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
QUALIF 040 RE RUSIA 20 Teammates celebrate with Pogba after his goal against the Netherlands
France went on to win 1 0 Now with momentum the team known as Les Bleus went on to win five of the final seven games to finish first in the qualifying group That secured an automatic berth to the World Cup despite playing in one of the most difficult groups in Europe Though one of the younger players on the team Pogba played a major role He started and played the entire 90 minutes in the seven of 10 matches for which he was healthy And in one of France’s other biggest games against Sweden he scored again This time he used his big body to hold off his defender in the box When a free kick came his way Pogba used his head to redirect it into the net FRENCH NATIONAL TEAM The French national team debuted in 1904 Since winning its first World Cup in 1998 France has established itself as a power in the sport The team known as Les Bleus for its signature blue jerseys plays most home games at Stade de France in a Paris suburb During the 1980s midfielder Michel Platini became France’s first big star Midfielder Zinedine Zidane led the team to its greatest successes including the 1998 World Cup Other stars have included Just Fontaine Thierry Henry Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira These types of plays had come to be expected of Pogba He had been playing at the top level of European club
