"No one should experience this much drama at four in the morning"
England overcomes Mexico in a "crazy" match. Harry Kane even loses his voice afterwards.
In the end, "Wonderwall" echoed through the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. England's players and fans sang in unison - so euphorically that Harry Kane almost lost his voice.
"Sorry, my voice is gone, I've been singing the whole time, I can't really talk," the English captain apologized in an interview with the "BBC" immediately after the final whistle.
"It's unbelievable. A crazy game. My God, we fought so hard. Unbelievable, the team, everything, it's just so incredible," croaked Kane.
Tuchel: "We had to give everything"
England is in the World Cup quarterfinals after a real slugfest with Mexico. The Three Lions beat the co-host 3:2 (to the match report >>>).
Jude Bellingham with a brace (36th, 38th) and Harry Kane (60th) from a penalty kick scored for the English. Mexico could only narrow the lead through Julian Quinones (42nd) and Raul Jimenez (69th), also from the penalty spot.
After a red card for Jarell Quansah (54th), England played almost 50 minutes with a man down.
"I am very proud. We had to give everything. It was a very difficult game. Whenever we thought we were gaining momentum, there were setbacks," analyzed head coach Thomas Tuchel.
His team showed mentality. "When things get tough, they never give up, they never lose faith. It was another important step."
"One of the greatest results in England's World Cup history"
"40 years after the 'Hand of God', fate struck this time. Three Lions, 26 heroes. No one should ever experience this much drama at four in the morning. It is one of the greatest results in England's World Cup history," titles the "BBC".
England can continue to dream of a second World Cup title after their triumph in 1966. Thomas Tuchel's team will now face Norway in an all-European quarterfinal next Saturday in Miami (11:00 PM CEST).
Mexico "can't blame themselves at all"
With Mexico, another co-host has exited the tournament after Canada. For "El Tri", it was their first ever defeat in their eleventh World Cup match at the Estadio Azteca. In the course of the tournament, Javier Aguirre's team had not conceded a goal before the round of 16 and had won all four matches.
"I can't blame my team at all. We gave everything, and this is a great team. This is the highest level, you can't afford to make any mistakes, because they will be punished dearly immediately. We took risks with our substitutions to exploit the numerical advantage, but it wasn't meant to be," says coach Javier Aguirre.
