A 13-minute storm: Zidane’s genius, Olise’s magic and the beauty of football

Football has a strange way of turning despair into delight. One moment, a team can look lost, frustrated and short of ideas; minutes later, the same team can be playing with freedom, confidence and breathtaking imagination.

France’s 4-1 comeback against Belgium was exactly that kind of night --a footballing storm that arrived suddenly and swept everything away in just 13 extraordinary minutes.

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For much of the first half, France looked uncomfortable. Belgium defended deep, closed the spaces and made life difficult for a French side searching for answers. France had already gone eight consecutive matches without scoring in the first half, and that frustration was visible again.

Then, in the 35th minute, Belgium struck. Romeo Lavia produced a superb long pass for Dodi Lukebakio, who finished past France debutant goalkeeper Guillaume Restes to put Belgium 1-0 ahead.

At that moment, France looked closer to a nightmare than a masterpiece. Belgium had the lead, France were struggling to break through the low block, and the game seemed to be slipping away.

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The 2018 World Cup winners, playing without captain Kylian Mbappe, controlled possession but failed to create chances against a packed defensive block, making it an eighth consecutive match without scoring in the first half.

Then came Zinedine Zidane’s response.

The France coach turned to his bench, introducing Michael Olise and Rayan Cherki around the hour mark before bringing on Desire Doue 12 minutes later. It was a reminder that great managers are not only judged by the starting XI they select, but also by the changes they make when a match refuses to follow the expected script.

Those substitutions changed everything.

France suddenly played with greater speed, creativity and directness. The spaces that had been so difficult to find in the first half began to appear. Belgium, so organised earlier, suddenly looked vulnerable. And Doue provided the breakthrough in the 77th minute, finding the corner with a low shot from outside the box.

The equaliser did more than change the score. It changed the mood, the momentum and the belief.

Four minutes later, France were ahead. Olise delivered a dangerous low ball into the area and Cherki finished to make it 2-1. What had looked like a Belgian-controlled evening had suddenly become a French celebration.

And then came Olise.

In the 88th minute, Doue found Olise inside the box, and the winger showed the composure and precision that have made him such an important figure for France. He finished calmly to make it 3-1.

But he was not finished.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Doue again supplied Olise, who completed the comeback by finishing between the goalkeeper’s legs. Four goals in roughly 13 minutes. A match that had begun as a French nightmare had become a hurricane.

That is what made this victory so fascinating. It was not simply about four goals. It was about the transformation of a team. Zidane recognised that France needed something different and trusted the quality sitting on his bench. Doue, Cherki and Olise responded in spectacular fashion. Every one of them played a decisive role in turning the match around.

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And perhaps Zidane himself summed up the night best after the final whistle. “Tonight, this is soccer, this is what we love,” he said.

“We faced some difficulties in the first half, but that's part of the game. It's the kind of match you get from time to time. It's good to set things right — which is what we did — and we managed to play an extraordinary second half.”

Olise offered a similar perspective, stressing that the transformation was a collective effort. France had suffered together in the first half and responded together in the second.

That is the beauty of football. It can punish you for 45 minutes and reward you spectacularly in the next 13. It can make a team look ordinary before suddenly revealing its brilliance. It can turn frustration into belief and a losing position into a statement victory.

France did not merely defeat Belgium 4-1. They produced a comeback that captured the unpredictability, drama and beauty of the game itself.

From 0-1 to 4-1 in 14 minutes — Zidane pulled the strings, Olise supplied the magic, and France turned a nightmare into a hurricane.