France rally behind under fire Manchester Utd star after chorus of jeers in international friendly

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France manager Didier Deschamps and Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann have rallied behind international colleague Paul Pogba after he was jeered by a section of the crowd during France’s 3-1 win against Italy last night.

Samuel Umtiti, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele secured the win for France – however – the focus was on the Manchester Utd midfielder after the game.

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Pogba was booed in the second half after his shot was well off the mark, and again when he was replaced by Steven N’Zonzi with five minutes remaining and Deschamps defended the Manchester Utd star after the game.

“The whistles for Paul Pogba? It’s not just for him, at one point we kept the ball and they whistled too,” France manager Deschamps told TF1, as reported by Sky Sports. “It had already happened.

“The public also prefers to score five, six goals but it’s high level, there is a team in front of us. The players do the right thing.

“Are they affected or not, I do not know… I will not remember that, but if it maybe could not be the case, it would be better.”

Pogba is no stranger to criticism and had a mixed season with the Red Devils last season and found himself out of Jose Mourinho’s side after a defeat to Tottenham at Wembley – where the pair appeared to have a dispute about tactics on the touchline.

However, his close friend and compatriot Griezmann also backed Pogba, saying as per Sky:

“The whistles are part of football, you have to stay tough mentally. We’re all playing for the same shirt. He plays his game, you’re used to him scoring. We don’t expect that from him, only that he rotates the ball and plays for the team.

“He has had a difficult season at Manchester United but he has a lot of confidence in himself.”

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