Paul Pogba has spoken of his delight at reaching the Euro 2016 semi-final with France, but admits he was upset by Italy’s penalty defeat to Germany in their quarter-final.
France overcame Iceland 5-2 at the Stade de France on Sunday with Pogba one of the goalscoreers, and they will now meet Joachim Low’s world champions in Thursday’s semi-final in Marseille after they edged out Italy 24 hours earlier.
And Pogba admits that while Germany will provide a tough test, the same could have been said of Antonio Conte’s side had they progressed.
“I am very happy to be in the semi-final, I cannot cry. I am so happy for this,” Pogba told reporters after the match.
“A semi-final is a semi-final, Italy and Germany are equally tough. Either way, we want to continue so we want to win and both are great sides.”
The Juventus midfielder spared a word for his club colleague Gianluigi Buffon, who shed tears after being on the losing end in Saturday’s memorable shoot-out.
“To see Gigi crying made me feel very bad sat in front of the television,” Pogba added. “He is a great goalkeeper, he gave his best and so did the team. They produced a very good game, but this is football.
“However they have had a fantastic Euros, nobody expected such a great Italian team. I’m not happy with what happened for them. I am truly a player who plays with them so I am proud when they play well.”
The winners of the Germany v France clash will face one of Portugal and Wales in Sunday’s final at the Stade de France.
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