French win in Belgium shows depth of talent available to new coach Zidane

BRUSSELS, Sept 29 : France offered a vivid display of the enormous potential at their disposal with a much-changed line-up, featuring three new caps and getting the better of Belgium.

With four Nations League fixtures in the space of 10 days, and his top striker and captain Kylian Mbappé out injured, new coach Zinedine Zidane had little option but to drastically alter the starting line-up from last Friday’s 1-0 win in Turkey for the derby in Brussels.

But even with nine changes the French dominated proceedings and snatched a last-gasp victory on Monday.

Admittedly, their 1-0 success was secured after they had brought on pinch hitters in the form of Rayan Cherki, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, whose 88th-minute winner was a superb individual effort. But there was immense satisfaction afterwards at the role played by newcomers and those with only a handful of caps.

“It’s true that we saw two different teams. I felt my team was capable of putting in this kind of performance, whether in Turkey or tonight,” Zidane said afterwards.

There were first caps for Lucas Da Cunha, Andy Diouf, and Jérémy Jacquet, while lead striker Estéban Lepaul made his first start – all leaving a positive impression.

Da Cunha was told beforehand by Zidane to go out and “play freely” and he took the coach’s word to heart with an imposing display. He made 97 touches and looked comfortable under pressure.

“The coach gave me his full confidence and told me to do what I do at club level, to express myself,” Da Cunha said. “It’s a great emotion, a great joy. A few years ago, I was in the second division; it shows that when you work hard, you can make it.”

Diouf had to play out of position at left back but did little wrong while Jacquet effectively kept