At the Stade de France, France, led by its legendary coach Zinedine Zidane, is looking forward to achieving a third successive victory when it hosts Italy today in an anticipated confrontation within the third round of the European Nations League’s first group competitions, which witnesses another heated meeting between Belgium and Turkey.
All eyes are on the Stade de France in Paris, where the hosts are looking to confirm their dominance with the full score after beating Turkey with an unanswered goal and then Belgium with the same score in the first two rounds, leaving France topping the group with six points.
The French national team is off to a good start under the leadership of its new coach, Zinedine Zidane, who has achieved an ideal start so far, and hopes to continue its positive results during the first match he plays among his country’s fans in Paris.
The confrontation carries special importance for Zidane, who previously spent five seasons with the Italian Juventus during his playing career. The match also brings back memories of the 2006 World Cup final, which Italy won on penalty kicks in a match that saw Zidane expelled after headbutting his rival Materazzi, and it was his last in his international career.
Zidane is expected to make new changes to the France squad due to the pressure of matches, after he made extensive adjustments in the last match, while the absence of top scorer Kylian Mbappe was confirmed after he suffered an injury while scoring the winning goal against Turkey, which may push Ousmane Dembélé to return to the spearhead position and lead the attack.
Frenchman Manu Kone, Roma's Italian midfield star, said: "I know that it is a very important match for Italy, because they see us as a strong competitor, and we have many good players." He added: “My colleagues in Roma, such as Gianluca Mancini and Brian Cristante, have always told me how strong this confrontation is, and that they have room to improve. “They are in a rebuilding phase, in a complicated era, but we will focus only on ourselves, and we know that we are the French team, and we have great players, and we are also seeking to win in our coach’s first match on our field.”
Kone started in Zidane's first match with the France national team against Türkiye in a deeper role in the midfield, which also included Adrien Rabiot, the Milan player, and Rayyan Cherki, the Manchester City star.
Kone said: “I tried to implement what the coach asked of me. For me, a midfielder must be good at playing in any position. I have already played in this position before and enjoyed it.”
The Roma midfield star praised training under the leadership of the legend Zidane during his first week, and explained: “It is wonderful to train under the leadership of Zidane, as he is a global legend. He is firm but close to the players, and always talks to us, whether individually or collectively.” He said: “He gave us the confidence to play freely, and it is fun to play as we are. On a personal level, he is very honest. He spoke to me individually and told me to play my way as I am accustomed to.”
On the other hand, the Italian team quickly regained its balance after losing to Belgium by two goals to nothing in the first round, and swept Türkiye 4-1 in its second match, to score the first three points in the group.
The confrontation against Turkey witnessed the brilliance of a number of young players in the Italian ranks, most notably Michael Kayode, who left a clear mark in his first international appearance, while Pio Esposito continued his brilliance and scored his sixth goal in 11 international matches.
Coach Roberto Mancini has several attacking options, in light of the absence of Matteo Retegi and the injury of Giacomo Raspadori, with the possibility of relying on Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamaca, along with the brothers Sebastiano and Pio Esposito. Nicolo Barella and a number of players who missed the match against Türkiye may also return to the starting lineup.
Mancini, who is in his second term with Italy, was met with boos in the capital, Rome, when the team lost its opening match at home to Belgium 0-2, but he responded to his critics with a remarkable display in the heavy rain during the first half in Türkiye.
Italy has never achieved an away win by a difference of three or more goals since defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 on November 15, 2019.
Most importantly, the team returned to winning ways under Mancini’s leadership for the first time since its victory over the Netherlands 3-2 on June 18, 2023, ending a wait that lasted 1,198 days.
Mancini said: “We will try to regain our strength and be ready for the Paris match.” “I have confidence in the players, many of whom are young, active and ready.”
He added: “We know that we did not start this journey well, and it is a journey that may be long or short, I do not know, but it will certainly require some time, especially since we only had two training sessions between the two matches, one of which was dedicated to recovery and getting rid of fatigue. However, I do not feel that time is our enemy at this stage.”
The previous Turkey match witnessed the two brothers Pio and Sebastiano Esposito entering the history of Italian football by equaling a 111-year-old record by mainly leading the national team’s attack line, recording a new achievement as their first family, in which three of its sons represent the first team, after the eldest brother Salvatore was the first to do so when he played his first international match under Mancini’s leadership against England in 2022.
The recent confrontations between the French and Italian teams indicate a clear rapprochement, as the first won 3-1 away from home and the second with the same score in the last edition of the Nations League, while France excels with four victories compared to two defeats in direct confrontations since the 2006 World Cup final.
Within the same group, Belgium, led by its new Dutch coach Mark van Bommel, is looking forward to regaining winning ways after losing to France, and taking advantage of the collapse experienced by the Turkish team, which lost its first two matches, when they also face each other today. Bommel believes that the loss his team suffered against France, with a goal by Michael Oliseh in the 88th minute, did not reflect the reality of the situation on the field, and that Belgium deserved a draw point.
This loss caused Belgium's score to freeze at three points in third place, on goal difference behind Italy, which is in second place, and is equal with them on the same score. However, despite this, the team's performance against one of the elite teams in the world sparked a lot of optimism among the fans of the team nicknamed (the Red Devils).
Van Bommel refused to let the result overshadow the tactical progress his team had made in a short period, and said: “There was great disappointment in the dressing room. It was a shame to concede that goal at the end of the match, as the players performed with great commitment. The result of the match did not reflect the quality of performance. All players deserve a rating of no less than 7 out of 10. I have nothing to blame them for, as they are intelligent and efficient players.”
He stressed: “We are on the right path. "We can clearly see the philosophy behind our moves. We will focus our efforts to win against Türkiye in the same way that the fans enjoy the performance."
Van Bommel was keen to remind followers that this is only the first week of his work with the group in a competitive atmosphere, as he said: “We cannot talk about reaching our full technical readiness in a week. France is ahead of us in the level of readiness, and I cannot deny that. Our goal is the next European Nations Cup (Euro 2028) in two years, but I am very happy with the level we showed.”
On the other hand, after receiving their second loss, the Turkish team and its coach Vincenzo Montella were subjected to a torrent of criticism and boos from the angry fans, and they had no choice but to come out with a positive result against Belgium today to maintain their slight hope of remaining in the competition.
The Italian coach has been facing harsh criticism since the Turkish national team's sudden exit from the group stage of the last World Cup this summer, which was followed by two losses to France and Italy at home in the Nations League.
Montella said: “We conceded goals due to simple lapses in defence. We have to focus. Playing every three days at this level requires a certain type of focus and experience, which we currently lack.” “We were playing in the third level of the Nations League two years ago, and we won the second level in the last edition of the competition, so we clearly showed that we need to improve in this aspect.”
Montella explained: “We are looking forward to showing a different face against Belgium. We want the support of the fans.”
The Turkish national team is at the bottom of the group standings without any points, before facing Belgium today and then visiting Italy on October 5.
