GUERRERO BAN LIFTED
Pogba aims to pull the strings... but is under big pressure to deliver
PAUL POGBA wants to be the Napoleon of the France team at the World Cup.
But the Manchester United midfielder’s leading role is under threat – and his career is in danger of making a retreat from Moscow.
France football’s most expensive player was booed off when substituted during a pre-tournament friendly with Italy.
Former Marseille player Eric Di Meco claimed Pogba was still playing only because of his reputation and that Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso should patrol the centre of the park.
“Some players have two bad games and you no longer see them in the France team,” Di
Meco said. “He has almost unlimited credit – and it is no longer possible.”
Boss Didier Deschamps responded by claiming Pogba was “indispensable” but urged him to raise his game in Russia.
Yet the 25-year-old expressed his frustration at his role in the team. “I can play on the right, the left, as a holding midfielder,” he said.
“I feel comfortable but it’s not like I have always been given the best chance to succeed.
“It’s like you saying to me, ‘I will give you this house but you won’t have the keys’. “There are things that don’t depend on me, there is also the team. And then if I don’t make the difference, people will say I’ve not had a good match.
“I’m a No.8 and I should be judged like that. Paul has to be the boss, yes, people on the outside think that, me too. But it is not only about me. I want to take the reins of the team but for that to happen the team has to be set up the right way.”
At least he has the support of his team-mates.
Kylian Mbappe (left) said: “He is a midfielder, not an attacker.
“We’re not asking him to score every match but to bring his physical presence, his vision.
“I have the feeling that whatever he does, people say he should always do more.
“We should admire the player he is. We are lucky he is French.” DENMARK coach Age Hareide makes no secret of his side’s tactics in Russia.
“When we get the ball, we look for Christian Eriksen,” he said.
The Tottenham playmaker showed his value with his hat-trick against the Republic of Ireland in the play-offs to see Denmark qualify for their first major tournament since 2010.
With 11 goals in 14 appearances, Hareide’s 4-2-3-1 formation is designed to get him in the game.
The boss said: “When looking at the players that play centrally for Real Madrid and Barcelona, none of them are better than Christian.
“Luka Modric came from Tottenham to Real Madrid, and he was not as good as Christian.” PERU captain Paolo Guerrero will play at the World Cup after the skippers of the other three Group C teams asked FIFA to temporarily lift his drug ban.
The Flamengo striker (right) tested positive for cocaine in October last year and was initially banned for a year – then it was increased to 14 months by the Court of Arbitration after it had been cut to six.
Guerrero, who played for Bayern Munich, claimed the positive test came from drinking contaminated tea. Now a Swiss tribunal has set aside the suspension – and Granada midfielder Sergio Pena has been cut from the squad.