Paul Pogba says Antonio Rudiger did BITE him as France beat Germany – but Man Utd star adds ‘it was nothing big’
PAUL POGBA insisted France have the hunger for Euro glory – after being on the wrong end of a naughty nibble by Antonio Rudiger.
Pogba was star man as the favourites got off to a winning start thanks to Mats Hummels’ comedy own goal.
But he was also at the centre of a bizarre first half incident when German centre back Rudiger appeared to have a little chomp at his shoulder.
It was a world away from when Luis Suarez took a bite at Georgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup, yet still serious enough for the French midfielder to complain to ref Carlos Del Carro Grande.
Pogba – ironically a pal of the Chelsea defender – revealed: “It was nothing big. You saw the television pictures and it is all over now, in the past.
“He nibbled a little bit and I felt it so I told the ref but I am not crying for a yellow or a red card.
“Me and Toni have known each other for a long time and I just want to play football.
“He has not received any card and I don’t want him suspended because of that situation. We hugged at the end and it is over.”
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira had said “it looked like a bite” during the half-time break on ITV.
But former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane disagreed with his old enemy and played down the incident, describing it as: “More of a nibble than a bite.”
Pogba is more intent on seeing France live up to their billing as favourites to add the Euros to the World Cup they won three years ago – and he knows they rode their luck at times.
He added: “We want to play a big tournament and need to be focused. We have to show our status as world champions, but also be humble and work hard.
“All in all we worked well, it was a good team performance and we did a good job today.”
France had goals by Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema disallowed for hair’s breadth offside calls – yet manager Didier Deschamps said he was never worried they would blow it.
Deschamps said: :That is a very good German team that caused us many problems and we could have done some thjings a lot better, especially in possession.
“But we showed great attitude, great commitment and that gives me a great sense of security – I was not worried.
“I know what this team is capable of so I didn’t worry because we didn’t really have big problems tonight.”
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German boss Joachim Low was not too downcast, but insisted his team have to show a more deadly streak.
He said: “You don’t get a lot of chances against France and we were not clinical enough.
“We showed great eagerness but the only thing we didn’t manage to do was score. – we have to work on this.”
