Koné stuns in France’s win over Belgium, NT coach Deschamps: “He played really well.”

Roma midfielder Koné was given the chance to make his first start for France’s senior team tonight.

The 23-year-old featured in Didier Deschamps’ starting line-up and played the entire match in France’s 2-0 win over Belgium.

After the match, Deschamps praised Koné.

“I’m satisfied with his performance,” said the French manager.

“He made a tackle and was booked very early, for a defensive midfielder it’s not ideal to receive a yellow card at the start of the match. If it had been a knockout match maybe I would have acted differently.”

“The team still needs to improve, especially in midfield where three players are missing in addition to Zaire-Emery who is injured. But Koné played really well.”