POGBA SAGA THREATENS TO DERAIL FRANCE
By TOM COLLOMOSSE
AS a storyline, it would have been rejected out of hand even by the writers of Dream Team. One star player forced to deny his brother’s accusations that he had used witchcraft against another? The player in question held at gunpoint in a separate incident and forced to hand over money? Too far-fetched, surely.
But this had nothing to do with Harchester United. This was about reigning world champions France, and two of the planet’s most famous players — Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe.
Earlier this month, Pogba’s brother Mathias published videos on social media promising ‘great revelations’ about the Juventus star — including that he sought to put a curse upon Mbappe, something
Paul has strenuously denied.
‘It is his word against the word of his brother,’ said Mbappe. ‘I am going to believe my team-mate. He called me, he gave his version of the facts.’ According to reports in French newspaper Le Monde, Pogba said in a police statement he agreed to pay £85,000 after being held at gunpoint during an alleged extortion attempt. Mathias Pogba has been charged for his alleged involvement in the extortion plot, and is being held in police custody. It is an extraordinary story that risks having a profound effect on the France squad, regardless of whether Pogba (below) is selected, and would be enough to destabilise many teams. But for Didier Deschamps’ side, it is one of a number of sagas that threaten to overshadow their attempt to retain their World Cup crown. There are major issues off the field too, after France’s sports minister last week ordered an investigation
into the French FA (FFF), whose president, Noel Le Graet, has faced claims of sexual harassment. The federation have also announced they will sue So Foot magazine, after they published a six-page investigation. And to cap it off, Mbappe and the FFF are involved in an image rights dispute that saw the Paris Saint-Germain star threaten to pull out of a planned team photograph this week.
Player for player, this squad remain the most talented in the business, despite injuries currently ruling out several key men including captain Hugo Lloris and star striker Karim Benzema. The presence of Real Madrid midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, along with star forwards Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Christopher Nkunku and Antoine Griezmann, means this is still a formidable group, but whether they can ignore all the outside noise remains to be seen. With France winless in their opening four Nations League matches and in need of an upturn in form to avoid relegation to League B, their upcoming games against Austria and Denmark should offer plenty of clues.
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FRANCE haven’t won any of their last four competitive matches. Their poor run includes home defeats by Denmark (2-1) and Croatia (1-0).