Mark van Bommel is enjoying a fine spell. Son Ruben marked his Netherlands debut with an excellent assist and, as Belgium manager, Van Bommel then saw his side beat Italy 0-2 in impressive fashion.
"As a father, seeing your son make his debut for the Netherlands is beautiful in itself," Van Bommel was quoted as saying at a media moment on Sunday by Algemeen Dagblad. "We were watching on the phone with a large part of the staff and then he produced that assist. Wonderful, although of course I would have loved to have been in the stadium."
Belgium's manager also loves the fact Xavi has already thrown his son in at the deep end. "Xavi is a fantastic guy. I played with him at Barcelona and he was coach when I faced Barça with Antwerp in the Champions League. The fact that he is now giving Ruben his debut makes it twice as special. We were already in touch briefly before the international break."
Monday brings another huge name. 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 is named after you, you have not done badly."
One blow for the Nations League meeting is the absence of Kylian Mbappé, who has withdrawn from the France squad with a knee injury.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 style of play will not change compared to Italy. If you get played out once, that is not a problem, as long as everyone knows what he has to do," Van Bommel told his players.
He has yet to decide 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 attempts fail, then you try a seventh time, because that is his great quality."
For his part, Godts is not backing away from the battle with Jérémy Doku and Malick Fofana. "That is also why I made the move to PSG. Competition is normal in top-level football."