Paris celebrates France's march to the World Cup final

France winning the World Cup trophy in Russia, Chinese kitchen and bathroom appliance maker Vatti Corp is now in the spotlight -- it is time for the company to deliver on a bold promise. 

Vatti, as a sponsor for the French national soccer team, said a month ago that if France won the title at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it would refund customers who made purchases of designated products between June 1 and July 3, based on invoice value.

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WC celebrations rock Paris

On Monday, the Guangdong-based company said it had started the promised refund process, after the marketing campaign helped it net total sales of about 1 billion yuan ($150 million) during the promotional period, a year-on-year increase of over 20 per cent.

The sales of designated products, such as dishwashers and water heaters, which were listed in the refund initiative, hit around 79 million yuan, with online sales accounting for 29 million yuan and offline sales standing at 50 million yuan.

Vatti said the company will afford the refund of sales through its own online store, and its distributors and retail partners will be responsible for refunding offline sales and third-party online sales.

Also, total costs of the refund only include manufacturing and promotional cost, which is less than the combined sales price of 79 million yuan, thus exerting little impact on the company's bottom line, the company added.

"We chose to launch such a campaign to support the French team because the temperament of the French team is very compatible with our passionate, smart and fashionable brand image," Vatti said in an interview with China Daily.

The shares of Vatti surged as much as 9 per cent by midday on Monday before the rise narrowed to about 4 perc ent at closing, when share prices stood at 15.18 yuan.

Ma Bing, a 33-year-old bank employee in Beijing, bought a dishwasher in June after seeing Vatti's advertising post on an elevator.

"Well, my wife has been asking for a dishwasher for a long time. I am also a big fan of the French team. The dishwasher saved me from my wife's nagging when I stayed up at night for football matches. It was a good deal," Ma said, adding he has registered the refund information at a Vatti online store.

Vatti is one of a number of Chinese companies that are cashing in on the World Cup. Their combined spending on advertisements for this year's tournament hit $835 million, $400 million more than the next biggest spender, the United States, and easily exceeding that of host country Russia, according to market-research company Zenith.

Liu Buchen, an independent expert in the home appliances industry, said it is good for Chinese companies to experiment with creative marketing campaigns, but more effort is needed to ensure that enterprises do deliver their promises and consumers' rights are protected.

Copyright: China Daily/ Asia News Network

France coach Didier Deschamps savoured seeing his side win a penalty shoot-out for the first time since the 1998 World Cup as they beat Portugal in Friday's Euro 2024 quarterfinal after another difficult night for star man Kylian Mbappe.

"It's been a long time," Deschamps said after France beat Portugal 5-3 on penalties following a 0-0 draw at the end of extra time in Hamburg.

"It was a very hard game. We knew how good a team Portugal were, and both sides could have won.

"It was a bit more difficult for us in extra time, maybe because we were tired and they had a lot more of the ball, but we kept our calm and those who took penalties took them well."

France lost the 2022 World Cup final on penalties to Argentina and also went out of the last European Championship three years ago in a shoot-out against Switzerland in the last 16.

Also beaten by Italy on penalties in the 2006 World Cup final, this was France's first win in a shoot-out since they defeated the Italians in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, when Deschamps was a player.

Ousmane Dembele, Youssouf Fofana, Jules Kounde and Bradley Barcola all scored penalties for France before Theo Hernandez converted the decisive kick.

"I am proud of my players, even if we are not doing everything perfectly we don't give up, and once again we are in the semi-finals," Deschamps said.

"I will savour this a little even if we have another game coming up."

France are into a fourth semi-final in the last five major tournaments and will now face Spain in the last four in Munich on Tuesday.

Deschamps' team have made it this far despite scoring only three goals in five matches -- one a penalty by Mbappe and the other two from own goals.

Mbappe, again wearing a mask to protect the nose he broke against Austria in France's opening game, struggled against Portugal and was not involved in the penalty shoot-out having been taken off midway through extra time.

"He was beginning to really feel it. Kylian is always very honest with me and the team, and it got to the point where he no longer felt able to accelerate," Deschamps said.

"Given everything that has happened to him, that he is not as fit as he would like to be, plus he has had a back problem and the injury to his nose, he is hanging in there.

"He knows he is not on his best form and with all the effort he put in he was very tired."

France's problems in front of goal have been offset by a defence that has let in just one goal, which was a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Poland in the group stage.

Deschamps nevertheless admitted that his team need to improve in attack.

"You are not telling me we have usurped anyone to get here? Our solidity is exemplary, and that is essential in a major tournament," he said.

"When you are not scoring many goals it is better that you don't concede any, but I would prefer us to be more clinical."

France go into Tuesday's Euro 2024 semi-final showdown against Spain hoping Kylian Mbappe can finally produce a performance worthy of his superstar status at a tournament in which he has struggled to find form and fitness.

The match in Munich is a mouthwatering prospect and a huge occasion in particular for Mbappe, in his first major tournament captaining his country and just before he starts a new chapter in his career at Real Madrid.

At 25, and having just completed his dream move to the Champions League winners, Mbappe should be in the prime of his footballing life.

But the man who won the World Cup as a teenager and scored an incredible hat-trick in the 2022 final in Qatar, has not been able to play anywhere near his best at the European Championship.

Mbappe joined up with the France squad after a difficult final campaign at Paris Saint-Germain which was marred by a slightly messy divorce from the club as his playing time was reduced.

Already floundering to some extent physically, lacking his usual explosive edge, a broken nose in Les Bleus' opening game at the tournament against Austria has further diminished him.

He has scored just once, from a penalty, at the Euros and it may be no exaggeration to say his performance in Friday's quarter-final against Portugal in Hamburg was the worst of his career in such a big game.

Mbappe ended up being substituted halfway through extra time -- he later admitted he was simply exhausted -- and so watched from the sidelines as his teammates won on penalties.

"He might not have been here at all, so we need to look at it in a positive light," coach Didier Deschamps told broadcaster TF1 on Sunday.

"Kylian is here, even if he is not at 100 percent, and I know that has an impact on the opposition who are forced to adapt to him."

Whether Spain are too worried remains to be seen, with Mbappe clearly inhibited by the protective mask he has to wear over his injured nose.

There is little prospect of him challenging for a header, and he has indicated that his field of vision is reduced by the mask.

His poor form, along with that of vice-captain Antoine Griezmann, helps explain why France have scored just three goals in five games on their run to the semi-final -- one being Mbappe's penalty against Poland and the other two coming via own goals.

- 'When he talks, we listen' -

However, Mbappe's teammates insist they are not worried about their captain's performances.

"I don't think he is going through a bad period. He had a great season. If he is not scoring goals we need to help him. The competition is not over. Apart from his little nose, he is fine," said Randal Kolo Muani, who played with Mbappe at PSG in the last campaign, on Sunday.

Mbappe is France's third-top scorer of all time with 48 goals in 83 appearances, but he has just two in his last nine caps.

In the meantime, he has settled into the role of captain which he was given after Hugo Lloris retired in the wake of the 2022 World Cup.

On Friday, after being substituted, television cameras caught Mbappe giving a rousing speech to his teammates just before the penalty shoot-out against Portugal.

"Kylian is the player who went through one-on-one three times in a World Cup final," said midfielder Youssouf Fofana in reference to his hat-trick against Argentina in Doha.

"So when he talks about penalties before a shoot-out, we listen to him."

Mbappe is also very much at ease in front of the media, and has notably used the platform given to him in pre-game press conferences to talk politics, making clear his opposition to the far-right National Rally in relation to the French parliamentary elections.

He is a natural leader, but it is goals that this shot-shy France team want more than anything from him.

Mbappe will not come directly up against one of his future club colleagues against Spain, with right-back Dani Carvajal suspended after his sending-off against Germany in the quarter-finals.

Whoever replaces Carvajal, Mbappe will hope to come out on top and lead France to a third final in the last four major tournaments.

 A bloodied nose, a booking for unsportsmanlike conduct and an unfathomable miss that silenced a stadium - France's Kylian Mbappe underlined his troubled relationship with the European Championship on Monday amidst uncertainty over his injury.

The France captain, to his credit, was sublime in creating the goal that beat Austria 1-0, but his failure to score at a Euros will weigh heavily on a player who has found the net 12 times at World Cups, including a hat-trick in the 2022 final.

Mbappe's last match at a European Championship ended in acrimony for France, with his miss in a shootout the trigger for their shock second-round exit to Switzerland at Euro 2020 after his side squandered a two-goal advantage late in the game.

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Euro 2024: Fixtures

Goal droughts do not come often for Mbappe but France's opening Group D match on Monday marked his fifth successive Euros game without scoring after a combined 18 goal attempts.

The 25-year-old was impressive and involved in just about every France move, but it just was not his night.

He ended it with a bloodied nose after a nasty collision with the shoulder of Austria's Kevin Danso while attempting to head home an Antoine Griezmann free kick, which Mbappe had won when he took a blow to the face moments earlier.

After receiving treatment he left the field initially but in a bizarre move Mbappe returned minutes later then sat down on the pitch, prompting boos and jeers from the Austria fans and a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"It's very bad news for us tonight," France manager Didier Deschamps said. "If you had Kylian who is in a difficult situation... Obviously, the French team with or without him, this is not the same thing. I hope he can be there."

Given Mbappe's performance on Monday France will be hoping it won't be long before he is firing again and that he recovers in time for France's next game with Netherlands on Friday.

Mbappe was the standout French player, reeling off perfectly weighted passes, coolly spreading the ball around and injecting bursts of lightning pace to leave his markers for dead.

He threatened to score after nine minutes with a fierce low shot from an angle that tested goalkeeper Patrick Pentz.

Mbappe then created a goal from nothing near halftime with a quick shimmy to skip around three players before delivering a cross that was headed into his own net by Maximilian Wober.

The forward chased everything, starting one move in his own half with a pass before sprinting two-thirds of the way down the field to try to finish off the move.

He stunned the crowd in the 54th minute when he accelerated past an opponent at the halfway line before darting into the area and uncharacteristically firing a shot wide with time, space and only the goalkeeper to beat, prompting a cheeky grin.

France and Croatia go into Sunday's World Cup final in Moscow with the same starting line-ups as in their semi-final wins over Belgium and England respectively.

Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann support Olivier Giroud in attack in France's 4-2-3-1 formation, while Ivan Perisic and Ivan Strinic, who had been pre-match injury doubts, have been passed fit for Croatia.

Perisic was the star of Croatia's 2-1 extra-time victory over England at the same Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday, scoring his country's equaliser and then setting up the winner for Mario Mandzukic.

Croatia are in their first ever final, while France are aiming to win the trophy for the second time, after beating Brazil 3-0 in the final as hosts in 1998.

France beat Belgium 1-0 in the semi-final with a Samuel Umtiti goal in the second half.

Starting line-ups for the World Cup final between France and Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday (1500 GMT kick-off):

France (4-3-3)

Hugo Lloris (capt); Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Hernandez; Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante; Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Blaise Matuidi; Olivier Giroud

Coach: Didier Deschamps (FRA)

Croatia (4-3-3)

Danijel Subasic; Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic; Luka Modric (capt), Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic; Ante Rebic, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic

Coach: Zlatko Dalic (CRO)

Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)