NEWS
England in World Cup Semi-Finals, but Tuchel Clashes with Reporter
The English head coach is happy about reaching the top four in the world, but also criticizes his team's performance and gets into a verbal spat during the interview.
England is in the World Cup semi-finals!
The "Three Lions" came back from a 0-1 deficit against Norway on Sunday night. The match-winner was Jude Bellingham, who scored twice, just as he did in the round of 16 against Mexico (Match report >>>).
This means the English reach a World Cup semi-final for the fourth time in history.
Tuchel Not Satisfied with Performance
Not only the players on the pitch are responsible for this, but also head coach Thomas Tuchel, who has been in office for just over a year and a half.
The German experienced a range of emotions on the sidelines during the quarter-final against the Norwegians and carried those emotions into the post-match interview.
"We made it very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic, reaching the last four is incredible, but I am not satisfied with the performance," Tuchel stated clearly. "We were lucky today. We have to play better."
The 52-year-old listed several shortcomings. "We made it very difficult for ourselves with our style of play. We played sloppily, made many technical errors, were not fast enough, not consistent enough."
"How can one speak of mentality now?"
The reporter then tried to find reasons for the "Three Lions'" performance and posed the mentality question.
"How can one speak of mentality now?", Tuchel reacted, visibly irritated after a short pause.
"There is no mentality problem. That is pure mentality. You can bottle it and sell it. It's about the quality of our games. It has nothing to do with mentality."
Looking Ahead
There was brief praise for the outstanding Bellingham. It was "enough said" about the exceptional talent. "He delivers that in every game. World-class," said Tuchel, who was already looking ahead.
"We will get better. We have to get better. Now we celebrate and enjoy the moment. We have three days (until the next match, Editor's note)."
In the semi-final, England will face the winner of Argentina vs. Switzerland (from 03:00 AM in the LIVE ticker >>>).
