France vs Italy: Zidane's home debut revives memories of the 2006 World Cup final
On Friday, October 2, France host Italy at the Stade de France in a UEFA Nations League Group A1 clash — Zinedine Zidane's first home game as France coach and his first meeting with Italy since the 2006 World Cup final.
Context
Friday evening at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis (kick-off at 19:45 BST / 20:45 local French time, according to both The Guardian and Goal.com) hosts the third Group A1 fixture of the UEFA Nations League between France and Italy. The match is refereed by Spain's Jesus Gil Manzano.
France lead the group with six points from two wins — 1-0 over Turkey and 1-0 over Belgium. Italy sit third with three points after bouncing back from a 0-2 home defeat to Belgium with a 4-1 win in Turkey. The result could prove decisive in the battle with Belgium for the group's second qualifying spot.
This is Zinedine Zidane's first home match in charge of France, after two away wins (1-0 against both Belgium and Turkey) to open his tenure. It is also his first encounter with Italy since July 9, 2006 — the World Cup final in which Zidane was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi. Ahead of the match, Zidane said: "I'm not proud of what I did, but I also have no regrets," referencing the incident.
Lineups
France have made six changes from their previous match: Michael Olise (who scored the winner against Belgium), captain Ousmane Dembele (deputising for the injured Kylian Mbappe), Rayan Cherki, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot all come into the side. Predicted XI: Maignan; Kalulu, Jacquet, Upamecano, Truffert; Cherki, Da Cunha, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Doue.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini has made two changes from the win in Turkey: Riccardo Calafiori and Moise Kean replace Matteo Ruggeri and the injured Giacomo Raspadori. Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Kayode, Scalvini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Frattesi, Tonali, Fagioli; Kean, P. Esposito, S. Esposito.
Italy's squad rotation
As reported by Goal.com, Mancini split his squad before travelling to Paris in order to prepare for Monday's October 5 match against Turkey in Bologna. Nine players — Honest Ahanor, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Diego Coppola, Daniele Ghilardi, Samuele Inacio, Eddy Kouadio, Rolando Mandragora, Massimo Pessina and Alessandro Romano — stayed behind at Coverciano and will not feature in Paris. Meanwhile, Nicolò Barella and Daniel Maldini, who missed the Turkey game, have returned to the squad.
