Zinédine Zidane’s France debut returns to Türkiye scene of 2019 loss | OneFootball

Zinédine Zidane will begin his reign with France in Türkiye on Friday at 20:45, seven years on from a trip that went badly for Les Bleus.

According to L'Équipe, the last visit ended in a 2-0 defeat, despite nine world champions in the starting XI. Kylian Mbappé started on the right and Didier Deschamps was in charge.

In June 2019 in Konya, during their third Euro 2020 qualifier, France underperformed. Deschamps later called it a non-performance, while Paul Pogba spoke of an off day in which even simple passes went astray and every chance conceded seemed to bring a goal.

Kaan Ayhan struck on 30 minutes, then Cengiz Ünder, not yet a Marseille player, added a second on 40. Raphaël Varane was marked two out of 10, as were Lucas Digne, Pogba and Moussa Sissoko, while Hugo Lloris earned seven after three top saves.

The defeat did not stop France finishing top of their group. Amid a febrile atmosphere, with 42,160 whistling every French touch, fatigue at the start of a summer without a finals was cited as the chief reason for their lethargy.

Despite 63% possession, France failed to register a shot on target. Zidane and his staff will hope there is no repeat.

Source: L'Équipe

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