I LIVE FOR FOOTBALL
Pogba pours heart out after semi-final heroics
THIS IS MY FIRST LOVE. I WILL KEEP FIGHTING FOR IT
It didn’t take much to bring the words and the emotion tumbling out of Paul Pogba. For all the bravado and cool he has been displaying across Russia these past four weeks, it seems he was desperate for some vindication all along.
‘I know that sometimes you are doing good, sometimes you are doing bad, but that’s how you grow,’ he said after the semi-final victory over Belgium, before launching into an unexpected declaration of love for his sport which seemed to be his way of saying that he is not as detached and self-absorbed as many like to think.
‘I came from... I wouldn’t exactly say nothing,’ the 25- year- old said. ‘But obviously I had no (riches). I could do one thing — play football. It was my love. My first love. I live for football.
‘I wouldn’t say that I’m young but I’m not old. I can improve and get better and better. If I hear good things or bad things, I will keep fighting for my love.’
there’s been very little romance with his own nation in these past few years, during which French audiences have been among his most exacting critics.
He was whistled by a home crowd in Nice when replaced in the second half of a 3-1 win over Italy, ahead of this tournament. It is his discipline which has earned him some redemption now.
Even in the crushing of Argentina 12 days ago, there were moments when the individualist in Pogba took over and he would rush off into some enterprise which was pointless, leaving his team out of shape. But the general picture has been of a player committed to Didier Deschamps’ collective in a way which Jose Mourinho has not often seen.
For France, he has consistently been the axis between defence and attack that Manchester United always wanted. the win over Belgium revealed the full Pogba range, from a willingness to join the defensive element on which France’s run to the final has been built, to the execution of passes which broke Belgium’s defensive lines.
‘Sometimes he can lose himself by doing things that aren’t useful,’ Arsene Wenger said in his analysis for BeIN SPoRtS. ‘today he kept things simple and was impressive. His long balls are impressive. Few can do that in the world.’
If there could be a criticism of Pogba against Belgium then it was his initial indecision about where to join in the collective effort. At times he seemed conflicted about whether to help Benjamin Pavard cope with Eden Hazard or deal with Marouane Fellaini. But there was an honour in his determination to work. that’s the difference that Deschamps makes. He reads and man-manages Pogba in a way that United manager Mourinho does not.
Pogba also seems to crave the appreciation of his compatriots. Perhaps that’s what international football brings out in a player.
the French were not at all sure which Pogba would turn up in Russia. ‘He will be the player who helps France to win the World Cup, or the one who causes the team to lose the title,’ the distinguished commentator Vincent Duluc observed before the tournament.
But the very fact he has been willing to talk publicly so much here points to a wish to change things. this is an individual who usually walks straight past journalists after matches and whose utterances come through his 10- minute programme on France’s Canal+ channel, called Pogba Mondial.
His was not the element of the team’s performance earning rave reviews in Paris yesterday. the defence was being feted even more than the sublime attacking prospect, Kylian Mbappe. ‘Patient, methodical, superior. No romance, but a flame,’ was L’Equipe’s description of the way France reached the final.
the contribution of central defensive partners Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane was also a source of national delight. the pair operated well together when Gareth Southgate’s England went to the French capital and lost 3-2, 13 months ago, but were criticised after Colombia beat France by the same scoreline in March.
Deschamps praised Pogba for shaking off the straitjacket Belgium had tried to impose on him by detailing Fellaini to stay tight and limit his chances to create.
‘He had less freedom but he knew what to do,’ Deschamps said. ‘Paul, I must say, very honestly, has grown in the team. He is a very expressive player. He knows what to do.’
Pogba has been around for long enough to know that the public mood can change with the wind. ‘At the moment we are doing great,’ he said. ‘It’s a dream for everybody. A dream which we have to realise. It’s always nice to win, and to hear nice things about the team, about yourself and everything.
‘I say it again — I don’t want to prove nothing to nobody. But now we need to finish this. We are not done yet.’