Paul Pogba has accused Antonio Rudiger of “nibbling” him during the Euros game between France and Germany last night.
Prior to kickoff, it was made clear by the German defender Rudiger that his side had to get a little bit dirty in the name of pushing Les Bleus to the limit. As it turns out, he meant that in the most literal sense imaginable.
“Of course, they have good forwards, we have to be ready to win the one-on-one challenges,” Rudiger said before the game.
“Just be disgusting, not always act nice, nice, nice, nice or playfully nice, nice, nice.”
“You have to set your mark against these players.”
Rudiger facing retrospective action?
Just before half time as Rudiger prepared to mark Pogba, the former appeared to bite at the back of the Frenchman with the footage being captured by TV cameras.
In a post-match interview, Pogba clarified what happened between the two Premier League stars.
“I’m not crying for cards, yellow, red cards because of such actions.” He explained.
“He nibbled, I think, a little bit on me. But we have known each other for a long time.
Did Rudiger really just BITE Pogba!? ? pic.twitter.com/cSQP1Mc7K0
— Roman Kemp (@romankemp) June 15, 2021
Pogba continued: “I told the referee and he takes decisions and he took a decision. It’s over. It was a great match for us, and I didn’t want him to be suspended because of such a situation.
“It was towards the end of the match. We hugged each other and that’s it.”
The incident drew comparisons to Atletico Madrid forward Luis Suarez who, as we all know, has been involved in two “biting” scandals throughout the course of his time in the game – although his were a little bit more blatant.
While Pogba seemed willing to put the incident quickly behind the pair, it would be little surprise if UEFA were to look further into Rudiger’s actions, potentially costing him a place in the remainder of the competition.
Pogba and France were able to see off the challenge of a determined German side courtesy of a first half own goal that handed them a 1-0 win.
Featured image credit: Getty