Did Antonio Rudiger bite Paul Pogba during France’s win against Germany?

Centre-back appeared to ‘nibble’ the French midfielder’s shirt during the Euro 2020 opener

Tom Kershaw
Tuesday 15 June 2021 22:55 BST
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Greenpeace protester parachutes into stadium during Germany-France game at Euros.mp4

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Antonio Rudiger has been accused of biting Paul Pogba during France’s 1-0 victory against Germany on Tuesday evening.

Pogba played a crucial role in France’s winner, with a wonderfully flighted through ball setting up Lucas Hernandez, whose cross was inadvertently turned into the net by Mats Hummels.

However, only minutes later, Pogba appeared incensed after a coming together with Rudiger and complained passionately to the assistant referee.

Replays revealed that Rudiger appeared to bite the French midfielder’s shirt in an attempt to aggravate him. Speaking on ITV, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira were both bemused by the German centre-back’s behaviour.

“I think it was more of a nibble, wasn’t it, than a bite? A silly thing to do,” Keane said.

Vieira said: “When you see the Pogba reaction, he felt like a bite. I do not understand what he was trying to do that.”

No action was taken by the referee or VAR, however, Uefa could still decide to look into the incident.

Pogba may also face sanctions from Uefa after breaching Covid protocols by interacting with fans at the Allianz Arena after the final whistle.

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