Zidane, a maestro of creativity, admitted Michael Olise left him speechless. The Bayern winger’s debut for France has already turned heads.
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The Bayern Munich attacker has made an immediate impact under Zidane, registering one goal and one assist in the new head coach’s first two games in charge.
Olise set up Kylian Mbappé for the winner in a 1-0 UEFA Nations League victory over Türkiye on Friday before coming off the bench to score a spectacular late winner by the same scoreline against Belgium on Monday.
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“He’s an absolute natural talent and simply loves playing football,” Zidane said after the Bayern winger’s latest heroics. “You can see that. He has a feel for the game. I’m delighted to be working with him.”
If those words were not evidence enough of Zidane’s admiration, his reaction to Olise’s winner in Brussels certainly was.
Introduced as a second-half substitute, the 24-year-old collected the ball around halfway, drove towards the Belgium defence and curled a superb finish into the bottom corner in the 88th minute.
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Olise celebrates after scoring a worldie for France against Belgium. – FRANCK FIFE –><!–>
Zidane promptly let his emotions take over. The usually composed Frenchman sprinted down the touchline in celebration before booting another ball lying near the technical area as hard as he could – an extraordinary reaction to an extraordinary goal.
Olise’s strike was his eighth goal for France and secured a second successive victory for Zidane following his appointment as Didier Deschamps’ successor.
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Zidane could not hide his delight after Olise’s winner against Belgium. – IMAGO/Nico Vereecken –>
Olise’s game thrives on imagination, precision and vision, so Zidane’s nod means a lot. He’s already tallied a goal and an assist in just two outings, and in my view he could evolve into France’s next midfield maestro.