Thomas Tuchel led England to a 4-2 victory over Croatia in their World Cup opener, but it was the manager’s ability to handle pressure that caught the eye of Jurgen Klopp. The former Liverpool boss said Tuchel was “under immense pressure” for the match, his first in charge of the Three Lions at a major tournament.
England fell behind twice in the first half at a stadium in the United States, going in level at half-time after being pegged back. Captain Harry Kane then credited a dressing-room speech from Tuchel for inspiring a dominant second-half display. “Even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days but let's do it our way,” Tuchel told ITV, revealing his half-time message. “We were too focused on protecting the result. We were a back seven and we didn't defend. If the result doesn't go our way, we want to play our way. I tried to encourage them to go for it.”
“Tuchel's England beat Croatia 4-2 in World Cup opener; Klopp says he was under immense pressure.”
Kane scored a brace, with further goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford sealing the 4-2 win. Klopp, speaking to MagentaTV, was full of praise for the England captain. “How influential can one player actually be? The answer is Harry Kane,” he said. Even before the game, Klopp had lauded Kane, saying: “I recently heard that books will be written about him, songs will be sung about him in the future. He has changed the way strikers play. He's a connector; he brings everyone into the game.”
The win lifted England to the top of Group L after the first round of matches. The squad are now back at their base in Kansas City preparing for their second group game against Ghana on Tuesday night, with a 9pm BST kick-off. Ghana began their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Panama in the early hours of Wednesday, Caleb Yirenkyi scoring a 95th-minute winner.