Paul Pogba: A Challenging Journey | Generation Sport

With their rare combination of creativity, physicality and technical finesse, footballers don't come much more talented than Paul Pogba, born in the suburbs of Paris. It was with Italian superclub Juventus where Pompa became a football megastar playing alongside Andrea Perlo in midfield. Pogba was fundamental. to what became an iconic team that brought home four league titles, two Italian Cups and a nomination when he was only 21 as the best player in the world, he soon became the most expensive and joined Manchester United in 2016 for a then world record of 105 million euros, but it was with the French. national team in which Pogba reached his career high by winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia and scoring in the final;

However, in Manchester, injuries and inconsistent form meant that Pogba struggled to live up to the expectations set by his high price tag and he became a lightning rod for criticism of an underperforming team. Football is very beautiful but it is cruel. people can forget you the next day you can do something great The next day you are nobody in 2022 he found himself threatened at gunpoint in a case of alleged extortion it was like a movie when there was money, you have to be careful, money exchange , people, now a father of three, and Faith occupy an important place in Pogba's life and the criticism he has faced has not stopped him from speaking out against social injustices, most recently the murder of a 17-year-old boy by The French police, which sparked protests across the country.

I don't think you're allowed to shoot someone who doesn't have an owner. Show him at center back on the field after an injured year. Paul Pogba is a man who wants to prove his critics wrong. Welcome to the

generation

. Sports I am Iman Amrani and I am here in Turin, the Italian city where Paul Pogba established himself as one of the best footballers in the world. I have come to speak with him about the trials and triumphs of his career thus far. faith has changed him and how he uses his platform to speak about the issues that matter to him abroad.

Thank you for joining me in

generation

al

sport

s. Oh, thanks for having me. I wanted to start where you are right now. I know. It's been a bit of a difficult season with recurring injuries, but you're back on the field, you just turned 30. I want to ask you how you think your priorities are different now compared to when you were 20? say the experience I have more experience so now I know my friend uh I know what I want also I didn't like it you said how difficult here so I have this um handgirl and this desire to play soccer and just have fun until the end of my career it's like was 18 years old.

Again, I also want to talk a little bit about your background, so going back to your parents being from Guinea and West Africa, I want to know how. its cultural influence was strong in your childhood, ah, yes, my parents are from Guinea, they came to France, but the curator was from the same African culture, so I was alone with my brothers and my cousins, so my mother had my two cousins, so we had five and it was like eating everything on a plate and things like that the value of life taking care of family that has always been in me in our culture in my uh in my lifestyle I was raised with great values respect uh I work hard too because of them coming to France uh in uh like back then it was still racist and stuff like that so you know, they just raised me as someone strong and I prepared myself for life and is there anything that you do now with your children that reminds them? of that, the roots they have and where they are from when they don't behave well, I tell them, I will take you to guinea, yes, and you will learn, you know, because they will see the real value of life you try to maintain the cure for the values ​​of respect and take care to finish all the food because thank God I am doing very lucky, we are lucky to have everything we experience here in Europe.

In Africa it's not the same, so I try to give them these values, from a young age and speaking of culture, you have always had a very strong relationship with music, particularly with artists who share African heritage and you are behind a vegetarian. Dream anthem for the 2018 World Cup in a big way, could you explain a little bit about the overlap of music culture and football culture in France and why they are so strong for you personally and how Africa is like that? Vibe of dancing to music. and since the young agents that I was in the house we always liked to dance all together, so that's in me, it's in my blood, so I love music, I love good energy and I mean, you should enjoy life, too You know, in France there are many things.

The music scene is influenced by the number of people who come from North Africa or West Africa, but at the same time you know the cultural makeup of the team, for example the French national team has been something that is sometimes celebrated for, say, For example, the '98 World Cup, but sometimes those minority players are scapegoats for poor results and I want to know if you think this generation of players feels more comfortable navigating those issues of race and identity. The media is something that we, the players, can't really control and it feels like it. like when we play badly now it becomes a problem and the runs come out, so it's always like a disadvantage.

I would say that when you win everything is fine when you don't win and we, the Afro French, basically like Franco Guinea, Franco Cameroon. I mean, we were born in France, I was born in France, so when we win, the striker who wins is not Guinea, and if the coach chooses the best players from France, if it happens that there are a lot of people from Africa or any other place that means That they are the best and that they deserve to play the race has nothing to do with it and this is the problem that we always try to observe in the race when things are not going well and when things are going well as they are.

It is not a problem and that has to change. How do you handle that as a player when there's such an intense focus on you or your background? I mean, you know the team has always been good, so it's like a family, we all mix well, it's not like a race. There's only one nation it's France uh, the law of criticism and well, make me strong, my dad told me, I mean, in France it's difficult, but you have to work twice as hard, like maybe a white man in my position , I did not do it. I had to be like twice better than him to play and this is not fair, you want things to change because if you are the best you deserve to play and that's it, there is no color and things like that and unfortunately the reality is That's not what it is going on and what I can do and what has helped me is just in my head mentally.

I'm ready and I just want to shut the media's mouths and show them that they're wrong and that's a big part of The drive and hunger that you talk about I definitely want them to eat their words. You know I won't show them that I'm not weak. Nice, you can talk bad about me. Never surrender. Never surrender. like I can't give them like I can't be okay you know what I'm saying so I'm going to work harder I'm going to give my best even harder I'm going to have to show them again what you've had There are many highlights of your career , I mean scoring in a World Cup final and winning a World Cup is something very important.

Any player would love to have done that, but at the same time you've had tougher times and talked about fighting. With depression along with your injuries, what helped you the most during those difficult times? It helped me so much. This is the only thing that obviously keeps me humble. It made me know, you know, get out of all the media, all the fame and everything, and come back to reality, so this is the big part of my mental strength that keeps me going, basically, so faith is one It's one of the places people go to find solace when they're going through tough times and it's something I've often been asking athletes about because it's one of those things that's very common among elite and high-performing people. .

Having something above you is very important, but can you tell me a little about your personal spiritual

journey

and how Islam fits into your life when you converted to Islam? It was a big change it was like real and now I know why I am here I know that there is only one God and we only have to feed ourselves to follow one step and that helps me in life with the family with football with um with My children just for me Islam helped open my eyes and what made you decide to make that decision? Was there a particular moment or person in your life?

No, I was um, you know, I had a lot of friends who were Muslims because of the way they behaved, they prayed together when it was Ramadan. You know, I used to go to lunch with them and I really love sharing those moments with them. Go to the mosque. I thought this is a religion that suits me. You know, being all together talking about religion, helping each other and when I start doing my research, I just say: okay, this is it, I think this is it and I pray once and I like my heart to melt, melts is how my body finds its place, so I thought, "This is my religion." What would be one thing about your personality or character that you think has improved because of your religion?

I would say I was getting angry. It was like when I was playing badly. I was like getting angry for three days and now everything was football for me my life was just football and I find in Islam I find that I never lose when something bad happens to me it makes me win in the experience it makes me win mentally it makes me grow, so it's just a victory, only a victory when you follow in the footsteps of Allah, it is only you, only you can win, so we have talked about religion, but I also want to talk to you about France and where you are from, where you grew up. the suburbs, which are often used in the media as a shorthand for France's social problems, like exclusion or violent crime, what was it like growing up there, man, was it good, yeah, a lot of good parts because, like I said , culture we are also all together. we go to each other's house it's like we were all outside playing football it was really nice it's a nice moment you know I love going to see my friends see the family you know it's very simple and on the other hand it's like you're fighting there's no help there is no help people come from Africa they ask for work and they are not given work because of their color because of where they are from because of their name and there are so many people like that and they are very good, they are very professional, but they simply do not have the opportunity that others people will have.

It's unfortunate because there's so much potential, there's so much talent there that they deserve so much more. You know, and we're also talking about the suburbs. Nahum, 17, was killed by police during a traffic stop in a prison suburb and this sparked protests across France, where you posted a tweet in support of him and his family. It's different, it's difficult when players start talking about the big problems they face. a lot of criticism, so why is it important for you personally to say something about that topic? First of all, I'm sorry, but I don't care about the criticism, I say what I feel and, uh, the truth is, you just want justice.

I want France to explode. I don't want to see all the people there breaking up, obviously, neighbors, neighbors, cars and stores where they go and things like that because that doesn't help, but what would help is justice, justice for those people. um, the people who did that should get what they deserve and the government, the responsible people have to also help this poor mother who is now alone and there are so many examples, there are as many examples as when you are from the neighborhood. I saw many friends go to jail. I mean, I love my friends getting beat up by the police.

One day the police stopped me three times when I was with my friends because we were in some good areas and we were black. It's sad, but this is reality and that has to change because no one deserves that I'm just going to read the tweet you posted it says rest in peace now my deepest condolences to his mother and his family no one deserves to die at 17 or even less for a refusal to comply, let justice be done, you have mentioned Justice yourself, what justice is like and you think it will be done, yes, I hope so.

I don't think you can, you can shoot someone nearby, show them. in the heart because he doesn't have a driver's license and because he left, I mean, you have cameras, you have everything you can find him, you will find him anyway, there are so many things like that that happen and the police officer just stops working. the police station he's from and that's it and then after we don't find out about that, this is not right, so justice means that other people really deserve it and uh, even respect gets the respect they deserve and that's all.

They really don't want to live in the country, you don't want to live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe from the people who are supposed to protect you while we're talking about the power that you've rubbed shoulders with. some of the most powerful people in politics and football, from José Mourinho to Emmanuel Macron, where have you seen good leadership? I think there are different types of leaders. Asus Zlatan is a leader who is tough, he is strong. You know with me, I'm fine. I know he might like, uh, you played really bad yesterday, what were you doing?

You can't go to training today. you know thingsSo. So he's a leader and he wants you to win, but he says it the hard way, which I like. You know, some people like others, so he can subdue some people very hard and he can take others down with Latin. You need to be mentally strong, okay, it's like a kind of Jordan, I would say. Jordan style, Michael Jordan, yeah, and I see Patrice Evra with your leader in the national team, uh, in Manchester, that's totally different, he He comes and talks to you, you try, you know in the nice way, sometimes you know he can be hard on you, but not all. time, there are different types of leaders and there are some leaders who don't really talk, but on the field they will always show you an example, I will give you here in Italy, Pierlo Piero was a leader on the field to a large extent, there is no.

Someone who talks a lot and everything in the locker room, but on the field it was like giving you that confidence, angst and everything you know, so he is a different type of leader. He described you as having taken on a leadership role in some way in the French team. but you're quite a complex character and I'm wondering if you see yourself as a leader or do you see yourself as someone who floats in the middle. How do you see yourself as an individual? I can not say it. I think I'm a leader, no, I think people would tell you if you are or not.

I'm just being myself, something I know I'll do everything I can to win and the people, the players that are around me, I'll make sure we win. So yes, that's why I'll do my best. I'll give a hundred to my teammates all so we can win. Talk about this hunger and getting that hunger back and this energy and wanting to win. When is the time you have been most satisfied? in your life you have never never not never been satisfied satisfied no really yes you always want more you always want more I always want more we are greedy you really know that it is something that makes us happy and we are very happy but like I said before It is never enough I mean, just look at Cristiano Ronaldo Messi, they always have to prove again that they are Cristiano and Messi after everything they have done.

Football is very beautiful but it is cruel. People may forget about you the next day. You can do something great. The next day. You're nobody, people are waiting for you, see, I'm done, he's done, his career is over like so many things like I'm done, you know I'm dead, Pogba doesn't exist anymore, you know I'm not a good player. not even one of the best. I'm not a good player, I always get injured like you get all these comments and everything after an example of having a good career or scoring goals like winning the World Cup.

I mean, people forget, so you have to do it. proving that is something that you have to prove all the time and even more so when as you said with races and things like that for me that is what I feel like I have to prove even more, I can't imagine the level of pressure it puts on me. tired, it makes me tired to think about it to never feel satisfied, so your religion gives you a space where I guess you can sit and have a little peace, I mean, you see, not too long ago, I saw Dele Alli, yeah. something you did in the interview recently and talked about the issues he's had to do with trauma and what that led to for him.

Yes, it's very easy now, after that, he talks to everyone, ah, everyone is behind him or everyone supports him. but they've been having this whole moment and they've been killing it, but when they were killing it, I never saw anyone, I mean, in the media saying, I mean, maybe there's something, you know, let's ask them what's going on, you know? It's okay, mentally and stuff like that, we're going through a lot of things, we're here, we grew up to play football, we didn't grow up to prepare for the media, because to me, some media takes you so high and then they bring you back. depressed but he likes to destroy you and he is and it's difficult like he hasn't learned to prepare me for the negative talk, the critics, the racism and things like that.

I just came to play soccer. I enjoyed playing soccer. I was in the neighborhood. We were playing with my friend and then when you get to the first team, you play, you score goals, you get all the praise and all the best young players and this and that and then things happen in your life and it's destroying you, isn't it? I don't even ask him if he is mentally okay and things like that don't matter to them. I completely understand his point, but I think it's also difficult because people see footballers as very lucky people with a lot of money, so some people see that as the reward.

Because of the lifestyle they have, it's true you have to accept it but no one deserves to be criticized, so the people who criticize didn't give them the money, I mean, they are good players, they have talent, they work their own lives to be there, they didn't steal it, now football has changed, people win. a lot more money than before and maybe in 10 years it will be even more and that's how there are so many players who lost it mentally I don't even want to continue playing football because of all the negative thoughts and all the negative criticism and all this.

We've talked about the media and that side of things and the pressure of that side, but I've interviewed a lot of people who are artists. or athletes who come from very difficult backgrounds and achieved fantastic things, even incredible things, and it amazes me how often success and money mark them out as potential targets for people from their previous lives. I interviewed niska, the rapper, and he told me From the moment you get some success, there's one thing you have to think about and that's Entourage, what do you think of those two? I definitely want to say that the only people who can hurt you are the people close to you, those are the enemies you have. you know where they are and they won't like you, you know who they are, but the people who are close, their friends, family, who you think they will always have as if they are happy for you, they can tell the one they might like, destroy you. destroy you, so yeah, it's definitely that people will change when you get money and stuff, money will change people and that's the reality and there are many examples of stories like this that have happened and you've had your own situation in the you have been. dealing with Fallout from a very serial experience in which you held a group of men at gunpoint, some of them you had known since childhood, and said they were demanding money from you.

I know there's a legal case going on at the moment, so we can't talk specifics, but can you tell me a little about how that saga impacted you personally and professionally? I didn't, I was living like it was like a movie to me, um, it was like a movie, um, when there's money, you gotta be careful with money, change people, so you can break up the family, you can create a world, you can create everything man, sometimes like I'm alone thinking I don't want to have money anymore, I just don't want to play anymore I just want to be with normal people so they love me for me, not for fame or money, sometimes it's difficult and like I said, Allah helped me.

I realize that's life, you have to go through it. It will only make me stronger I talked about how influential your late father was in instilling values ​​in you and now you have three children, so what are the values ​​you want to instill in them? One I'll give you is yes, something that has to do with money obviously and your job, you know, we work our whole lives to make sure they have a better lifestyle, but I don't want them to think that's normal. I want them to go and work hard, not just work, but work hard and do it. their own things you have to work in the game to get your money to win anything in life, you know, I want them to follow their dream too and it doesn't have to be football and it doesn't have to be something like that. with a lot of money or whatever, but simply something that they love, thank you for taking the time and accompanying me in generational

sport

s, thank you very much, foreigner.