Paul Pogba brings the ball upfield for France during the team's World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands in Amsterdam
Chapter 1 POGBOOM More than 50,000 fans most of them dressed in orange filled the stands at the Amsterdam Arena loudly cheering the Netherlands national soccer team Some waved flags and banners Many hurled insults at the opposing French national team But in an instant they all went silent French defender Laurent Koscielny intercepted a pass near the midfield line He quickly sent it to teammate Dimitri Payet on the left Then Payet squared the ball into the middle of the field His unmarked teammate Paul Pogba received it Pogba a central midfielder took one touch forward The Dutch captain Kevin Strootman gave Pogba space Positioned 35 yards from the goal Pogba sensed his opportunity So the Frenchman wound up and unleashed a rocket of a shot The ball knuckled swerved and dipped to the left Dutch goalie Maarten Stekelenburg dived He was able to get his hands to the ball but that was not enough The ball glanced off his fingers and deflected into the net
Pogba blasts a shot into the goal to give France a lead over the Netherlands
Great goal screamed the television announcer Pogba simply nodded his head as his French teammates mobbed him Powerful shots were nothing new for Pogba Although he was only 23 years old at the time he had established himself on two of the biggest club teams in Europe His physical presence vision and technical ability on the ball made him a force in the central midfield And when the opportunity arose Pogba had proven he could score goals too This wasn’t any ordinary goal though The game was on October 10 2016 France was in Amsterdam the Netherlands for a challenging road game in FIFA World Cup qualifying Only one team from the qualifying group would automatically advance to the 2018 World Cup in Russia Pogba’s score put France up 1 0 against one of its biggest rivals The Netherlands had finished third at the 2014 World Cup It had not lost a World Cup qualifying game since 2001 a stretch of 33 games But thanks to Pogba’s goal that streak ended
