Thomas Tuchel slams England stars in ITV interview as he lets rip at Norway display
England boss Thomas Tuchel was not happy with the performance as the Three Lions beat Norway to reach the World Cup semi-final
Thomas Tuchel admitted that he believes England were "lucky" to get past Norway and reach the semi-final of the World Cup. The Three Lions boss gave a heated interview with ITV following the final whistle in Miami on Saturday night.
England needed extra time to claim a 2-1 win over Norway and advance to the semi-final, where they will face either Switzerland or Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday evening.
Norway had taken the lead through Andreas Schjelderup, before Jude Bellingham scored in first-half stoppage time to equalise.
The Real Madrid star found the back of the net again in the first half of extra time, which proved to be enough to help secure a 2-1 win for England in Florida.
As England’s players sung with the travelling fans, manager Tuchel was telling ITV he was unhappy with their performance.
“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves,” he said. "We’re in the last four, amazing, but not happy in every sense. "The commitment is there, but we made life very difficult. Sloppy, mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough, we were lucky today."
Asked if it was a mentality issue by interviewer Gabriel Clarke, Tuchel seemed furious: "No, it's not mentality. Mentality? This is pure mentality, how can you ask about mentality now? This is pure mentality now.
"There's no mentality problem! This is pure mentality! This is pure mentality, you can bottle it up and sell it. It's the quality of our games, it has nothing to do with our mentality."
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Tuchel added: "Reece James was excellent, Morgan Rogers was fantastic today. Ebz [Eze] grew into the game, Djed [Spence] grew into the game. Full credit to them, but overall we got lucky today."
He called Bellingham "world class" and, when the midfielder was told his manager was not happy with the team’s performance, Bellingham replied: "Whatever. It’s difficult out there. A tough shift.
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"Character, perseverance, when things weren't working we found a way to win a game. We gave it everything we've got. So proud of this team."
England will now rest up and begin preparing for their semi-final clash in Atlanta on Wednesday night, where they will face either Switzerland or reigning champions Argentina for a chance to reach the final.
Should Tuchel and Co. get past Argentina or Switzerland, it would set up a final against either France or Spain in New Jersey on July 19.
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