France (Matthew Spiro, @UEFAcomMattS)

For most French football fans, 11 June – the date of France's first Group D game against England – will have been etched in the mind for several months already. Yet for a select group of 23 children, Sunday 3 June represented an even more special occasion: it was the day they got to live out their dream.

Today, France's training base in Clairefontaine hosted a special event organised by the French Football Federation called 'entraînement de rêve' (dream training session). Children aged between eight to 12 were invited to send in homemade training videos, and the 23 lucky winners were invited to Clairefontaine today.

The kids participated in Laurent Blanc's 16:30CET training session, along with the senior players who are preparing for UEFA EURO 2012. Once the collective drills finished, the boys and girls paired off with a French international and were put through their paces in a one-on-one format. As well as offering children the opportunity to rub shoulders with their heroes, the exercise has also helped the France players stay relaxed as their own big day grows nearer.

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