Jose Mourinho has aimed a dig at Paul Pogba for his goal celebration in France’s defeat to Switzerland.
After surrendering a two-goal lead in the game, the World Cup holders crashed out of the Euros on Monday via penalties, with Kylian Mbappe missing the decisive spot kick.
Pogba looked to have booked France’s place in the quarter-finals with a superb long-range strike in the 75th minute and celebrated with an elaborate dance involving Presnel Kimpembe.
Mourinho took issue with the premature celebrations, portraying France as the cause of their own downfall. He told talkSPORT: “France started the game against Switzerland badly, they recovered in a fantastic way – showing the immense talent they had.
“But when I saw the way they were celebrating the third goal, I didn’t like it. “I had the feeling that these guys were already celebrating in the Eiffel Tower – dancing here, dancing there. I don’t know which dance they did, but they did a couple of different dances.
“With 20 minutes to go the game was not over so I think the way they approached the last part of the game was not the best.
“Then they concede a second goal and with the last minutes of the game remaining, [Didier] Deschamps thought the game was over because he takes Griezmann off. Then they concede the [third] goal and they go to extra time, and Griezmann is not there anymore.
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“Then a few minutes later Benzema got injured a few minutes later and everything went wrong. France are a fantastic group but they are a team that can blame themselves.”
Mourinho and Pogba had a poor relationship during their time together at Manchester United, with the duo once clashing in training in a high-profile bust-up.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Pogba criticised Mourinho, comparing the Portuguese’s methods Solskjaer’s. “What I have now with Ole is different, he wouldn’t go against the players,” Pogba said.
“Maybe Ole wouldn’t pick them, but it’s not like he puts them on the side like they don’t exist anymore. That’s the difference between Mourinho and Ole.
“Once I had a great relationship with Mourinho, everybody saw that, and the next day you don’t know what happened. That’s the strange thing I had with Mourinho and I cannot explain to you because even I don’t know. So, yeah.”
