Pogba urges France to avenge Euros defeat

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Paul Pogba and his France teammates celebrate against Belgium.
  • Post published:July 11, 2018

Paul Pogba has urged France not to let an opportunity to win the World Cup pass as Les Bleus booked their place in Sunday’s showpiece with a 1-0 win over Belgium.

Pogba, 25, was instrumental in the semi-final win in St Petersburg, as Samuel Umtiti’s goal in the 51st minute put the 1998 champions in the World Cup final against the winner of Croatia and England.

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The Manchester United midfielder was part of the France squad that lost 1-0 in extra time to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final, and Pogba hopes they can now go one better on Sunday.

‘It’s beautiful, it’s good, but there’s still a step,’ he told L’Equipe.

‘Today I’m happy but it’s not like the Euros. We had the chance to win the final of the Euros, but we missed a wonderful thing and we must not let this chance pass.

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‘You have to focus. We savour [the win] a little, but we must now focus on the final. We were there [in 2016], we were close to winning the title and we missed.

‘It makes me happy that people are happy, but I hope to make them even happier on the evening of 15 July.’

Highlights: France vs Belgium

Pogba later took to social media to dedicate France’s win over Belgium to the football team that was rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.