• Manchester United's Paul Pogba celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates against Aston Villa. Reuters
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates against Aston Villa. Reuters
  • Paul Pogba of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his team's third goal against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Thursday. Getty
    Paul Pogba of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his team's third goal against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Thursday. Getty
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba with teammate Bruno Fernandes at Villa Park. EPA
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba with teammate Bruno Fernandes at Villa Park. EPA
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba scored his first league goal after a year. AP
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba scored his first league goal after a year. AP
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba, left, celebrates with teammate Bruno Fernandes after scoring his team's third goal. AP
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba, left, celebrates with teammate Bruno Fernandes after scoring his team's third goal. AP
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba, left, stretches after going down late in the game don Thursday. PA
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba, left, stretches after going down late in the game don Thursday. PA
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba attempts to control the ball during the match against Aston Villa. AP
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba attempts to control the ball during the match against Aston Villa. AP
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba, right, and Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa shake hands after the match at Villa Park on Thursday. AP
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba, right, and Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa shake hands after the match at Villa Park on Thursday. AP
  • Paul Pogba at Villa Park in Birmingham. AFP
    Paul Pogba at Villa Park in Birmingham. AFP
  • Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa with Manchester United's Paul Pogba. Reuters
    Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa with Manchester United's Paul Pogba. Reuters
  • Manchester United's Paul Pogba vies with Aston Villa's midfielder Trezeguet. AFP
    Manchester United's Paul Pogba vies with Aston Villa's midfielder Trezeguet. AFP

Paul Pogba believes Manchester United have made 'huge improvements' but need trophies to prove it


  • English
  • Arabic

France midfielder Paul Pogba believes Manchester United have made huge improvements this season but need to win trophies to ensure a successful campaign.

United are fifth in the Premier League standings with 58 points but can leapfrog Leicester City and Chelsea into third spot by beating Southampton at Old Trafford on Monday, with their focus on qualifying for the Champions League.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's in-form side are also in contention to win the FA Cup, where they face Chelsea in the semi-finals at Wembley, and the Europa League, where they hold a 5-0 lead over LASK heading into the home second leg of their last-16 tie.

"United are about trophies, we know that. There are trophies we know we can get," Pogba, 27, told the club's website.

"We don't want to let this opportunity go. We're going to do our best to go and get those two trophies by giving everything."

United are on a 17-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and Pogba has credited their recent run of form to striking a balance between attack and defence.

"You can call it a proper team. Sometimes before we were maybe too defensive or too offensive and we didn't have this balance or this control. Now you can see we have that balance and there is more structure," he said.

"The improvement is huge but you don't want to stop it. There is a lot of stuff to do, we are not there yet but we are on the way. If we keep doing what we're doing, then I think there is nothing that can stop us to get to where we should be."

Pogba has been impressive since returning from an ankle injury, netting his first league goal since April 2019 in last week's 3-0 win at Aston Villa.

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Boulder shooting victims

• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65

Story%20behind%20the%20UAE%20flag
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The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos

Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km

Book%20Details
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