Antonio Rudiger of Chelsea and Germany vies for the ball with Paul Pogba of France and Manchester United. (AnthonyBIBARD/FEP/Panoramic)
According to Independent, Antonio Rudiger denied that he bit Paul Pogba when the pair were tussling during France vs Germany. The Chelsea man was seen putting his face close to Pogba’s back and the Manchester United midfielder claimed that Rudiger took a nibble at him.
In one of the most high-profile group stage games of the Euros, France and Germany went head to head. The 2018 World Cup winner were going up against the 2014 winners in their opening group game.
A cagey affair was expected given the number of stars on each team. Nonetheless, France looked much the dominant side and rightly got the lead when Mats Hummels poked the ball into his own net from a Lucas Hernandez cross.
During the game, when Antonio Rudiger came together with Pogba to vie for the ball, it appeared as if the German had bitten the Frenchman. Pogba looked unhappy at the incident but later played it out as a friendly thing.
“I’m not crying for cards, yellow, red cards, because of such actions. He nibbled, I think, a little bit on me. But we have known each other for a long time. 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.”
Later on, Rudiger denied biting Pogba, However, he conceded that he should not have gone so close with his mouth towards Pogba.
“I should not come close with my mouth to his back, no doubt about it. It looks unfortunate. Paul and I have talked about it as friends after the final whistle.”
UEFA have decided not to take any action against Rudiger for the incident and rightly so. There was nothing malicious about the incident. Nonetheless, France got their win after a classy display. Rudiger’s Germany will now have to face Cristiano Ronaldo in their second group stage game on Saturday while France will face Hungary.
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