Zinedine Zidane was happy with a 1-0 win over Turkey in his debut as the new head coach for France.
His track record of the three peat and two La Liga titles across two spells at Real Madrid brought a lot of attention to his appointment as the replacement for Didier Deschamps with Les Bleus. The first fixture of his reign was not always explosive fireworks, but it helped to kick off the journey correctly.
‘Balance is the key to everything’
Pressure paid off as Michael Olise served Kylian Mbappé to hammer home the first goal of this new era, and a clean sheet for the backline brought Zidane extra satisfaction with affairs on this away day.
"There is a lot of emotion. It’s a first, and starting with a victory is never easy, especially here in Turkey. We played the game we needed to. We didn’t let our opponent play; we went to press them quite high and were very aggressive in recovery. With the ball, we knew how to do things correctly.
"I saw many interesting aspects, even though we only worked together for three and a half training sessions. It’s very encouraging. I am satisfied with what the players achieved and I am happy that this debut went like this.
"This encounter shows that we can play in several ways, which is what interests me. Balance is the key to everything. We have players capable of making a difference at any time, but we must maintain a solid collective organization so as not to expose ourselves.
Praise for Turkey’s intensity
"We must also pay tribute to Turkey. Many thought they would drop off physically, but that was not the case. The Turks maintained a high intensity until the end. We were able to respond, and everyone was ready, including the substitutes who took over perfectly when they entered the game.
“It’s a real satisfaction."
