C’est l’amour. Pogba kisses the Jules Rimet
Photo: Getty courtesy of FIFA.com

French World Cup Champion Paul Pogba has the whole world in his hands

by Pavel Ibarra Meda

It’s not a double entendre, the Frenchman from Manchester United and his country’s National Team has the whole world in his hands

As the celebrations have progressed in the French capital after Sunday’s World Cup final, there has been one clear leader throughout the celebrations.

Ever since he started his career with the Manchester United youth academy, midfielder Paul Labile Pogba has always been the center of attention due to both his undisputed talent and his off-field antics.

By 2014 and the Brazil World Cup, Pogba was playing for Juventus. He became that tournament’s best young player. But there is always a step up from best young player to world’s greatest.

So Pogba’s road to success wasn’t as easy as one would think. He has always wanted to look for the bigger challenge that would help his career get to the very top of world football. After he didn’t get the chance to shine for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, he moved to Juventus where he became one of the best players in his position. In his time with the Vecchia Signora, Pogba developed his dribbling skills, his defensive sacrifice, a winning mentality and most importantly, he polished the way he bends the ball in passing and shots to become one of the best in that regard since David Beckham played football.

The player even got to invent his trademark ‘Pogboom’ shot that made him famous around the world. This is a midfielder who can play offense just as well as the defense because he is built like a basketball player but has the creativity of a playmaker. Despite becoming one of the best in the world with Juventus and a big fan favorite, Pogba always felt like this club wasn’t going to net him the trophies he wanted nor the individual recognition he craved. When the opportunity to play for the Red Devils again fell on his lap, the Frenchman didn’t hesitate to sign a new contract in what became the most expensive transfer fee ever paid for any player in football history.

While all this was happening with Pogba at club level, his national team was doing quite well but they still lacked that extra boost they did eventually showcased during the World Cup. He arrived in Manchester right after losing the 2016 European Championship final against Portugal with his heart broken, plus he had all the pressure of becoming the most expensive player in football history after PSG paid Barcelona a wild €222 million last summer.

But during that time in which he became the star at club level that he is, he also developed a nasty bad relationship with United’s manager Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese coach understood Pogba as a defensive midfielder rather than a creative player, this inevitably angered the midfielder and they started having heated discussions until he got benched. Mourinho’s defensive nature was the main reason why he wasn’t able to see past Paul Pogba’s unique capabilities as a playmaker, but hopefully, Jose’s views will change after the World Cup the player gave us all to enjoy. Because now the Portuguese manager will have no excuse to play United’s matches with Pogba in the starting XI, this might very well be the first player who becomes more important than the manager in one of Mourinho’s squads, not even Cristiano Ronaldo was able to do that but we’ll see if charismatic Paul can pull through.

It is still soon to tell if Paul Pogba will remain at Manchester United after what he did during this World Cup, the state of his relationship with Mourinho will dictate the player’s future with the Red Devils but in the meantime, we can all learn from his capacity to overcome obstacles and always smile in the face of uncertainty.

Right now the whole French National Team is celebrating their second World Cup in history, which became a reality in part thanks to the hard work that players like Paul Pogba delivered.