MARSEILLE // The little boss had left the scene before anxiety turned to joy. The diminutive former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, departed the national stadium last Friday night before the final whistle of the Euro 2016 opener between his country and Romania, to avoid the crowds and the traffic.
Sarkozy, on the campaign trial ahead of next year’s elections, only learned that France snatched a late winner once he was in his car.
As for the would-be big boss on the pitch, he had also departed before the rousing finale, Dimitri Payet’s splendid goal turning 1-1 into 2-1.
Paul Pogba was substituted after 77 minutes, withdrawn from the midfield he is anointed to dominate, deemed less likely to produce the match-winning moment than Anthony Martial, his replacement, or Kingsley Coman, or Payet.
“He can do better,” France coach Didier Deschamps said.
Much is expected of Pogba this month and next: That he will assume the sort of status for France that their great attacking midfielders Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini once had, men who guided France to major tournament triumphs at home. The comparisons are onerous, but the coincidences many.
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Platini and Zidane both played for Juventus when they spent the summers of 1984 and 1998 leading France to victory at a European championship and a World Cup respectively.
Pogba is a Juventus man, too, at least for the time being. But there is also an expectation that, if he towers over these championships, interest in him from Real Madrid, already simmering, would bubble up into something very persuasive for the player.
But it’s a big ‘if’ at this stage. Even after 77 minutes of action, Pogba’s form is under scrutiny, and because France are playing at home, the scrutiny feels intense.
“You in the media have a fixation with Paul,” Moussa Sissoko, the France midfielder told journalists gathered at Clairefontaine, France’s practice site. “Remember, that first match was hard for everybody.”
It felt more of a trial, though for the tall Pogba, centre of attention and not shy of being so, to judge by the efforts he made in presenting himself to the country for the opening game: He had a cockerel, France’s symbol, shaved and dyed into his hair.
Pogba wants to rule the roost at Euro 2016. His compatriots want his athleticism and stamina to make him capable of all things; of goals from inside the penalty area and spectacular ones from outside it. They expect him to be the most penetrating creator in the team, the tricksy dribbler in one-on-ones and powerful and direct when space is in front of him.
He must also be the spoiler where necessary, retrieving the ball with those long legs and firm tackles.
“He is so important for us because of his technical qualities, his long passing game, and his ability to win the ball back,” his midfield partner Blaise Matuidi said ahead of Wednesday’s Group A match in Marseille against Albania.
“He has enormous talent and has shown it for France. Yes, sometimes he has matches when he is very good, some when he is less good, just like everybody does. But we’re all with him, and we know he can do extraordinary things.”
At 23, and with 32 caps under his belt since Deschamps gave him his France debut just over three years ago, Pogba is young enough to be allowed dips in forms, yet experienced enough that pinning the epaulettes of a general to his shoulders is justified. He has just spent the last six months as part of a Juventus who galvanised themselves to a Serie A title, coming back from a dreadful start to the campaign.
“We expect a lot of him,” Deschamps said, “too much, in many ways. I am not going to be too hard on him.”
But nor will the manager treat Pogba as a special case. If he starts on Wednesday — and there may be some rotation of the squad against Albania, who are bottom of the group — he can expect the scrutiny to be full.
France crowds in Marseille are the most nosily expressive of any city’s in their affections, and with their disapproval.
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