France secured a 1-0 away victory over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League group stage, with Michael Olise scoring the decisive goal late in the game. After the match, Zidane spoke at the press conference about his decision to make nine changes to the starting XI, as well as his celebration after Olise's goal.

You made nine changes to the starting XI and also gave three players their France debuts. Why did you make that decision?

Because I believe in my players. I believe I have a squad that gets along well and trains seriously. My players are excellent, and I feel very fortunate to coach a group of players who understand each other and work so well together. I trust them, and they repaid that trust with their performances on the pitch.

Even though we made so many changes, I was not worried at all about how the game would develop. In fact, this was the plan from the beginning. I have 23 players available to me, and we wanted to involve everyone. In short, everyone was there and everyone was ready to play. They played very well tonight.

Has your voice held up during this international break?

My voice?

Yes. And could you also tell us about your celebration? When you kicked the ball, did you use the outside or inside of your foot?

I don't even know what I did just now.

Was it completely instinctive?

Definitely. I was caught up in Michael Olise's attack. I saw him start carrying the ball forward and produce a fantastic piece of play, and I wanted to celebrate with him. Then I saw the ball and thought, "Okay, I have to kick it." It probably looked a little silly, but that's okay.

With so many changes made this time, will this become a characteristic of your management of France? Do you plan to rotate this much regularly, or was this a special situation?

No, no. At least during this international break, we have four matches, so I have to use all the players. As for future camps, we'll see. But one thing is certain: I have excellent players at my disposal, and now it is up to me to make the choices.

Even though we changed nine players today, they proved that they were fully committed to the match. That's very important. We changed the players, but the way we wanted to play did not change, and neither did what the players wanted to show on the pitch.

Were you surprised by Jacquet and Doué's performances tonight? How do you assess their displays?

Not at all. As I said before, they are both excellent players, and they performed very well in their respective positions. It was their first appearance for France, so I am very happy for them to have produced performances like that.

I am also pleased that I made that selection. It may not have been an easy decision, but they showed through their performances that there was absolutely no problem with trusting them.

Apart from the result, you must also be pleased with the way the team played. I believe you completed around 630 successful passes, roughly twice as many as Belgium. Considering how inexperienced this lineup was, were you satisfied with the team's technical performance?

Yes, I was. It shows that some of the ideas we wanted to implement were already visible in the game.

We want to have possession and make ourselves run with the ball, rather than constantly chasing it when the opponent has possession. We French people don't particularly like running after the ball all the time. Sometimes we have to do it, and we do it well, but we still prefer to have the ball ourselves.

We have so many excellent players in the team, so I always emphasize keeping the ball at our feet while maintaining movement and the right tempo. They did that tonight.

If France were allowed to field a second team in international competitions, do you think that team could rank among the world's top 10, or even the top five?

In these two matches, people have certainly seen two different lineups. But I don't want to talk about the world's top 10.

What I would say is that I have always believed my players are capable of playing matches like this, whether in Turkey or tonight against Belgium. So we are very satisfied.

We haven't had many training sessions and we have travelled a long way. Now we need to get as much rest as possible and prepare for the third match.

Tonight was just another step. We are happy and we are pleased with the performance, but we know that this match does not change everything. Now we need to rest properly, think about the third game, continue doing what we are doing, try to put in another good performance and fight for the win.

Four players made their first France starts. What did you say to them before the match? Did you need to reassure them or help them settle in?

There was no need to specifically reassure them. We simply prepared for the match as we normally do.

The day before the game, we prepared through our final training session, and then continued the preparations on matchday. We looked at what the opposition does well and tried to limit them. When we had the ball, we tried to make things difficult for them. We did that quite well tonight.

Of course, Belgium had two or three opportunities. Maignan was also excellent in goal. But that's part of football. The goalkeeper is a member of the team as well. It's really good to have Maignan with us.

You kept clean sheets in Turkey and again tonight. Despite fielding an inexperienced defence, the team still didn't concede. Is that another aspect that pleased you?

Yes, it makes me very happy.

I think neither the coach, the goalkeeper nor the whole team likes conceding goals. So I am very pleased with that, and I hope we can continue working hard to keep clean sheets.

Because as long as we don't concede, we have the ability to create opportunities at the other end and try to score.

Could you tell us more about Doué? In your tactical approach, how important is it to have a No. 6 who can build the play, or an No. 8 who can organize the attack?

It's important.

You coached Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić at Real Madrid.

Yes. I like the team to have a clear idea when building from the back.

That way, when the ball reaches the wide players or the very talented attacking players further forward, the next phase of the attack is also much clearer.

That's our idea: to move the ball out from the back quickly and cleanly.

As for your previous question — because you actually asked two questions — Doué did that very well.

And could you also talk about Lepaul? This was his first start. On the pitch, he may not have received as many passes as some of the other players. How did you assess his performance?

I was very pleased with his performance.

He is a member of this team just like everyone else. He made very good runs in the attacking areas. He didn't get many opportunities, but that can happen sometimes. He did everything very well.

In particular, when we pressed high up the pitch, both Akliouche and Lepaul were involved, while Camavinga pushed his position very high.

Of course, people naturally judge a striker by goals, but that's not the most important thing for me. The most important thing is that he was involved in the team's performance and did what he was supposed to do.

He did that very well.

You still have time to think about the next match, but it will be at home at the Stade de France. Will you be excited to meet the French fans at a stadium that has special significance for you?

Yes, I will.

But I can't say that we are already eagerly anticipating it, because right now what I want most is for the players to get some rest.

We haven't had much time to recover, we have travelled a long way and we haven't had many training sessions. We will have more time to train now, so we can gradually get back into our rhythm.

Of course, it will be great to arrive at the Stade de France on Friday with six points and see our supporters. But it will be another match, and a difficult one. Italy also won tonight.

So we have to prepare seriously. At the same time, we are already thinking about Friday's game.