Jose Mourinho praised midfielder Paul Pogba for playing with ‘great maturity’ during France’s 1-0 win over Belgium.
Mourinho loved Pogba’s performance tonight. You know it.
— Dale O’Donnell (@ODonnellDale) July 10, 2018
It’s fair to say the manager was less than complimentary about Pogba on multiple occasions during the domestic season but liked what he saw in Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final.
The United boss also hailed the performance of France defender Raphael Varane, whom he brought to the Bernabeu in 2011.
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‘They tried to control the game which they did with a fantastic performance by Varane and a very good performance by Pogba,’ Mourinho told RT, as per the Daily Mail.
‘Pogba was mature he played with great maturity. When he had to hold position and to keep control of the game he did.
‘When Deschamps took off Giroud to bring on Nzonzi then Pogba had more freedom but freedom not to do silly things. Freedom to keep the ball away from the dangerous areas.
‘To keep the ball, to assist Griezmann for a great chance. He was very, very mature.’
Pogba has so far started in five of France’s six World Cup matches, missing the scoreless draw with Denmark, but is expected to feature in the final.
Who France face in the final remains to be seen. Whoever wins between England and Croatia will take on the French…
Tonight, we’ll know.
