Zidane Frustrated for His Players Despite France's Draw Against Italy

After a strong start with two wins, Zinédine Zidane's tenure as coach of the French national team saw its first setback with a 1-1 draw against Italy on Friday night at the Stade de France, in the third round of the Nations League. However, the French manager highlighted his players' "exemplary" conduct after the match.

This was the first stumble for Zinédine Zidane leading the Blues. Following victories against Turkey (1-0) and Belgium (1-0) to begin his reign, the new national coach could not secure another win against Italy. In 'ZZ's' home debut, his team conceded a draw (1-1).

"I am very disappointed for them (the players) because we deserved better, but football is like that," Zidane told TF1 after the game. "We had chances to seal the match and we didn't, but I can be proud of my players. I am very happy. We can be disappointed not to have the three points, but the performance was good. In the pressing we did, in the one-on-one duels… They were exemplary. I am frustrated for my players because they gave their all and played very well, but we didn't get the result. Still, it's encouraging."

The former French number 10 was particularly pleased with the team's second-half display. "We had possession in the first half, but it was sterile. We needed to exploit the spaces in the final third, and that's what we tried to correct at halftime," he continued. "To hurt the opponent, you need to take spaces. In terms of performance, we implemented things. They played their game, defensively, 'in the Italian style,' mostly on the counter-attack."

France thought they had done the hardest part by opening the scoring from a direct free-kick by Michael Olise (1-0, 55th minute). However, they conceded an equalizer from Alessandro Bastoni, a goal resulting from a loss of possession by Lucas Da Cunha near the penalty area.

"When you play well for the entire match and do good things, a small hiccup occurs, and it unsettled us a bit," Zidane explained. "Is Lucas Da Cunha disappointed? No, no… I'm focusing on everything else. Losing possession is part of the game. The most important thing is what I saw from all my players. I am very satisfied. They can be proud of their performance tonight."

Before turning his attention to hosting Belgium on Monday for the fourth and final match of this international break, Zidane also commented on his return to the Stade de France and the warm ovation he received at the start of the match: "It touched me. We would have loved to give the victory to everyone here. We didn't manage it tonight. We will rest to win our fourth match," he concluded.