Zinedine Zidane was moved by the reception he received in his first game at home France coach, but felt his team deserved more than the 1-1 draw with which Italy.
After securing wins over Turkey and Belgium in his first two games in charge, Zidane received a standing ovation from the Stade de France crowd on Friday. UEFA Nations League confrontation with Roberto Mancini’s team.
Despite an unconvincing first-half display, France looked set to make it three wins in three 10 minutes into the second when Michael Olise’s stunning free-kick put them ahead.
But Italy responded well and stunned the home crowd when they equalized when Alessandro Bastoni pounced on a mistake from Lucas Da Cunha and finished confidently past Mike Maignan.
Both sides had chances to win the game afterwards, although Italy may have been more irritated not to do so after France saw Dayot Upamecano sent off five minutes from the end of normal time for a second bookable foul.
Although his side remain unbeaten, Zidane admitted that disappointment and frustration were his main emotions after the game.
“I’m very disappointed; we deserved better, but that’s football,” Zidane told TF1.
“We should have sealed the win, but I’m proud of my players. The performance was very good, my players were exemplary. I’m frustrated for my players because they gave everything.”
“We had possession in the first half, but it was unsuccessful, that’s what we tried to correct at the break. To hurt the opponent, you need to exploit the open spaces. In terms of our performance, we executed our game plan, they played their game, defensively, ‘Italian’. We were not really in danger.
“When you’re playing well all game and doing the right things, a little hiccup can knock you down a little bit, and that’s what happened to us.
“The most important thing is what I saw from all my players. I’m very pleased. They can be proud of what they did tonight in terms of performance.”
Asked about his return to the Stade de France and the reception from the fans, Zidane added: “It’s my turn, we would have liked to give victory to a whole nation. Tonight didn’t happen, so we’ll rest to win our fourth game.”
