Substitute Michael Olise led the French national team to a fatal victory over its Belgian host, with a clean goal, in the match that was held on Monday evening, giving coach Zinedine Zidane his second successive victory since taking over the leadership of the “Roosters.”
The only goal of the match came in the 88th minute via Oliseh, only 12 minutes after coming on as a substitute, as he started from the right side and penetrated into the penalty area, shooting a curved ball with his left hand that Belgian goalkeeper Signe Lammens was unable to stop.
With this victory, the French team raised its score to 6 points, achieving the full score from two matches, to take the lead in Group A in the first level of the European Nations League, following its opening victory over Türkiye. On the other hand, Belgium’s national team’s balance froze at 3 points, equal to Italy, which regained its balance with a broad victory over Türkiye by four to one.
Zidane participated in the confrontation by making 9 changes to the starting lineup that faced Türkiye, giving the opportunity to a number of players to make their first participation in the national team’s jersey. The “Roosters” imposed their control over the course of the game, and Desiree Douai’s shot hit the crossbar in the 12th minute, before goalkeeper Lamins returned and excelled in preventing the French from scoring, only to return and block another shot from Lucas da Cunha’s shot at the start of the second half.
On the other hand, the Belgian team posed a threat through the attempts of substitute Dodi Lukebakio, but French goalkeeper Mike Maignan dealt with them brilliantly. In the final minutes, Zidane brought on Ousmane Dembélé, Rayan Chergui, and Michael Oliseh, who succeeded in grabbing the valuable winning goal two minutes before the end of regular time, so Zidane continued his perfect start, achieving his second victory in a row, succeeding former coach Didier Deschamps.
