We had 90 minutes to make a story and we made it: Pogba

Paris :PAUL Pogba was the last to arrive. There was little doubt that he was the man everyone was waiting for. The rest of his mates of this World Cup-winning and potentially era-defining team had already passed through the mixed zone, boarding the bus to the team hotel to pick their stuff and take the flight to Paris where their fans will flood the Champs Elysees for the victory parade.
Pogba entered the hall — designed specifically with a walkway for the players to go through with only a three-foot high, one-inch thick plastic wall propped up on a metallic base to keep the hordes of journalists at a safe distance from them — alongside captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. He announced his arrival loudly and then proceeded to shake hands with the press pack looking forward to sharing that moment with him and getting his reaction.
Lloris immediately ran to a Colombian journalist, giving him a deep hug while celebrating with him. Pogba did the same; they jumped for joy and the strength of the plastic wall that separated them was tested. That wall had fallen moments earlier, prompting several reporters to hit the floor when Adil Rami, the man who calls himself the joker of this French squad, was speaking. Only after that, the volunteers on the side of the players began to push back the wall whenever they felt that the press pack was leaning too much onto it.
Anyways, you’d wonder why Lloris and Pogba were celebrating so passionately with a Colombian journalist when a huge number of reporters from France were already there. Well, the man in question is a close friend of Davinson Sanchez, Lloris’ team-mate at Tottenham Hotspur, and Juan Cuadrado, Pogba’s pal at former side Juventus. Pogba’s appearance in the mixed zone had taken the spotlight off Antoine Griezmann, who was speaking to a large group of reporters from Spain.
About a couple of hours ago, France had blown away Croatia 4-2 to lift the World Cup. It was a complete performance; one that showed France’s brilliance and their supreme control. Not at any stage had France looked nervous.
“We had 90 minutes to make a story and we made it today,” Pogba said as he stopped to take questions from Dawn. “I’m extremely happy to be a world champion. This really is a dream come true.”
An own goal by Mario Mandzukic off a Griezmann free-kick gave France the lead after Croatia had dominated the early stages. Ivan Perisic’s stunning strike levelled matters but the French got a VAR decision in their favour when Perisic couldn’t react quickly enough to get his hand out of the way and gave away a penalty that Griezmann tucked away to give France a 2-1 lead by the 38th minute. Pogba’s goal saw France surge clear just before the hour mark before Kylian Mbappe added a fourth to seal the result with Lloris’ error, that contributed to Mandzukic pulling one back, proving inconsequential.
“We were playing against a great team which had a tactic against us and a plan against us,” said Pogba when asked about France’s largely nerveless performance. “I think the first goal hit them a bit and so did the penalty. But then we scored the third and the fourth quickly and that made all the difference.”
The victory was a sort of redemption for Pogba. He came to this World Cup after a season at Manchester United where he was criticised for his performances. Before the final on Sunday, he had no goals or assists at the World Cup. His goal was huge and he left Russia as a world champion.
“That’s what I play for, that’s why I star,” Pogba said when asked if this win was a riposte to the critics. “That’s why we train every day, that’s why we push ourselves, that’s why we are doing all that the sacrifices in life. Everyone, however, wants to see the shiny things in life, like my house or my fast cars. But we work a lot for it and deserve it. We try to do the right things and try to help people in need. At the end of the day, we’re also human beings and that criticism is nothing.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)