Manchester United winger Amad Diallo marked his return to the Ivory Coast national team with a good performance as they beat Zambia.

Ivory Coast grabbed a 2-0 win over Zambia on Friday, in what was an African Cup of Nations qualifying clash.

At Stade de la Paix, Jean-Phillippe Krasso’s late double proved to be enough to lead the Elephants to victory.

Just as his team started their African Cup of Nations title defense, Amad was called back to the Ivory Coast squad for the first time in eighteen months.

Prior to his involvement against Zambia, the United player had earned his final six caps for the Ivorians in March 2023. He missed out on AFCON glory when his side won the competition at home.

It came as little surprise that Amad was selected in the starting lineup to play Zambia after his outstanding club performances, and he did not let anyone down.

Interestingly, the 22-year-old primarily played in a midfield role, with Oumar Diakite deployed on the right wing instead.

During the 70 minutes he was on the pitch before being replaced by Benie Traore, Amad had 63 touches of the ball to his name.

He misplaced just one of the 34 passes he attempted, managing an impressive pass accuracy of 97. Four of his passes were key passes.

The Red Devils forward tried to find his teammates with eight crosses. He found his target four times.

Amad registered three shots. Two were off-target while one required Tresford Lawrence Mulenga to swing into immediate action.

He missed one big chance.

One area Amad will be keen to improve on ahead of Ivory Coast’s next match is his dribbling. He embarked on six dribbles and failed to complete any of them.

The United no.16 won two of the 10 ground duels he contested. He drew in two could and made one interception.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Ivory Coast’s next meeting is against Chad on Tuesday and Amad will undoubtedly be hoping to get another start.