Thomas Tuchel pictured the scenes in England’s pubs as his players took the handbrake off to power past Croatia 4-2 in their World Cup opener on Wednesday. But only after a first half that left the manager sweating.
England were passive in the first half, too deep, the connections lacking. They entered the interval at 2-2, Harry Kane’s goals cancelled out by a pair of soft concessions that were in keeping with the team’s openness. Tuchel had a feisty exchange with England No 1 Jordan Pickford, caught on TV as Pickford shouted back at his manager. “I don’t know what I said to Pickers. Honestly I don’t remember,” Tuchel said. “What we said was just do our things better … nothing needs to be adjusted.”
“Tuchel wants England to entertain after second-half 'explosion' powers 4-2 win over Croatia in World Cup opener.”
Tuchel told the players to calm down during the interval, not to worry about the result and be true to their way of playing. England exploded into life at the start of the second half, Jude Bellingham’s surging run and finish in the 47th minute the spark for an extraordinary period of pressure. They had seven clear openings leading up to the hour, albeit they could not take them. Croatia were rocking and Tuchel knew the pubs in England would be the same.
“It is what the boys did in the second half – exactly that,” Tuchel said. “It is good. That is what needs to be done. Nobody can guarantee the outcome, but we can guarantee the effort. Can we expect more of that? Yes. It is good and it is rewarding. Hopefully everybody enjoyed it. And it brings a connection. I had a thought in the second half: ‘People in the pubs will like this.’ I was sweating, but that is a good watch where we created and created and went for it and won another ball and then a second ball.”
Croatia had a couple of moments when they might have equalised before the England substitute Marcus Rashford sealed the win in the 85th minute after a clinical counterattack. It is unclear whether a gung-ho approach will lead to World Cup glory, but the performance has ignited a sense of possibility. England’s next group game is against Ghana on 23 June.