Zidane and Mancini continue to make their mark in France and Italy

Zinedine Zidane's France and Roberto Mancini's Italy each secured victories on Monday against Belgium and Turkey respectively, solidifying the new projects of both European soccer powerhouses, which debuted new head coaches during this Nations League window.

Following the comeback victory in a wild 13-minute stretch against Belgium (4-1), Zinedine Zidane remains undefeated in his four matches as head coach of "Les Bleus."

And yet, facing a Belgian team they had already defeated days earlier in Brussels (1-0), the two-time world champions and semifinalists in the last World Cup had to show great patience to come back from the opening goal by Dodi Lukebakio (35') for the Red Devils.

It wasn't until the 77th minute that PSG forward Desiré Doué tied the score, before Rayan Cherki (81') and Michael Olise (88', 90+1') sparked euphoria at the stadium on the outskirts of Paris and put a smile on Zidane's face, who finishes his first window in charge of the French team with three wins and a draw.

The second-half substitutions of Doué, Cherki, and Olise completely changed the game.

Olise, who has scored four goals in four matches, is undoubtedly the big winner of these first fifteen days of the Zidane era and confirms once again that he is on par with the world's top players.

"Olise is simply exceptional at what he does," Zidane said at a post-match press conference.

Against Italy and Turkey in mid-November, France and Zizou will have the opportunity to continue building on their project and prove that they possess one of the best attacking units in world soccer.

"It's encouraging, and I'm very optimistic about what's to come," said the former Real Madrid coach.

Italy continues its rebuilding

Their next match will be against Mancini's Italy, which defeated Turkey 3-1 on Monday.

In the midst of rebuilding after missing a third consecutive World Cup, the Azzurri left a positive impression in Bologna.

With nine changes from the starting lineup that faced France last Friday (1-1), they took the lead through Gianluca Scamacca (26').

Turkey, led by Italian coach Vincenzo Montella and defeated 4-1 at home by the Italian national team on September 28, tied the game in the 61st minute thanks to Aral Simsir, but the Azzurri regained the lead almost immediately with a header by Riccardo Calafiori (64'). In the closing minutes, Francesco Pio Esposito added the third goal (87').

"We struggled a bit at the start, but overall it was a good game. With all these changes, it was normal for us to lose some fluidity, but the team held its ground and reacted quickly after Turkey's equalizer," Mancini analyzed on the Rai Uno television channel. "We'll have to keep this up in November; everything will come down to our match against Belgium," he warned.

Italy, which had started this international window with a home loss to Belgium (2-0), now has seven points, putting it in second place in Group 1 behind France (10 points), while Turkey remains stuck in last place with zero points.