Saints’ Morgan Schneiderlin showed his class on the international stage as he ran the show in France U21’s 2-0 win over Columbia in the Toulon Tournament.

Schneiderlin is the only member of the French squad to currently play football outside his homeland, but opened the scoring and pulled all the strings in an impressive display.

The tournament is a provisional competition being held in France ahead of the European Under-21 Championship in Denmark next year, in which the young Saint will be hoping to secure a place in his country’s starting XI.

Despite being the underdogs, Columbia started brightly and almost punished France for their complacency when Luis Marel saw his long range effort sail just wide of Yohann Thuram-Ulien’s post.

Schneiderlin proved to be the driving force behind Les Bleus and was at the heart of every attack in the opening exchanges.

He nearly got on the scoresheet in the 12th minute, when his effort from a corner was cleared off the line, and he finally did get France into the lead a minute before the break with a ferocious strike from 20 yards.

A stunning overhead kick from Lynell Kitambala doubled France’s lead late on.

Schneiderlin’s France take on Japan in their next match on May 20.