France victory in Belgium shows wealth of talent available to Zidane

[p]With four Nations League fixtures in the space of 10 days, and his top striker and captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappe[/a] out injured, new coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zidane-zinedine/b7zuQEqO/"]Zinedine Zidane[/a] had little option but to ‌drastically alter the starting line-up from last Friday’s 1-0 win in Turkey for the derby in Brussels.[/p][p]But even with nine changes, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]the French[/a] dominated proceedings and snatched [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/france-QkGeVG1n/?mid=40zZ9MQ7"]a last-gasp victory on Monday[/a].[/p][p]Admittedly, their 1-0 success was secured ‌after they had brought on pinch hitters in the form of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cherki-mathis/vm0eu2V3/"]Rayan Cherki[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dembele-ousmane/zsMC2Ec0/"]Ousmane Dembele[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olise-michael/E5pvwqkK/"]Michael Olise[/a], whose 88th-minute ‌winner was a superb individual effort. But there was immense satisfaction afterwards at the role ‌played by newcomers and those with only a handful of caps.[/p][p]“[b]It’s true that we saw two different teams. I felt my team was capable of putting in this kind of performance, whether in Turkey or tonight[/b],” Zidane said afterwards.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="ff768f10-8736-43df-80df-1bb82f5d80a6" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="98665474-7151-4e05-bf8b-1981363b755b" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]There were first ‌caps for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/da-cunha-lucas/IXqHAIWJ/"]Lucas Da Cunha[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diouf-andy/IiBJCs82/"]Andy Diouf[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jacquet-jeremy/h0WK6DL4/"]Jeremy Jacquet[/a], while ⁠lead striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lepaul-esteban/GGw2OEMr/"]Esteban Lepaul[/a] made his first start – all ‌leaving a positive impression.[/p][p]Da Cunha was told beforehand by Zidane to go out and “play freely” and he took the ​coach’s word to heart with an imposing display. He made 97 touches and looked comfortable under pressure.[/p][p]“[b]The coach gave me his full confidence and told me to do what I ​do at club level, to express myself[/b],” Da Cunha said. “[b]It’s a great emotion, a great joy. A few years ago, I was in the second division; it shows that when you work hard, you can ⁠make it[/b].”[/p][p]Diouf had to play out ​of position at left back but did little wrong while Jacquet effectively kept [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] at bay in the centre-back role and drew rave reviews in the French media afterwards.[/p][p]“[b]Establish myself? I’m not thinking about that yet. I’m taking my time and not putting pressure on myself[/b],” he told reporters after the match.[/p][h2]Zidane celebrated win in exuberant manager[/h2][p]Zidane, who celebrated Olise’s winner with an exuberant run down the touchline and hoofed a stray ball towards the crowd, was all smiles afterwards.[/p][p]“I’m very satisfied with what the team did, and not just with the ball. Following on from the match in Turkey, on a much better pitch, we were very good in every area, in our pressing,” Zidane told the post-match press conference.[/p][p]“[b]We had put certain things in place against a good Belgium team that also made us suffer, but we held firm, we were courageous, and we weren’t afraid to go into the opposition’s half. That’s what I like, that’s what we want. [/b][/p][p][b]"We perhaps dropped off a little in the second half, when we had ‌a few difficulties, but that’s logical. We made nine changes, but the great thing is that everyone ​is involved[/b].”[/p][embed guid="0119bb49-ce3e-4270-b638-34d191f1c449" url="https://x.com/telefoot_TF1/status/2104697096419074212" social-type="twitter" /][p]France are next up against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/hlKvieGH/"]Italy[/a] at the Stade de France in Paris [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/france-QkGeVG1n/italy-hlKvieGH/?mid=6NquLnZ8"]on ‌Friday in Zidane’s first home match as coach[/a].[/p][p]“[b]Am I looking forward to the match? Yes. I’m not going to tell you we can’t wait because the players now need to rest. We haven’t had much rest, there’s been a lot of travelling and few training sessions, but we’ll have a little more time for that now,” [/b]the new coach said.[/p][p]"But yes, we’ll be happy to get to ⁠Friday, to the Stade de France, with our ⁠fans. And above all, with those six ‌points. But it will be a different match."[/p]