe, the Gods above did not like the decisions against underdog Croatia.