Pogba: Red card was harsh

The 20-year-old feels his dismissal in Tuesday's crucial World Cup qualifier was an unfair punishment.

France midfielder Paul Pogba has voiced his frustration with referee Viktor Kassai's decision to dismiss him in Tuesday's 1-0 World Cup 2014 qualification loss against Spain.

The Juventus starlet was booked after 77 minutes of play for a high challenge on Xabi Alonso, only to receive his second yellow card hardly 60 seconds later for a late tackle on Xavi, and Pogba feels Kassai's decision to send him off was harsh.

"I hardly touched him. Yes, there was contact with his foot, but he started screaming and only then did the referee pull out the second yellow card," Pogba was quoted as saying by Ouest France. "That's football, though. There's nothing I can do to change what happened.

"I feel bad about it because it weakened the team when we tried to get back in the game."

France dropped to second spot in Group I following Tuesday's loss, trailing la Roja by a point with three games left to play.