After two successes in two away matches, Zinédine Zidane’s reunion with the Stade de France was not a real success, the Blues being held in check by Italy (1-1) at the end of a rather bland performance, Friday in the League of Nations.
The Saint-Denis grounds were happy to celebrate the new coach’s first outing at home, but despite a welcome worthy of the icon, with an ovation and a huge tifo (“Zizou, welcome home”), the public remained hungry, the French team not having found the solution to destabilize a solid if not brilliant Nazionale.
If Michael Olise opened the scoring with a magnificent free kick after a shift from Rayan Cherki (55th), scoring his 9th goal in 28 selections (55th), the defense ended up cracking in front of Alessandro Bastoni who took advantage of a careless mistake from Lucas Da Cunha (68th). The Tricolores even finished the match with ten men after the exclusion of Dayot Upamecano for a second warning, following a foul on Moïse Kean (85th).
“I’m happy with the content, not the result. We deserved better. We have to continue, it’s only our 3rd match,” declared “ZZ” at the final whistle.
With seven points, the Blues remain at the top of group 1 but will have to show a completely different face on Monday at the Stade de France against Belgium, second (6 pts), to end this first gathering of the Zidane era on a positive note.
Italian occasions
After having largely rotated his group, Monday in Belgium (1-0), the French boss had nevertheless beaten the recall of his executives to challenge the Italians whom he found more than 20 years after his exclusion in the final of the 2006 World Cup following his famous headbutt on Marco Materazzi, his last appearance on the pitch as a player.
But the tenure of the captains, led by Ballon d’Or Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, scorer in Brussels, did not have the gift of inspiring the Blues. Without imagination and too predictable, they did not manage to win the game against the Italians who had just crushed Turkey (4-1).
Without the incredible clumsiness of Moïse Kean, alone at the far post in front of Mike Maignan (9th), the French could even have very quickly conceded their first goal since Zidane took charge.
Italy had yet another huge opportunity just before the break, Davide Frattesi’s recovery being diverted at the last minute for a corner by Jérémy Jacquet (41st), the young Liverpool player (21 years old) again established in the axis of defense alongside Upamecano this time. Then it was Mike Maignan who had to work at the end of the match with a tap on a header from Kean to avoid a defeat at home (81st).
Dembélé very disappointing
The disappointment mainly came from the attackers. While we expected a lot from Ousmane Dembélé, promoted to captain in the absence of Kylian Mbappé, injured in Turkey on September 25 and missing since for the rest of this international window, the Parisian missed the boat and was not the offensive leader hoped for.
“Dembouz” experienced too much waste, making neither the right actions nor the right choices. Above all, he should have found the opening, alone in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma after a deflected shot from Désiré Doué (48th). After his successful World Cup (6 goals), the No.7 seems to fall back into his ways in blue and has not forgotten the indispensable Mbappé.
“Ousmane is playing Ousmane, I’m happy with him, he’s everywhere on the pitch and he often loses his position. I don’t have much to reproach him for, he created a lot of chances,” Zidane defended him.
As usual, it was Olise who brought danger. In addition to his goal, the Bavarian found the bar on a blocked cross (23rd). Eduardo Camavinga also forced Donnarumma to make two good saves (84th, 90th+2). But overall, the French offensive record was too meager to surprise Italy. A first hitch for Zidane, to be forgotten urgently.
De Bruyne in great form
In the other group match, Belgium, led by a great Kevin De Bruyne, bounced back victoriously three days after its defeat against France by dominating Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey 3-0, under pressure, on Friday in Liège.
“KDB” carried the attractive Red Devils by scoring two sumptuous goals, his 39th and 40th for the national team. The only downside is a yellow card which will deprive him of the match against the Blues on Monday at the Stade de France.
No matter for the team led by Marc van Bommel who therefore resumed their march forward to sign a second success in three matches (after that against Italy) by taking their opponents by the throat from the start of the match.
The Naples playmaker put the Red Devils in control from the tenth minute by relying on Dodi Lukebakio before deceiving Ugurcan Çakır with a right-footed shot.
If the Belgians had a few scares in set phases, they dominated their subject finding the post shortly before the break through Lukebakio.
Unlucky, the Benfica winger hit the Turkish frame again (53rd) on a new action initiated by De Bruyne, confirming the good connection between the two players.
Untenable, “King Kev” created a gem on the hour mark, cleaning the top corner of Ugurcan Çakır’s goal with a effortless shot.
Romelu Lukaku, in difficulty at club Fenerbahce, completed the Belgian triumph by scoring the 3-0 goal, his 94th goal in the red jersey a quarter of an hour from time and pushing Turkey into crisis.
