UEFA Nations League: Mancini Halts Zidane's Perfect Start as Belgium Regains Balance
Italy, under manager Roberto Mancini in his second stint at the helm, halted Zinedine Zidane’s ideal start with the French national team by forcing a 1-1 draw on Friday at the Stade de France in Paris. The result came in the third matchday of Group 1, League A of the UEFA Nations League.
In the same group, Belgium regained its balance with a convincing 3-0 victory over hosts Turkey, handing them their third consecutive defeat.
In the first match, France found themselves in a difficult position against Italy. Although they controlled the flow of the game, they failed to create genuine danger until German Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise broke the deadlock with a moment of brilliance from a direct free-kick in the 55th minute.
Les Bleus, managed by Zidane in his third game in charge, managed only one clear-cut chance to trouble former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The goal marked Olise’s second in three matches in this season’s competition, following his winner against Belgium in the second round.
However, Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni equalized with a left-footed shot from outside the box in the 68th minute.
Olise could have become the match hero in stoppage time when he penetrated the penalty area, but Bastoni made a last-ditch tackle without committing a foul, despite protests from the Stade de France crowd demanding a penalty (90+3).
France finished the match with ten players after Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano was sent off in the 85th minute for receiving his second yellow card.
Zidane began his tenure with the best possible start, securing two away wins against Turkey and Belgium, both 1-0. He stumbled in his first home game, but France remained top of the group with seven points.
Meanwhile, Italy confirmed their resurgence with a hard-fought draw following their 2-0 home loss to Belgium and a dominant 4-1 away win against Turkey.
Mancini extended Italy’s strong away record in the Nations League group stage to six unbeaten matches, including five consecutive victories.
In the second match, Belgium regained their composure and inflicted a third straight defeat on Turkey with a 3-0 clean-sheet victory.
Veteran playmaker and Napoli midfielder Kevin De Bruin established himself as the man of the match, scoring a brilliant brace in the 10th and 60th minutes, raising his international tally to 40 goals.
His only downside was receiving a yellow card that will rule him out of Monday’s fourth-round clash against France.
His former club-mate, the Turkish forward Romelu Lukaku, who now plays for Fenerbahce, capped the scoring as a substitute in the 76th minute.
Belgium started this edition with a 2-0 win over Italy, before suffering a 1-0 defeat to France on Monday due to a late goal by Olise, marking their first loss under new Dutch coach Marc Van Bommel.
This was also Belgium’s first home defeat since the previous Nations League edition (five wins and one draw), and their second loss in their last three matches (one win). However, both defeats came against teams ranked in the top three of the FIFA rankings, following their exit from the World Cup quarter-finals against Spain.
De Bruin put the “Red Devils” ahead in the 10th minute after exchanging passes with Benfica winger Dodi Lukébakio, before firing a right-footed shot past Ugurcan Cakir.
“King Kevin” continued his brilliance by scoring a stunning goal after an hour of play, curling a shot without any setup into the top corner of Cakir’s net.
After leading Turkey to qualification for last summer’s World Cup for the first time in 24 years, Italian manager Vincenzo Montella now finds himself in a downward spiral.
Turkey suffered home defeats to France (0-1) and Italy (1-4), and today’s loss to Belgium marked their third consecutive defeat for the first time since Euro 2020.
This is Turkey’s fourth loss in their head-to-head history against Belgium, compared to three wins and five draws.
