Key events
Half-time reading
Half time: France 0-0 Italy
A fun first half in Saint-Denis. France played some bewildering football at times, but most of their goal attempts were from distance and Italy had the two clearest chances.
44 min Frattesi shoots well wide from distance after a decent Italy move. Roberto Mancini is getting a tune out of them.
41 min: Disallowed goal for Italy! The resulting corner leads to a disallowed goal from Kean, who was well offside when he swept a good finish on the turn past Maignan.
41 min: Just wide from Frattesi!
Michael Kayode’s long throw causes havoc in the France defence. The ball breaks to Frattesi, whose snapshot from 10 yards takes a subtle deflection and flies just wide. Not sure who the France defence was, or how much they knew about it, but that touch probably saved a goal.
39 min Another Dembele shot is blocked, this time by Calafiori. France are all over Italy like a cheap cliche.
37 min He has now. Olise plays a sharp pass into Dembele, 25 yards out. He turns, eschews a pass to Cherki and blooters a right-foot shot that is pushed away with both hands by Donnarumma. A comfortable save for him.
37 min That said, for all France’s pressure, Gigi Donnarumma still hasn’t made a save.
36 min Doue cuts back inside Kayode on the left side of the area and lashes a low shot that is blocked. It feels like a France goal is in the post.
34 min In the other game in Group A1, or whatever we’re calling it, Belgium lead Turkey 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Kevin De Bruyne.
32 min “I saw both parts of the new movie about Charles de Gaulle’s war this week, and I can recommend them highly,” writes Gary Naylor. “Niels Schneider plays a French general of whom I had never heard before, one Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque. Maybe he studied Zidane’s style, as he played the heroic soldier exactly Mr Antaki describes Zizou at 7.41pm.”
31 min France probe patiently on the dge of the area until Truffert’s stinging shot is blocked. Seconds later Olise gets round the back and screws a cross that his shinned wide of his own goal, I think by Scalvini. France are playing some charming football, particularly in tight areas.
30 min Calafiori wanders infield to the edge of the D and tries his luck. His shot is blocked but the ball loops towards Sebastiano Esposito, who fresh-airs a tough volley with the outside of the right foot.
29 min “It is funny to see everyone trying to parse the working of Zizou,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Eli Wallach’s philosophy of ‘When you got to shoot, shoot; don’t talk’ is apparently an effective doctrine. If Zizou can recreate the magic he did at Real, few will question him his methods. Honestly speaking, with THIS French squad , you do not need to do much.”
27 min Dembele, on the stretch, can’t control a clever but awkward through pass from Cherki.
At the other end Frattesi seizes upon a loose ball, 40 yards from goal, and tries to charge straight through the gap. Kalulu comes across to intercept.
25 min Olise, not for the last time, has been the most eyecatching player on the field. With his balance, disguise, sinuous dribbling and quick passing, he is a joy to watch. He could make bunion removal surgery look elegant.
23 min: France hit the bar!
Rabiot is fouled on the left wing, though the defender Scalvini disagreed with the referee’s verdict. The free-kick is taken short and moved across to Dembele, whose long-range deflects behind off Sebastiano Esposito.
France take the corner quickly on the left. It’s played short and then move into Olise, whose cross takes a big deflection, loops over Donnarumma and hits the top of the crossbar.
20 min Olise teases Calafiori on the right, hinting that he might on the outside. It’s all a ruse: he cuts inside and whacks a long-range curling shot off target.
19 min Olise meanders infield from the right, hugging the ball on his Harvard-educated left foot, then tries to flip a cross towards Rabiot and Doue at the far post. It’s overhit – Harvard education my derriere – and Italy have a goalkick.
17 min Mancini will be pleased with how Italy have started. They haven’t had much of the ball but Gigi Donnarumma’s gloves remain unsullied and the only big chance fell to Italy. Slightly risible cliche though it is, world football needs a strong Italy.
14 min Roberto Mancini is back as Italy manager, of course, but this time he’s without his terrible twin Gianluca Vialli. If you haven’t seen it, I’d urge you watch the documentary about Sampdoria’s fairytale scudetto in 1990-91. Spoiler: there will be some rain on your face when Mancini and Vialli discuss their friendship.
12 min France have picked up where they left off before that chance. But they know now, if they didn’t before, that Italy can hurt them.
9 min: Great chance for Italy!
Frattesi smashes a crossfield pass out to Sebastiano Esposito on the right wing. He pushes the ball infield to Kayode, whose first-time cross reaches Keane six yards out at the far post. He bobbles a left-foot shot too close to Maignan, who scrambles desperately across his goalline to keep it out.
That was the first time Italy have got through the France press, and it should have led to a goal.
7 min See 3 min.
5 min A loose ball across the Italy defence is stolen by Olise on the right. He escapes Calafiori but then slips and the ball runs out of play.
3 min A strong start from France, who have barely permitted Italy a kick.
1 min Peep peep! France kick off from left to right as we watch.
The captains Ousmane Dembele and Gianluigi Donnarumma, teammates in Paris for three seasons, shake hands on the halfway line. Almost time for the action.
There’s a spectacular welcome for Zinedine Zidane, who is managing France at home for the first time. He’s dressed all in black, like a more inscrutable Martin Blank. As a great commentator once said, not a flicker.
“Curious as to how he comes across in front of a microphone, I had a look and a listen to Zinedine Zidane’s press conference ahead of the game (now up in various places, eg here),” begins Charles Antaki. “What a presence the man has, even though he seems to barely speak above a shy whisper: he hardly moves his head or body, and when he looks at the questioner it’s in part menacing and indulgent – but he dominates. Now and then he’ll give a little chuckle. The commander of a particularly tough Foreign Legion outpost deciding on the fate of a raw but promising recruit. Maybe it’s this that brings out the best in the Olises and Dembélés of the squad; in any case, results suggest that it’s working.”
Beautifully put. Imagine how tall you would feel after receiving a “well done” from Zidane.
“Is Marco Materazzi in the house?” asks Peter Oh. “Given the primacy of gestures in today’s world, a symbolic handshake to bury the headbutt, I mean hatchet would be appropriate.”
Have you checked hell’s temperature recently?
Jonathan Wilson
Even in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid without ever giving a sense of what his idea of football looked like.
Zidane is one of five coaches to have won the Champions League on three or more occasions, ranking alongside Bob Paisley, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique and behind only Carlo Ancelotti. He is the only manager to win three successive Champions Leagues and yet few would consider him one of the game’s elite coaches. In that spell he won one La Liga title.
Team news
Michael Olise, who came off the bench to score the winner against Belgium on Monday, starts in attack for France. That’s one of six changes made by Zinedine Zidane. Ousmane Dembele, Rayan Cherki, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot all come into the side, Dembele as captain in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe.
Roberto Mancini makes two changes to the Italy side that won 4-1 in Turkey. Riccardo Calafiori and Moise Kean come in for Matteo Ruggeri and the injured Giacomo Raspadori.
France (4-3-3) Maignan; Kalulu, Jacquet, Upamecano, Truffert; Cherki, Da Cunha, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue.
Subs: Restes, Butez, Kounde, Camavinga, Kone, Barcola, Diouf, Yoro, Lacroix, Akliouche, Lepaul.
Italy (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Kayode, Scalvini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Frattesi, Tonali, Fagioli; Kean, P Esposito, S Esposito.
Subs: Carnesecchi, Vicario, Ruggeri, Ricci, Scamacca, Zoma, Doumbia, Maldini, Barella, Vergara, Di Lorenzo, Mancini.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain).
Preamble
G’day and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of the Nations League match between France and Italy at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
France’s new coach Zinedine Zidane has made a fine start: two away games. two 1-0 wins against Belgium and Turkey. This is his first home game as France manager, and his first meeting with Italy since 9 July 2006. Don’t play silly buggers; you know exactly what happened that night.
Italy’s Nations League campaign got off to a bad start with a 2-0 defeat at home to Belgium, but they romped to a 4-1 win in Turkey on Tuesday. Roberto Mancini, who is beginning his second spell in charge, has also been in the news for other reasons.
We’re only a third of the way through Nations League Group A1, but right now it feels like a shootout between Belgium and Italy for the second quarter-final place. Points taken off France, if there are any, could make all the difference.
Kick off 7.45pm BST.
The story so far
Matchday one
Italy 0-2 Belgium
Turkey 0-1 France
Matchday two
Belgium 0-1 France
Turkey 1-4 Italy
