Pogba Paul
Paul Labile Pogba is a French professional footballer who plays for the French national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can also be deployed as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, and deep-lying playmaker. Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba showed much promise as a youngster, flourishing as a member of local youth teams. He eventually joined the youth team of Ligue 1 side Le Havre, before a protracted transfer brought him to Manchester United in 2009. After beginning his senior career with Manchester United two years later, limited appearances persuaded him to depart to join Italian side Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, where he helped the club to four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. During his time in Italy, Pogba further established himself as one of the most promising young players in the world, and received the Golden Boy award in 2013, followed by the Bravo Award in 2014. In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year, as well as the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI, after helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, their first in 12 years. Pogba’s performances at Juventus allowed him to return to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of €105 million (£89.3 million). The fee paid for him remains the highest paid by an English club. In his first season back, he won the League Cup and the Europa League. Internationally, he captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and took home the award for the Best Player for his performances during the tournament. He made his debut for the senior team a year later, and featured prominently at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was awarded the Best Young Player Award for his performances. He later represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he finished as a runner-up, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup after scoring in the final.
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Ahead of the start of the 2011–12 season, Ferguson confirmed that Pogba would feature with the senior team during the season, stating, “I mean if we hold Pogba back, what’s going to happen? He’s going to leave. You know, in a couple of years’ time when his contract is going to finish. So we have to give him the opportunity to see how he can do in the first-team and he’s got great ability.” Pogba was promoted to the club’s reserve team permanently for the 2011–12 season and made his first appearance of the season on 15 August 2011 in the team’s opening Premier Reserve League match against Arsenal. On 25 August, in the team’s second league match against Swansea City reserves, Pogba scored the second goal in a 6–0 rout. On 19 September, he was named to the first team to participate in their Football League Cup tie against Leeds United the following day, with Ferguson proclaiming, “I intend to play him [Pogba] against Leeds United.” Pogba appeared as a half-time substitute to make his professional debut as Manchester United won the match 3–0. Pogba made his second appearance against Aldershot Town in the Fourth Round of the League Cup on 25 October 2011. Pogba made his Premier League debut against Stoke City on 31 January 2012, replacing Javier Hernández in the 72nd minute. He made another substitute appearance against West Bromwich Albion on 11 March. Four days later, he made his European debut in the second leg of the team’s UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against Spanish club Athletic Bilbao; he appeared as a substitute in the 2–1 away defeat, coming on for Michael Carrick in the 63rd minute as Manchester United lost the tie 5–3 on aggregate. Ferguson confirmed that Pogba had left the club after not signing a new contract. Ferguson stated that Pogba had signed for Italian club Juventus “a long time ago as far as we’re aware.” Ferguson also accused Pogba of disrespecting Manchester United, saying, “It is disappointing. I don’t think he showed us any respect at all, to be honest. I’m quite happy that if they [footballers] carry on that way, they’re probably better doing it away from us.”
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This shirt was worn by Paul Pogba during the Serie A game between Udinese and Juventus which took place in Udine, “Stadio Friuli”, on September 2nd 2012. Juventus defeated Udinese 4-1 and Pogba was a substitute player and he didn’t get in to the pitch. On 3 July 2012, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson confirmed that Pogba had left the club after not signing a new contract. Ferguson stated that Pogba had signed for Italian club Juventus “a long time ago as far as we’re aware.” Ferguson also accused Pogba of disrespecting Manchester United, saying, “It is disappointing. I don’t think he showed us any respect at all, to be honest. I’m quite happy that if they [footballers] carry on that way, they’re probably better doing it away from us.” On 27 July, Juventus confirmed on their official website that Pogba had undergone a medical at the club, and the transfer was completed on 3 August, when he signed a four-year contract. He made his first appearance for Juventus in a pre-season friendly against Benfica in Geneva on 1 August, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Andrea Pirlo. Pogba’s first competitive appearance with Juventus came in the Serie A match against Chievo on 22 September 2012, where he played the full 90 minutes. On 2 October, Pogba made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a 1–1 home draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, and on 20 October, Pogba scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Napoli. On 31 October, he started against Bologna and scored the game-winning goal in a 2–1 victory. Pogba also contributed to the opening goal scored by Fabio Quagliarella. The midfielder was subsequently praised for his performance in the match by several Italian media outlets such as la Repubblica, Il Messaggero and La Gazzetta dello Sport. On 5 May 2013, Pogba was sent off in Juventus’ Scudetto-clinching game for spitting towards an opponent after being slapped in the face.
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Primarily a central midfielder, although he is also capable of playing on the left, in a holding role, or even as an attacking midfielder, Pogba has been described by his club Manchester United as a “powerful, skilful, and creative” player who has “an eye for goal and a penchant for the spectacular.” In Italy, he gained the nicknames Il Polpo Paul (“Paul the Octopus”) for his long legs that look like tentacles during tackling or running and “Pogboom” for his explosive playing style and energy on the pitch. A large, quick, hard-working and physically strong player, he excels in the air, and is also known for his stamina, as well as his powerful and accurate striking ability from distance; he has also drawn praise for his finesse, technique, flair, and dribbling skills. His characteristics and playing role in midfield have led him to be compared with former France international Patrick Vieira. During his final season with Juventus, Pogba was deployed in a more advanced and creative midfield role rather than in his usual box-to-box role, which saw him gain more time on the ball, and he excelled as the team’s main playmaker, due to his vision, and passing range; his performances in this role saw him develop from a promising youngster into one of the best and most complete midfielders in the world. Upon Pogba’s departure from Juventus in 2016, his former teammate Gianluigi Buffon compared him to French former playmakers Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane, and also praised his ability, leadership, work-rate and attitude, both on the pitch and in training, stating that he “..is a tremendous warrior on the pitch but also has so much talent. His control of the ball and the way he can swiftly change the play from defence to attack is special.”
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In December, Pogba was named 2013’s Golden Boy for the best young player in Europe.
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This shirt was worn by Paul Pogba during the 2015 Uefa Champions League Final.The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe’s premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It was played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, on 6 June 2015, between Italian side Juventus and Spanish side Barcelona. For the second time – after 2010 – both teams came into the final with the possibility of winning a continental treble, having each won their national league and cup for the season. Barcelona scored the only goal of the first half after four minutes, through Ivan Rakitić. Ten minutes after the interval, Juventus equalized with a goal by Álvaro Morata. In the 68th minute, Luis Suárez put Barcelona back in the lead, and the final score of 3–1 was confirmed when Neymar scored with the last kick of the game. It was Barcelona’s fifth trophy in the competition, and sealed their second treble, the other coming in 2009. It was also Juventus’ sixth defeat in a European Cup final, the most by any club, a record they previously shared with Bayern Munich and Benfica. As winners, Barcelona earned the right to play against the winners of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla, in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup, and won that match 5–4. They also qualified to enter the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan as the UEFA representative, going on to beat Argentina’s River Plate in the final.
Watch the Champions League Final 2015 highlights
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Paul Pogba is usual to celebrate his goal with the popular “dab dance” since he was playing with Juventus but he was certainly not the first sport’s star to celebrate with this dance move. The dab is an import from the United States, where it first emerged in their professional sports in the autumn having originated on the hip hop music scene. Now children everywhere are dabbing – including Cristiano Ronaldo’s son, as he congratulated his dad on winning a fourth career Ballon d’Or award. In the US, Cam Newton – starting quarterback of the 2015 season’s supreme side, the Carolina Panthers – has been at the forefront of the spreading dab sensation. The invention of the dab has been credited to Migos, a rap group from Atlanta, who have in turn crowned Newton as the ‘dab daddy’. Newton’s antics every time his team hit the endzone haven’t always been graciously received by opposing players, but that hasn’t deterred him. The dab made its American football debut at the beginning of the NFL season in September 2015, when Jeremy Hill scored a touchdown for the Cincinnati Bengals. LeBron James was also seen dabbing on court during one of his pre-game warm-ups. There’s a common theme here; the dab appears to be a way of showing off.
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These shorts were worn by Paul Pogba during the Champions League between Bayern Munich and Juventus which took place in Munich, “Allianz Arena”, on March 16th 2016. Bayern Munich defeated Juventus 4-2 moving to the round of eight. At the end of the season, on 8 August 2016, Pogba returned to former club, Manchester United, on a five-year contract for an all-time record for highest football transfer fee at €105 million (£89.3 million) plus bonuses of €5 million, surpassing the former record holder Gareth Bale. Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, received €27 million when the France midfielder joined Manchester United.
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On 22 March 2013, Pogba made his debut for the French senior team in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Georgia. He played the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 win. Pogba then earned his second cap four days later in another 2014 World Cup qualifier against Spain, starting the match against the world champions, but picked up a yellow card in the 76th minute for unsporting behaviour, before being sent off two minutes later for a second bookable offence in a 1–0 loss. He scored his first international goal against Belarus on 10 September 2013 in a 4–2 victory, once again during a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On 6 June 2014, Pogba was named in France’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 15 June, he started in central midfield in the team’s first World Cup fixture – a 3–0 victory over Honduras – suffering a foul from Wilson Palacios which led to a red card for the Honduran and a penalty kick, which was converted by Karim Benzema to give France the lead. He appeared as a substitute in the team’s second match, assisting a goal for Benzema in a 5–2 victory of Switzerland. In the round of 16, Pogba scored a 79th minute opening goal and was named man of the match by FIFA as Les Bleus defeated Nigeria 2–0 in Brasília. On 13 July 2014, Pogba was named the tournament’s Best Young Player.
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These boots were issued for Paul Pogba and given to the player for testing by Umbro. Pogba never had any contract with Umbro but during the season 2014/2015 the player wasn’t sponsored by any brand so he basically wore whatever he wanted. Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, Pogba has reached double figures for different boots. Whether flirting with the plethora of NikeID jobs and standard colorways on his Magista Obra or a handful of different looks with the adidas Predator Instinct, the French international is practically a guaranteed insertion into our weekly boot-spotting simply because of how often the player changed his footwear. When it comes to NikeID, there hasn’t been any player at the highest level that has obviously enjoyed the customization service like Pogba. He’s worn a slightly altered version of the ‘Shine Through’ pack that dropped the green and shifted it to black, he’s crafted a predominantly red boot with black accents and stepped out in a custom blue pair with a grey dynamic fit collar that isn’t even available to the public. Pogba wasn’t afraid to mix things up. He knew that both Adidas and Nike wanted his signature and he was milking them for all they’re worth. But during the 2014/2015 season several other brands like Puma, Umbro…etc, tried to make custom boots for Paul Pogba to be tested and spotted but apparently the player always sneaked out by every other brand aside from Nike and Adidas. And this is what happened with the Umbro boots released for him but….never worn.
