Football superstar Paul Pogba appeared to be bitten by Antonio Rudiger in France's 1-0 win over Germany at the Euros, leaving football commentators rather amused.<\/p>\n
Not long before half time at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Pogba grimaced in pain as he was being marked by Rudiger.<\/p>\n
Replays showed that the Chelsea defender put his mouth over Pogba's shoulder, leading to the Frenchman's appeals to officials, however there was no VAR used to review the potential red card offence.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/romankemp\/status\/1404888461069459463<\/a><\/p>\n On British television former football stars turned commentators Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane comically debated the incident.<\/p>\n "You've seen Pogba's reaction. It looked like a bite, so I don't really understand what he was trying to do there," Vieira said on ITV.<\/p>\n "I think it was more of a nibble than a bite, wasn't it though?" Keane added.<\/p>\n "Yeah, it wasn't a proper bite, was it?"<\/p>\n "Rudiger should be minding his own business," Vieira said.<\/p>\n Another commentator Ally McCoist called the incident "strange" and said it "wasn't friendly".<\/p>\n Uruguay's Luis Suarez is renowned for his many instances of biting opponents, and most famously at the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n Despite the controversy, man-of-the-match Pogba was not too upset about the incident after the game as he embraced Rudiger on the pitch.<\/p>\n "It was nothing big. You saw the television pictures and it is all over now, in the past," Pogba said post-match.<\/p>\n "He nibbled a little bit and I felt it so I told the ref but I am not crying for a yellow or a red card.<\/p>\n "Me and Toni have known each other for a long time and I just want to play football.<\/p>\n "He has not received any card and I don't want him suspended because of that situation. We hugged at the end and it is over."<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/brfootball\/status\/1404917401704185860<\/a><\/p>\n Mats Hummels' return to the German national team went better for France than it did for their opponents.<\/p>\n The experienced defender was recalled by Germany coach Joachim L\u00f6w for the European Championship for his leadership qualities, but he ended up scoring an own-goal to give France a 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n "It was a struggle between titans," France coach Didier Deschamps said.<\/p>\n Hummels was attempting to stop Lucas Hern\u00e1ndez's cross from reaching France forward Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 when he diverted the ball into his own net with his shin in the 20th minute.<\/p>\n "I can't fault him," L\u00f6w said. "It's just bad luck. The ball in was fast. Maybe we should have attacked the throw in quicker. But it was hard for Mats to clear the ball."<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/paulpogba\/status\/1404931851211489281<\/a><\/p>\n There were chances at both ends, but France looked more likely to score while Germany squandered opportunities.<\/p>\n \u0130lkay G\u00fcndo\u011fan should have scored in the first half but couldn't direct his shot on target.<\/p>\n France had two goals called back for offside in the second half. Mbapp\u00e9 sent a curling shot inside the far post midway through the half and then set up Karim Benzema for another late in the match.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/OptusSport\/status\/1404886200637267972<\/a><\/p>\n Benzema was playing in his first competitive game for France since a World Cup quarterfinal loss to Germany in 2014.<\/p>\n Mbapp\u00e9 also had a penalty appeal waved off in between the offside goals \u2014 Hummels had timed his tackle perfectly when the 22-year-old Frenchman would have been through on goal.<\/p>\n Germany had never previously lost an opening game in the group stage at the European Championship.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/FrenchTeam\/status\/1404905464115220482<\/a><\/p>\n L\u00f6w started with the same lineup from the 7-1 rout of Latvia in Germany's final warm-up game, but his team had no answer to Pogba, who disrupted the team's buildup play.<\/p>\n "It was important to start with a win. We were playing Germany, they really riled us. But we wanted this win above all," said Pogba, who also provided incisive passes for France's fearsome forward trio of Mbapp\u00e9, Benzema and Antoine Griezmann.<\/p>\n L\u00f6w, who is stepping down after the tournament, sent on forwards Leroy San\u00e9 and Timo Werner late in the match, and then Kevin Volland as a last resort, but none could make a difference.<\/p>\n "We threw everything into it and fought to the end," L\u00f6w said. "We were just missing the ability to break through in the final third."<\/p>\n Germany's next coach, Hansi Flick, was among the 14,000 or so spectators in attendance amid strict measures against the coronavirus.<\/p>\n Before the match started, a Greenpeace protestor parachuted into the stadium. UEFA said there were some injuries.<\/p>\n Germany next faces Portugal, which defeated Hungary 3-0 with two record-setting goals from Cristiano Ronaldo. France will play the Hungarians in Budapest.<\/p>\n "We have to look forward," Germany midfielder Toni Kroos said. "When you lose the first game and you have three group games, there's a lot of pressure. We don't need to talk about it."<\/p>\n – with AP<\/em><\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Football superstar Paul Pogba appeared to be bitten by Antonio Rudiger in France's 1-0 win over Germany at the Euros, leaving football commentators rather amused. 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