Van Bommel advises Godts: 'Keep doing that, that is your greatest quality'

These are good days for Mark van Bommel. Son Ruben produced a fine assist on his debut for the Netherlands and, as Belgium manager, he oversaw an impressive 0-2 win over Italy.

"As a father, seeing your son make his debut for the Netherlands is beautiful in itself," Van Bommel was quoted as saying on Sunday at a media moment by Algemeen Dagblad. "We were watching on our phones with a large part of the staff and then he provided that assist. Wonderful, although of course I would have loved to have been in the stadium."

Belgium's coach thinks it is fantastic that Xavi is already throwing his son in at the deep end. "Xavi is a fantastic guy. I played with him at Barcelona and he was coach when I was up against Barça with Antwerp in the Champions League. The fact he is now letting Ruben make his debut makes it twice as special. We were already in touch briefly before the international break."

On Monday, Van Bommel comes up against another great. Zinédine Zidane's France visit Brussels. "It is special to coach against Zidane. He was an exceptional footballer. I played against him once, with Barça against Real Madrid. If a dribble move is named after you, you have not done badly."

One blot on the Nations League meeting is the absence of Kylian Mbappé, who has withdrawn from the France squad with a knee injury. "I think it is a shame that Kylian Mbappé is not involved, because as a coach you prefer to face the best. However, our way of playing will not change compared with Italy. If you get played out once, that is not a problem, as long as everyone knows what he has to do," Van Bommel tells his players.

He cannot yet say whether Mika Godts will start against France on Monday. The winger caught the eye against Italy with a wonderful goal. "I told Mika that he has to keep making things happen. If six fail, then you try a seventh time, because that is his great quality."

For his part, Godts does not shy away from the battle for places with Jérémy Doku and Malick Fofana. "That is also why I made the move to PSG. Competition is normal in top-level football."