FRANCE: POGBA WINS SECOND TITLE

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has won his second title with France at senior level after the world champions saw off Spain to win the UEFA Nations League at the weekend.


Paul Pogba was a key player in the French midfield as they came from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 in the final of the UEFA Nations League played at the San Siro in the Italian capital of Milan on Sunday night.

Manchester United star Pogba was able to add the UEFA Nations League title to the World Cup title from three years ago inRussia. Paul Pogba scored one of the goals as France beat fellow European team Croatia 4-2 in the final to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament. It was the second World Cup title for France after the first title won home soil in 1998.

France didn’t have it their own way on the way to winning the UEFA Nations League as they had to come from behind in the two games played. The world champions were almost dead and buried in the first half of their UEFA Nations League  semi-final clash with the Red Devils of Belgium. France trailed by two goals at the end of the first 45 minutes but they were able to turn it around in the second half via three goals from Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and Theo Hernandez. Paul Pogba and France sealed a final meeting with the Spanish team in the UEFA Nations League following the 3-2 win over Belgium.

After a disappointing first half, the UEFA Nations League final came to live around the midway point of the second half. AC Milan left-back Theo Hernandez hit the post before Real Sociedad star Mikel Oyarzabal gave Spain the lead on 66 minutes, but the advantage lasted for just two minutes. In-form Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema received the ball from strike partner Kylian Mbappe around the edge of the Spanish area before unleashing an unstoppable strike that Unai Simon in the Spanish goal could not save.

The equaliser from Benzema paved the way for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) star Kylian Mbappe to score a controversial winner with ten minutes left on the clock. He was in an offside position when the abovementioned Hernandez played a through-ballto him. The goal was counted after a VAR check. Spanish centre back Eric Garcia slightly touched the ball on its way to Mbappe during the build-up to his goal and that prompted the award of the goal controversially despite the fact that Mbappe was in an offside position.

France are the winners of the second edition of the UEFA Nations League replacing Portugal who won the first edition.

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