Zidane and van Bommel start strong as France and Belgium win

Zinédine Zidane and Mark van Bommel kicked off their coaching stints with wins for France and Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Friday. Jürgen Klopp and Xavi Hernández ended their first matches with a draw.

Zidane’s France won a tough match against Türkiye in Kocaeli. Kylian Mbappé, the captain, scored the only goal before he had to leave the game due to injury soon after.

“There are a lot of emotions,” Zidane told TF1. “Starting with a win is never easy, especially here in Türkiye. We prevented our opponent from developing their game by pressing high and being very aggressive in winning back possession. It’s very encouraging for the future.”

France defender Jules Koundé shared that Zidane told the team to stay calm after a goalless first half.

“He asked us to keep playing and to trust our game plan,” Koundé said to TF1. “By keeping possession more in the second half, we managed to tire them out. Because they were determined to press us high up the pitch, it eventually opened up spaces.”

Van Bommel began his Belgium coaching with a win against Italy. Mika Godts and Dodi Lukébakio scored for Belgium.

“I could hardly believe that we had worked together for just a few days, watching the way we were playing,” Van Bommel told UEFA after the match. “In the first half we played some very good football. We could have scored more goals but I’m very happy with all the chances we created. In the second half, we suffered a bit more, so I decided to make some changes; fortunately, it went well.”

This loss was a setback for Roberto Mancini in his first match back as Italy coach. Still, he found positives in the game.

“Belgium were the better side in the first half, while we were much better after the break,” Mancini said.

In Amsterdam, Klopp seemed ready to celebrate a win in his first game as Germany coach after Felix Nmecha scored in the first half. But Cody Gakpo scored in the 92nd minute to level the score and deny Klopp a win.

New Netherlands coach Xavi thought his team deserved more from the match.

“I’m satisfied because we played so well,” Xavi said. “Honestly, we were better than Germany today. We deserve a bit more, especially in the second half, because it was really good. I’m so happy because we showed our way of playing.”

Klopp noted that Germany started well but faced challenges during the match.

“We got off to a good start in the first ten minutes. Then we had ten minutes of problems; we just couldn’t quite get going,” he said.

“When the system isn’t yet in place, and I don’t even mean the tactical aspect, but generally, when the processes aren’t completely ingrained, then that’s a moment where you have to fight hard to win challenges.”

In another match, Portugal, the defending champions, began their Nations League campaign with a win under new coach Jorge Jesus. They beat Wales 1-0 in Lisbon.

João Félix scored the only goal in the 22nd minute after teaming up with Cristiano Ronaldo in Jesus’ new attacking setup.

“You could see our style of play: very attacking football, pressing, not letting the opposition catch their breath,” Félix said.

Jesus was happy with how Portugal played his style.

“The team managed to hold on to the win defensively, it was important that we didn’t concede any goals,” he told RTP. “I was pleased with the result and performance.”

France and Belgium will face each other on Monday, while Italy will host Türkiye.

The Netherlands will travel to Serbia on Sunday. Germany will host Greece, and Portugal will visit Norway.