A tough situation for Paul Pogba, the world champion who won the World Cup with France in 2018 in Russia after he finds himself out of the global competition that starts in November after an injury.
But the pain must be bigger for the superstar who left Manchester United for the second time in his career after a disagreement with the way the club was using his talent.
Pogba’s new club, or old club so to say as he returned to Juventus where he went after he left Manchester the first time, is also eliminated from the Champions League.
Paul Pogba will miss the World Cup this year due to injury, according to his agent.
The 29-year-old former Manchester United star has not played since rejoining Juventus in the summer after suffering a knee injury in preseason. He was supposed to return in September, but he has had two major setbacks on his road to recovery.
Pogba had surgery on his torn meniscus, leaving his World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. He returned to first-team training earlier this month, but now has a thigh injury that means he won’t be able to play for France in Qatar.
News reports on Tuesday said his agent confirmed the situation with Pogba.
The agent in a message had said it is extremely painful for Paul Pogba following medical reviews in Torino and Pittsburgh which means the latter will need recovery time from his surgery.
Rafaela Pimenta also says for this reason, Pogba will not be able to join the Juventus squad before the World Cub break nor the French National Team in Qatar. It is a blow for France too.
“But what changes things are hard work, resilience and discipline, all of which are the only things in Paul’s mind at these challenging times. Paul will continue working giving his very best to be back on the pitch for the fans and his team as soon as possible,” his agent says.
France head to Qatar as World Cup holders and with the newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner in their ranks, so all should be rosy for coach Didier Deschamps.
But injuries, recent results and off-field matters have raised doubts about their prospects of becoming the first team to successfully defend the World Cup trophy since Brazil in 1962.
After the ups and downs of last year, when Didier Deschamps’ team went out of the European Championship on penalties to Switzerland in the last 16 and then bounced back to win the UEFA Nations League, there has not been too much to shout about in 2022 for Les Bleus.
They have won just one of their last six games, a run that included two defeats against Denmark, one of their upcoming World Cup opponents.
France are not the only major European side to have struggled in these Nations League matches, but of greater concern is the fact that their two midfield pillars from the triumphant 2018 campaign in Russia will not be in the squad this time.
Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante is out with a hamstring injury that required surgery, and earlier this week it was confirmed that Paul Pogba will also play no part.
The Juventus playmaker was clinging to the hope that he could recover from a knee injury in time to feature in the squad that Deschamps will name next week.
But he has not played for his club since signing from Manchester United in the close season and this week he admitted defeat in his battle to be fit for Qatar.
“There was still some hope that he would be back. He is such an important player for the team. He will be hugely missed,” captain Hugo Lloris admitted.
Between them they have played 144 times for their country and their absence leaves a gaping hole in the middle of the park.
Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot of Juventus appear the favourites to fill that hole, while Deschamps is hoping injuries elsewhere — such as that suffered by centre-back Raphael Varane — will clear up in time.
“When you start a competition you need to have confidence in all the players who are called up. Then it’s up to those players to create a synergy and make us strong as a team,” added Lloris.
Fearsome attack
Perhaps the absence of Pogba will be a blessing, especially given his personal issues — he is also embroiled in an alleged extortion plot involving his own brother that has led to Mathias Pogba being charged along with four other people.
Pogba said he was being blackmailed for 13 million euros ($12.9m) and told investigators that his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Kylian Mbappe.
The last team from France get-together was also overshadowed by a row between Mbappe and the French Football Federation over image rights that risked damaging squad morale.
On top of that, the FFF’s veteran 80-year-old president, Noel Le Graet, has been in the firing line since So Foot magazine published accusations by some former employees of mistreatment during their time at the federation.
The French government also recently announced it was launching an audit of the federation.
“It’s not the calmest atmosphere that I have known,” admitted Deschamps a few weeks ago.
But his focus is now purely on the football, and for all their problems France still have a fearsome side.
Benzema, who will turn 35 the day after the final, is in the form of his life and his presence means France may not need Olivier Giroud even if he has also been performing well for AC Milan.
Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Kingsley Coman are all world-class attackers and Christopher Nkunku was the best player in the Bundesliga last season.
Then there is Mbappe, who in 2018 became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele.
Now approaching his 24th birthday, the Paris Saint-Germain superstar may be relieved to be away from the spotlight of his club for a few weeks after endless speculation about his future.
If Mbappe and Benzema click together, then that is likely to spell trouble for France’s opponents.
Paul Pogba, a midfielder for Juventus, discussed his time playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United last year. This is after the whole controversy that surrounded Ronaldo relating to the Erik ten Hag drama.
Cristiano Ronaldo, to a number of Manchester United and Ten Hag fans’ dismay, did an explosive interview with Piers Morgan about his time in United. There were a number of fans backlashing the superstar, but it appears that a number of footballers are aligning themselves with Ronaldo.
Both players have played for Juventus throughout their careers and have spent time at Old Trafford twice. In the summer of 2021, the greatest of all time from Portugal returned to Manchester United on a two-year contract.
He played on the pitch with Pogba 20 times as a teammate during the 2021–22 season. This was the only season the two were teammates, despite having a close connection with Manchester United and Juventus.
However, it was sufficient for the France international to assess Cristiano Ronaldo’s perspective on the game.
“The discipline of Ronaldo was unbelievable – I’ve never seen this. The discipline is on another level. I see professional players, a lot of players, they’re very professional, they come early, they all do recoveries and stuff like that,” stated Pogba.
He then added, “But someone that’s been there every single day and doesn’t stop – that’s Cristiano. Every day! Some days you’re like, I’m ok! But he doesn’t miss one day. His discipline to do it every single day – this is something.”
Internet comments on Pogba, Manchester United and Ronaldo
Imagine trying to explain to someone in 20 years time that Manchester United once got rid of Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani in the same season whilst keeping McTominay Rashford and Maguire. 💀
There were comments made about Ten Hag’s decision to remove Pogba, Ronaldo, Mata and Cavani. However, fans are thinking that in a few years, United may suffer for this as the players that they neglected are the ones that were carrying the team on their backs.
They instead chose to keep the less performing players, players that are not known to most people who are not Manchester United fans. However, fans claimed that some of these players, like Ronaldo, are reaching the age of retirement.
Some are still adamant that Ronaldo is a troublemaker with an ego problem. Be that as it may, Ronaldo has a number of awards to prove that he is eligible to have ego problems, especially when he is constantly sidelined by Erik ten Hag.
Manchester United fans claimed that Pogba is another “problematic” player and hence stated that a problem would never be able to identify another problem. There were fans that claimed that Ronaldo has passed his glory years due to his age.
Others are still bitter about Ronaldo’s interview with Piers Morgan, as they claim that no matter how great of a player he is, he should not be entitled to a “big mouth.”
The 2022 World Cup has broken records as it has the highest number of participating players in its history. Now they have 832 players. 31 of them are players that belong to Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Manchester United has the most examples in the World Cup with a whopping 14 players, which obviously includes their legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Bayern Munich has 17, Manchester City has 16, similar to Barcelona.
Unfortunately, there are a number of prominent players in Manchester United who are not playing in the World Cup. They are not injured or disqualified but they were apparently simply overlooked according to the Mirror.
Specifically for Manchester United, they have a number of prominent players. They are also one of the biggest football teams in history, leaving an impressive mark for the past few decades.
Unfortunately, with their decline in the past 10 years, Manchester United has of course seen better days.
The list of the Manchester United Players that didn’t make the cut for the World Cup:
David de Gea
Image of David de Gea, from Wikipedia.
David de Gea, the 32-year-old Spanish goalie was unfortunately not selected. However, he has not played since 2020 and it’s unclear when he will make his comeback. Just a decade ago, he was regarded to be one of the best goalies in the world.
He started his career at the tender age of 18-years-old in Spain and has never looked back. Manchester United then purchased him in 2011 for a record breaking £18.3 million. Back then that was the most spent on a goalie.
Anthony Martial
Image of Anthony Martial, from Wikipedia.
Anthony Martial, it is stated that he is struggling with his fitness in this term. He was also snubbed by Didier Deschamps. He also helped France reach the Euro finals back in 2016.
The 26-year-old French man has a lot of potential, however it could be the strict regime that is currently being led by Ten Hag that he is probably hidden in the shadows. He was purchased by the club for a whopping £26 million back in 2015.
Furthermore, he received the golden boy award back in 2015 for his achievements, especially at a young age. In the 2019-2020 season, he was awarded to be the best Manchester United player of the season.
Jadon Sancho
Image of Jadon Sancho, from Wikipedia.
Jadon Sancho was also subbed even though he helped his country to win the Euro 2020. Southgate snubbed him and apparently he was not even in the selection debate. The 22-year-old English man has not made as many waves as his peer of a similar age Antony.
In contrast, Antony was selected for the World Cup this year. However, this does not discount the fact that he had broken records in his day. He started playing football at the young age of 7-years-old by joining Watford.
Donny van de Beek
Image of Donny van de Beek, from Wikipedia.
The 25-year-old Dutchman was not selected to join the Netherlands in the World Cup. He wasn’t selected in Louis van Gaal’s team probably due to the fact that he has only played four Premier League games all of this season.
He also started playing football at a young age, where he joined the Ajax academy in 2008. He made 40 appearances for the Dutch football youth in the under-17 and under-21 categories.
Alejandro Garnacho
Image of Alejandro Garnacho, from Wikipedia.
The 18-year-old Spanish man who has been in Manchester United for a few years at this point was unfortunately not selected in Spain’s team. He almost forced his way into Argentina’s team but unfortunately was not selected.
He has a lot of potential, and hopefully when the next World Cup rings, he would be eligible to join. Ten Hag would need to harness and guide the youth in becoming one of the clubs next main stayers, if he is willing to do so and decides to no longer get into petty arguments with Ronaldo.
The famed Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has been into some controversies as of late. Unfortunately for him, now there are calls for the manager of the Portuguese team to drop him from the team for the World Cup competition in Qatar.
This was due to his lacklustre display against Spain in the recent World Cup preliminaries. The Portuguese coach, Fernando Santos was accused of favouring Ronaldo and some fans are questioning whether Portugal would be better off without the latter.
It was argued that his lack of playing time in Manchester United may have been the cause of his lacklustre performance. Some are even saying that due to his reduced playing time, he should not be automatically considered to play for the Portuguese national team.
Many are stating that Ronaldo’s career is peaking and with Santos’ eight years as Portugal’s manager it seems that both are peaking at the same time. However, Santos does have a point, Ronaldo has started a majority of Portugal’s matches for the past 15 years.
Although he threw away the armband in a fit of rage following Tuesday night’s late winner by Alvaro Morata, he remains the team’s captain and the attacking formation leader. Additionally, it’s not the first time he’s done that, that is throwing a tantrum on the field.
Ronaldo’s Stats
On the other hand, Ronaldo has scored five goals in the group stage for the Euros. It was also argued that with Ronaldo’s statistics of participating in 191 international games and scoring 117 goals in them, he should have the right to select which games he wants to play in or not.
The Portuguese star footballer had the chance to leave his national squad at any time after the Euro 2016. That year, he helped Portugal win the competition and he was practically carrying his national team to victory on his own.
Regardless of the massive wins, he still shows up to the games and no doubt he plans on setting on more records. He still holds the record for the most goals scored in international football history and is closing in on the record for the most appearances for international games.
The recent backlash against Cristiano Ronaldo has brought his fans to Twitter to support their hero during this hiccup. A tweet showing how Ronaldo was at his best last year will definitely return soon, and the tweet mentioned “people have short memories.”
The replies to the tweet are mostly supportive towards Ronaldo. A user stated that what is happening to Ronaldo now is definitely not due to his age, it could be something emotional or psychological. The user then added that his eyes look different, implying that he looks as though he is either disturbed or sad.
“Ronaldo did a lot for Manchester United last season,” stated by a netizen. An observer commented that they were not a fan of Ronaldo, but they would like to see him at his best again as he is a phenomenal player to watch.
The comparison of Ronaldo’s and Maguire’s hiccup shows the stark difference between the players. As Ronaldo is older and more established in the realm of football, he tends to get more sympathy from his long-time fans, while Maguire is still newer and has not developed a strong fan base yet.
The other difference between the two is that Ronaldo has beaten many world records while Maguire barely did. Furthermore, these two players are in the same team for the Premier League, which is Manchester United. Could it be the effect of Erik ten Hag management style that is making them to be troubled players this year?
Pogba, former Manchester United footballer, admits to hiring a witch doctor
Paul Pogba, a 29-year-old footballer, the current central midfielder for Juventus and is in the French national team was recently accused of using a witch doctor for his boost his soccer career.
On top of that, the accusations were made by Pogba’s brother, Mathias Pogba who also claims that the soccer star does not even bother about ‘human existence’ and that he is capable of abandoning his family.
Back in 2016, spectators observed ‘moths’ rushing across the playing field and Mathias claims that those were not moths but they were actually butterflies.
Those butterflies reached there due to a “spell” cast by Paul Pogba’s alleged witch doctor, says Mathias in an incredible spell of revelations that has kept the football world abuzz for days.
As the issue went further, it was told to the British press that Pogba admitted that he used a witchcraft practitioner or marabout in french, to assist him with his career. He then added that he used their services to also help starving children in Africa. This is due to him having links with an aid organisation.
He then added that he has never used any form of black magic against fellow footballer Kylian Mbappe, dismissing rumours in the process. Pogba stands firm on his ground that he never has the intention to hurt anyone, especially Mbappe.
Mbappe is a young French international soccer star (aged 23) who won the World Cup with Pogba as his team mate.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe has been playing well in his last few recent games, he always has an allure of magic while playing. He evaded a number of defenders in order to score a remarkable solo. The 23-year-old French superstar stunned his audience in Paris by making the first goal for his team against Austria.
Mathias and others speculated that Paul Pogba, the former Manchester United player paid the hazy and sketchy African mystic with odd ties to Islam to curse Kylian Mbappe.
Pogba’s sibling claimed that the black magic practitioner used charms to help him win games. This was after alleging that Pogba was using him to hex Mbappe.
Paul was involved in an incident where he was held hostage and threatened in order to be extorted out of his money. This happened in Paris, all the way back in March this year.
Mathias then stated “Everyone wondered why I didn’t make my revelations directly, thinking it was to blackmail my brother, but what I wanted was for him to take responsibility for himself and fix his injustices.
“Because one always hopes for his brother to reform. We want to believe that the brother we loved still exists. But when this brother comes to scoff at human life, even as part of his family, there is nothing left to hope for. That’s why I tried appeasement.”
