Intro:

France's victorious basketball team return home from European Championships.

With Tony Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won their first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday.

It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, who lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (French)

"We have never doubted, that is why every year we were part of the French basketball team, we come with our eyes wide open hoping we will win a title. Now it's a done deal and we are very proud of ourselves!"

SUPER CAPTION: Florent Pietrus, French basketball player and European champion

SOUNDBITE: (French)

"Our goal since the beginning was to develop French basketball, to emerge on the European scene. Today we need to show that it wasn't luck, that it's the team which has progressed, that we haven't had an opportunity this year to win, that we are really a great basketball team and we will need to make it durable on the following years."

SUPER CAPTION: Boris Diaw, French basketball player and European champion

SOUNDBITE: (French) (Question: Can you say if you will be playing in Spain next year ?)

"For the moment it's too early to talk about this, for the moment I don't know what I will be doing. It will depend how I feel physically at the end of next year."

SUPER CAPTION: Tony Parker, French basketball player and European champion

SOUNDBITE: (French) (Question: Are you going to quit the national team or is it still going to be a challenge for you ?)

"It will always be a challenge and, on the contrary, I am even more motivated to make the French team progress and win another title."

SUPER CAPTION: Tony Parker, French basketball player and European champion

SOUNDBITE: (French)

"It is great, it means that basketball is going on an other dimension (expanding) it is going beyond sport, we are aware of it. We are very happy indeed to have all this enthusiasm about basketball today."

SUPER CAPTION: Boris Diaw, French basketball player and European champion