Zinedine Zidane was pleased with Leny Yoro’s first France appearance, with the Manchester United defender earning praise after helping France beat Belgium 4-1 on Monday night.
Leny Yoro was brought into the squad after Ibrahima Konate withdrew through injury. He was trusted to start alongside Chelsea’s Maxence Lacroix. For a player making his senior international debut, there was little sign of nerves.
The 20-year-old finished the game with 89 touches and completed 74 of his 78 passes. More importantly, he looked comfortable in possession and dealt well with Belgium as France recovered from Dodi Lukebakio’s opener, as detailed in our piece highlighting his debut impact.
Zidane impressed by Manchester United defender
Yoro’s impressive performance comes at a very important time for him. Regular football seems hard to come by at Manchester United this season, and the outing can give him an outside chance to be an option for Michael Carrick as the Premier League returns.
He has made only two Premier League appearances, both from the bench. His only starts came in the Champions League win over Sabah and the EFL Cup defeat to Brighton.
Zidane clearly liked what he saw.
“There’s a lot of competition for that position, so when we lost Ibrahima Konaté, we immediately wanted to bring in Leny,” the France boss said via L’Equipe.
“I’m happy for him because he had a great game. He played his role well. I’m happy for all these young players on the French national team.”
Yoro did not just make his debut; he came through it with credit.
The next challenge for Leny Yoro is getting more minutes at club level. After a quiet start under Michael Carrick, Yoro now has a strong international performance to take back to Old Trafford.
