Zidane wasn’t happy about it: “I don’t know if Italy deserved the tie.”

Alessandro Bastoni spoiled Zinedine Zidane’s party in Saint-Denis: Italy forced a draw against France in their Nations League Matchday 3 clash thanks to a second-half goal by the Inter defender, who capitalized on a mistake by Rabiot and Da Cunha.

After the game, Zidane spoke to RAI reporters and commented on the match with a touch of bitterness: “A draw leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as always—we always want to win. I don’t know if Italy’s equalizer was deserved, but that’s soccer. I’m happy with what we did, but if you have two scoring chances, you have to score. Italy played their game; they defend well and then counterattack dangerously.”

“Did I expect Italy to play like this? They can have a bad game every now and then, but they can also play well. They played well in Turkey, and tonight they played their own game.”

Italy’s head coach Mancini praised his players: “We knew it would be extremely tough, but we did well to limit their chances. We did some excellent things. Since the second half against Belgium, we’ve improved; we tried to do the right things, and when we had to defend, we defended well. If these guys keep working hard, they can become an excellent national team—it’ll take some time, but we’re developing well.”