Zidane: Happy with Mbappé's return and performance, not satisfied with the first half

Zinedine Zidane, the head coach of France, expressed his satisfaction with Kylian Mbappé's performance during the win over Türkiye and qualification for the Quarter-Final of the UEFA Nations League. However, he did not hide his dissatisfaction with the team's performance in the first half, particularly regarding their collective pressing.

Zinedine Zidane spoke about Kylian Mbappé's return: "I am very pleased with him, he deserved to score two or three goals, the goalkeeper made some great saves against him, but he created chances for himself, and I liked his off-the-ball role, he performed his role as a leader perfectly."

Regarding the performance of the France national team, he added: "Our goal was to qualify and finish the group at the top, but there are some issues that raise questions, especially the pressure in the first half, we allowed the opponent to move and find spaces, and we did not apply pressure well at all. We corrected that during the break and looked better after the interval."

He continued: "I was not satisfied, nor were the players, but we managed to correct the mistakes. We allowed the opponent many chances, especially in the first half, and the problem is not just about the defense, but the whole team. The pressing must be collective, and we need to keep the ball, as we like to run with the ball and not without it. We did that better in the second half, and we need to repeat it."

Zinedine Zidane explained: "We created a fair number of chances, and we should have taken advantage of them in the first half to secure the result more. But the most important thing is creating chances, and we succeeded in scoring two goals. We corrected some things at half-time, and the players' reaction was very good."

He concluded his statements by saying: "I saw players who spare no effort, and we are putting in the required effort, and that is the most important thing. We will see who we face in the Quarter-Final, as the players will return to their clubs and we will get some rest. The goal has been achieved, and we will see what happens in March."