The Italian national team snatched a valuable draw with its host, the French national team, with a score of 1/1, on Friday, in the third round of Group A in the first level of the European Nations League, a match that witnessed the first appearance of Zinedine Zidane in front of his country’s fans.
The Italian national team raised its score to four points to occupy third place in the group, which also includes Belgium and Turkey, while the French national team raised its score to seven points at the top of the group.
The French national team, which Zidane took over as coach to succeed Didier Deschamps, had begun its journey in the Nations League by defeating Turkey and Belgium with 1-0, while the Italian national team began its journey in the tournament with a harsh defeat at home against Belgium 0-2, but achieved a major victory in Turkey with a score of 4-1.
The French team took the lead through Michael Olise in the 55th minute, then the Italian team equalized through its defender Alessandro Bastoni in the 68th minute.
The match witnessed Dayot Upamecano, the French national team defender, being sent off in the 85th minute, and his team completed the match with ten players.
In the next match, the French team will meet its guest, Belgium, next Monday, while the Italian team will host its Turkish counterpart on the same day in the fourth round.
Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, the former Barcelona star, expressed his support for Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo during his crisis with his country's national team, which led to his withdrawal from the national team's camp before facing Denmark in the European Nations League.
The Portuguese national team experienced a state of turmoil, following Ronaldo's decision to leave the national team in the middle of the tournament, which sparked widespread controversy around the world, while Vidal, who had never played alongside Cristiano, expressed his support for the player, stressing that Portugal coach Jesus had committed a grave mistake.
Vidal said in statements reported by Radio Cadena Ser: The coach is wrong. I fully support Cristiano. It is truly unfortunate for a player of the caliber of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is considered one of the four best players in the history of football, to leave the Portuguese national team under these circumstances, especially after the press conference in which he explained the reality of what is going on and presented the available options, and then the coach comes and makes such statements.
He added: I think that gives a very bad image of the coach. He is completely wrong. We have to take care of Ronaldo and protect him; He is the one who led Portugal to the top of the world, and he is the one who elevated football and Portugal to another level.
He continued: A player like him cannot leave the national team in this way. Cristiano has every right to do whatever he wants, given the qualitative leap he brought to football and to the Portuguese national team. All my support for Cristiano Ronaldo; He is exceptional in what he offers.
He added: There are coaches who do not respect certain things.
Vidal currently plays for Colo Colo in the Chilean league, and has previously represented Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich in the most prominent stages of his professional career.
French fans welcomed Zinedine Zidane, the new coach of the national team, with enthusiastic cheers when his name was mentioned on the internal radio of the Stade de France stadium, before facing Italy in the European Nations League.
The crowd chanted at the “Stade de France” stadium, chanting, “Zizou, Zizou!” It is the nickname by which Zidane is known among French football fans, and a banner was raised that read: “Welcome home.”
This was the first match in which Zidane led the French national team at home since taking over as coach of the team, which he had previously led to win the World Cup title as a player, and his arrival was met with a wave of public enthusiasm.
Zidane was appointed technical director of the French national team, succeeding Didier Deschamps after the end of the 2026 World Cup, and he succeeded in achieving victory in his first two matches with a clean goal against Turkey and Belgium outside his stadium, within the European Nations League competitions.
This was Zidane's first confrontation against Italy since the famous "headbutt" incident in the 2006 World Cup final, which led to his expulsion, during extra time in the last match of his busy football career.
