RTE soccer pundit Eamon Dunphy admitted that he had to reassess his view of Paul Pogba following France’s 1-0 win over Belgium on Tuesday.
Pogba was instrumental in the semi-final win and made some critical interventions and key passes, particularly to Corentin Tolisso and Antoine Griezmann in the second-half.
Dunphy said earlier in the tournament that he did not believe that the 25-year-old had the capabilities to become a World Cup winner.
“As someone that has been critical of him, severely so at times, I thought he was very, very good tonight,” said Dunphy.
“Very, very disciplined. It’s a credit to the coach and the team. There’s a structure there that allows him and encourages him to do what he’s good at.
“He tracked back tonight, he out jumped [Marouane] Fellaini, he got to the ball first in his own box a couple of times. A very good performance. A disciplined performance.”
The panel were impressed with the performance of Paul Pogba in the France side in both defence and attack.https://t.co/UmyVzi9FF5 pic.twitter.com/FrAaITDz5a
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 10, 2018
Dunphy added that he thought that Pogba was focused on his role in the side and that he also felt that he was comfortable within manager Didier Deschamps’ side.
“He worked hard. When he used the ball he used it well. He picked out some nice passes and he did a great job of winning headers against my hero Fellaini, and that’s not easy to do.
“His use of the ball was very, very good. Simple but effective. Often you wonder what he’s for but he was focused on what he needed to do and he felt comfortable.
“You have to credit the team and [Didier] Deschamps with that.”
