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PARIS. — The open-top bus for the victory parade was ready and President Francois Hollande said France’s success at Euro 2016 was helping the country to heal from the Paris attacks, but the party fell flat.

Authorities had braced for mass celebrations if France — a country still on high terrorist alert — won Sunday night’s final against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, but the 1-0 defeat crushed the host nation’s hopes.

Portuguese fans were the only ones celebrating at the Stade de France and the 90 000 crowd at the fan zone under the Eiffel Tower fell silent when Eder scored Portugal’s long-range winner.

“With everything that has happened, the attacks, the demonstrations, the economic crisis, we deserved something to make us feel better,” said Lazaro de Santana (31) as he joined thousands who filed away dejected. The night was also scarred by disgruntled supporters’ clashing with riot police after they were denied entry to the filled-to-capacity fan zone.

Police fired teargas after fans pelted them with bottles. Other youths lit a bonfire near the Eiffel Tower.

The build-up to Euro 2016 had been overshadowed by fears of more jihadist attacks. In the days before it kicked off, unions disrupted trains and grounded planes and uncollected rubbish built up in the streets in strikes and protests against labour reforms. But once the football began, the crowds at the fan zones grew with every match featuring France, while restaurants and cafes showing Les Bleus’ matches were reservation-only by the time of the final.

“The French people needed to find their way again,” Hollande said in a commentary on the wave of support for the national team. We saw it at the time of the attacks. We came together in the dramas, we had to find ourselves in the happiness, to come together,” he wrote in the Journal du Dimanche. — AFP.