Ousmane Dembélé, the 29-year-old Paris Saint-Germain and France forward, spoke to TF1 following Friday night’s 1-0 Nations League victory over Turkey.
Dembélé: “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
“We were hoping for a win, of course—especially at a difficult venue—but I think we played a very good match overall; we could even have scored one or two more goals. Coming here to Turkey, into a hostile stadium atmosphere, we knew it wouldn’t be easy.
We prepared very well for this match all week. The coach (Zinédine Zidane, taking charge of Les Bleus for the first time) wanted us to play our game and communicate a lot on the pitch. He gave us a tactical plan—a 4-3-3 formation—to implement against Turkey. We played a very good match overall and showed real solidity.”
Dembélé: “It’s nothing new.”
(On playing as a central striker) “I felt very good; I’ve been playing centrally all season at PSG, so it’s nothing new,” he told L’Équipe.
Naturally, there was a certain level of expectation—even excitement—surrounding the start of this journey under head coach Zinedine Zidane, but it is important to keep things in perspective. It naturally takes time to get everything in place. Furthermore, Turkey is an opponent that must be taken very seriously, especially on their home turf.
France managed to secure the win and showed some promising signs. They need to build on this, without getting carried away, of course. Let’s give Les Bleus time to work, as they refine and perfect their best setup.
