In the noise and heat of a Turkish night, France found the control required to begin Zinédine Zidane’s reign with a win. The 1-0 result was narrow on the scoreboard, but Ousmane Dembélé felt Les Bleus had created enough to leave with a more emphatic margin.
Deployed as the central striker, the Paris Saint-Germain forward helped France negotiate a demanding away fixture in Zidane’s first match in charge of the national side. Dembélé said the team had expected a difficult evening in a hostile stadium, yet believed their preparations had allowed them to impose themselves.
“We wanted to win, obviously, especially on a difficult pitch,” Dembélé said after the final whistle. “I think we played a very good match overall and could have scored one or two more goals. Coming here to Turkey, in a hot atmosphere, we knew it would not be easy.”
Zidane’s first tactical message
Dembélé said France had worked carefully throughout the week on the plan demanded by their new coach. Zidane asked for movement, communication and the implementation of a 4-3-3 system against Turkey, with the visitors also showing the resilience needed to protect their one-goal advantage.
“The coach wanted us to play and to communicate a lot on the pitch,” Dembélé said. “He gave us a tactical set-up, a 4-3-3, to use against Turkey. We produced a very good performance overall and we were solid too.”
The match also offered another reminder of Dembélé’s changing role. Although often associated with the wings earlier in his career, he has spent the season operating through the middle for PSG and said his position at the tip of France’s attack brought no surprise.
“I felt very good,” he added. “I have been playing centrally for PSG all season, so it is nothing new.”
