Trailing from Dodi Luk\u00e9bakio’s 35th-minute opener, France waited until past the hour: Olise, Cherki and Da Cunha came on, Dou\u00e9 followed in the 72nd. Dou\u00e9 equalised in the 77th from Da Cunha’s pass, Cherki put France ahead four minutes later, Olise added two more in the 88th and in added time. Four goals in fourteen minutes from players off the bench: 4-1 at the Stade de France.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe French, we prefer to run with the ball rather than behind it,\u201d Zidane told franceinfo, naming PSG as his model, \u201ca team that takes the game on, that goes to press very high\u2026 Those are my principles too.\u201d The shape changed with him: three creative midfielders behind three attackers, against the two defensive midfielders Didier Deschamps used to field. \u201cWe try to be aggressive when we lose the ball, to press high\u2026 to be vertical when the chance is there,\u201d Jules Kound\u00e9 said. Once the ball is won high up, the attackers play with freedom.<\/p>\n
All 20 outfield players in the squad started at least once. \u201cThere is no A team and no B team,\u201d Zidane had warned before Italy. Olise, with four goals across the break, and Dou\u00e9 became the first substitutes involved in three goals in a France match since Marvin Martin against Ukraine in 2011: \u201cTheir entrance was extraordinary, and it proves that everyone is involved,\u201d he said. Even the second goalkeeper started: Guillaume Restes played \u201cto feel what the France team is\u201d, while Mike Maignan kept the shirt for the first three matches, decisive in Turkey and Brussels.<\/p>\n
Three of the four matches produced a single France goal: 1-0 in Turkey, 1-0 in Brussels, 1-1 against Italy. \u201cWhere we still need to work is on not having sterile possession\u2026 being more dangerous in the final 30-40 metres,\u201d Zidane said, and after the 4-1 he asked his side to \u201coccupy the box more\u201d. The full-back project is open already: worried about the pool of options, he has approached the French technical direction led by Hubert Fournier and asked the France U21 and U20 coaches to try players in those positions (according to L’\u00c9quipe, via RMC Sport).<\/p>\n