Paul Pogba has officially silenced his critics.After an indifferent two seasons back at Manchester United where he's endured a fractured relationship with Jose Mourinho, the midfielder is back among the elite.He was instrumental in France's World Cup win, scoring in the final and turning in mature, complete performances in every game out in Russia.The influence of N'Golo Kante next to him cannot be understated, but even when the Chelsea man was subbed off in the final Pogba continued to thrive.He looked a different man, defending when needed and leading by example when bursting forward, showcasing some outrageous passing at times.Pogba looked a leader out on the pitch throughout and footage has been doing the rounds of his various inspiring team talks throughout the World Cup.You can see his one against Uruguay here.Inspiring stuff and it seems Pogba really outdone himself before France's classic last-16 game against Argentina, which finished 4-3 to Les Bleus.It involved Lionel Messi.

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"I want to see warriors on the field guys," Pogba told his team-mates in a scene from a documentary aired by TF1 . "I don't want to go home!

"We will finish happy! I want to party tonight. I want to be dead on the field, all together! I want men, warriors, soldiers.

"Today we will 'kill' them. Messi or no Messi I don't care! We came to win this f*****g World Cup!"

Brilliant stuff.

As is customary with every game that Messi is involved in, he was the big talking point going into the game after his goal against Nigeria.

However, Kante and Pogba suffocated Argentina's magician throughout the game.

After the game and his inspiring speech, Pogba did have some extremely kind words for Messi.

"We know that we are playing against probably the best player in the world," he said. "For 10 years now I have been watching him, learning from him. He makes me love football more, always.

"We want to play against the best, and today we won against the best. I will always be united with him, world class players like him, that is all I want to say."

A gentleman and a leader.