PAUL POGBA has hit out at the French boo boys, saying: “We need fans, not spectators.”
The 1998 winners were booed off after playing out the first goalless draw of the tournament against Denmark on Tuesday.
But Manchester United star Pogba (inset) was not impressed with the France fans and says they must get behind the team when they face Argentina in the last
16 in Kazan on Saturday.
He said: “I don’t know what people expect, that we win 10-0 or 5-0?
“The most important thing was the qualification, and we did it.
“We need everyone with us. Our fans are the 12th man. We need fans, not spectators.
“I don’t know if the boos only came from the French fans, people wanted more spectacle. “Our objective was to finish top of the group. “It should be the objective of everyone.” Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante believes France will turn the jeers to cheers. “The quality of the game sometimes depends on the opposition,” he said. “We all knew it was a special game because we knew all we needed was a draw.
“The tempo was slow, that’s why we played this kind of game.
“But I think we can do better, we will improve in the next game. “On the pitch, I didn’t feel the booing was for us.
“It was just for the slow tempo of the game at the end.”
JAVIER MASCHERANO says Argentina have plenty to prove if they are to recover from the mess of the group stages.
A spectacular Lionel Messi strike and a dramatic 86thminute winner from Marcos Rojo were enough to beat Nigeria 2-1 and set up a last-16 meeting with France.
But Mascherano admitted the draw against Iceland and humbling defeat to Croatia will take some shaking off, as will the off-field disharmony.
The midfielder said: “We did not start in the best way, that is clear. We got into a mess, but we were able to clean up the mess a bit.
“Now we will see how it continues on Saturday in Kazan against France.”
The crisis in the camp was such that coach Jorge Sampaoli was rumoured to be on his way out, and Argentina on their way home.
After a meeting between the players and Argentinian FA
from GERRY COX
president Claudio Tapia it was said that Mascherano and Messi picked the team to play Nigeria on Tuesday.
That theory seemed to be backed up by a video of Sampaoli apparently asking Messi if he should send on Sergio Aguero as a late substitute.
Mascherano says much work lies ahead.
He added: “Obviously, after our previous failures, there are a lot of things to put right.
“But above all, it was fighting to the end that earned us the reward.
“We never backed down. We fought back and it is a joy that we have been able to take that step forward mentally.
“France are a great team, one of the favourites to win the World Cup.
“We are not favourites, we are here to fight and to see if it works for us. Hopefully it will be enough.”