PSG winger Desire Doue impressed as Zinedine Zidane secured his second win with France, beating Belgium 1-0. Zidane made nine changes to his starting eleven.
With a revamped team, Zinedine Zidane secured his second victory with Les Bleus in Belgium (1-0). Three days after his debut in Turkey, the new manager made nine changes to his starting eleven. This gave PSG winger Désiré Doué, in particular, the opportunity to shine in his 17th appearance for the national team.
"In the wings, it worked very well. When we didn't have the ball, it was tough because their two full-backs played very high up the pitch, and their forwards tracked them well. Everything was good; Désiré was very good," Zidane said happily after the match.
“I think we were dominant, and that's quite logical considering the whole game. We deserved it throughout, and in the end we scored that goal, which could have come at the other end, because they had two or three chances. But with our performance, we really deserved that goal."
Desire Doue Shines as Zidane Secures Second France Win Over Belgium
Former assistant to Rudi Garcia at the Red Devils, Stéphane Jobard, was impressed by Désiré Doué's performance. "He put in an outstanding performance, pure class, with incredible speed of execution in tight spaces," he told Le Parisien.
"Every time I see him play, I feel like I'm watching Michael Jordan. I expect a magic touch every time he touches the ball; I was blown away by his performance. If you focus on his finishing, you might be disappointed, but he's the catalyst; he's the one who pushes the entire Belgian defense back and creates space for others. He played a truly top-level match."
More generally, Zidane said he was "very satisfied" with his team's performance.
"Following on from the match in Turkey (a 1-0 victory), on a much better pitch, we were very good everywhere, in our pressing... We had some things in place against a good Belgian team that also made us suffer, but we held on; we were courageous; we weren't afraid to go into the opposition's half. That's what I like, that's what we want," he told TF1.
"We perhaps dropped off a little in the second half, where we had some minor difficulties, but that's understandable. We made nine changes (compared to the match in Turkey). What's great is that everyone is involved."
So, Doué has a flattering history of comparisons on his back, with Jordan last and Neymar Jr. also on that list. Not bad for the young talent.
