A war of words has been started in earnest between Group C rivals Denmark and France, as Danish coach Age Hareide launched a withering attack on the France national team and Manchester United star Paul Pogba.
Speaking to Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the coach stated he 'doesn't believe' in the French team, saying that Didier Deshamps men are 'nothing special':
The teams at the top of the world rankings are the best in the world, but this is not the case for France.
I saw France against Sweden in Stockholm. They are nothing special.
They don’t have a leader such as Zinedine Zidane to lead them, someone who knew how to galvanise them. They need to play as a team.
The 64-year-old then singled out Man United's Paul Pogba for criticism, predictably over his penchant for changing his hairstyle:
He played against Manchester City with his hair dyed blue and white, maybe he’ll have it red and white to play us.
Good grief. Does he only think about his haircuts?
The Danes of course beat Ireland 5-1 to qualify for Russia 2018 and will face France in their final group game after playing Peru and Australia, and with Hareide's comments there's bound to be a bit of bad blood by the time the two sides meet.
