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.”
