Mark van Bommel could not have asked for a better start with Belgium. France, then, face anything but a straightforward evening. The Red Devils head into their eagerly awaited clash with Zinedine Zidane on a high, having beaten Italy 2-0 to open their UEFA Nations League campaign.
Les Bleus meet Belgium on Monday in Zidane's second match at the helm. He began his tenure with a hard-fought win over Turkey, settled by a single goal from Kylian Mbappe before the forward limped off injured.
Van Bommel knows Belgium will not see as much of the ball against France. Even so, he intends to stick to his style and his ideas, insisting his side will try to impose their character on the game and draw on the confidence banked against Italy.
The Dutch coach told French website "Foot Mercato" that his team wanted to show the same enthusiasm they displayed in Rome, with a few tactical tweaks dictated by the change in opponent.
Zidane is familiar territory for van Bommel. The pair were team-mates in La Liga across the 2005 and 2006 seasons, and now they meet again from opposing touchlines as coaches of Belgium and France.
Timothy Castagne, for his part, stressed that Belgium are not treating the match as a revenge mission. They simply want to keep the momentum rolling after the win over Italy.
This one carries real weight. Belgium have failed to beat France in their last five meetings, turning the clash into a genuine test of van Bommel's new project.
Optimism is running high after the Italy result. Local media, meanwhile, cast the France game as the first real examination of the Dutch coach, and a chance for the Red Devils to prove they can trade blows with Europe's biggest sides.
France, too, arrive full of confidence after their first win under Zidane. But they will be without Mbappe, who left the camp with an injury.
His absence hardly simplifies matters for Belgium. Les Bleus still boast names capable of settling the tie, chief among them Kevin De Bruyne and Mika Godts, who opened the scoring against Italy.
Monday, then, doubles as an early test of Zidane's France project and a chance for van Bommel to script an even more thrilling start with Belgium, after downing Italy on his first outing.
