Zlatan Ibrahimovic savaged Noni Madueke and said he felt England were playing with ‘one guy less’ with the Arsenal man on the pitch.
Madueke got the nod to start ahead of club team-mate Bukayo Saka but it was a move that backfired as he struggled to gain any inroads against a well-drilled Norway defence in Miami.
By the time the half-time whistle blew, Madueke had had 28 touches and failed to create a single chance.
Ibrahimovic, covering the game as a pundit for FOX Sports, was cutting in his criticism.
‘They are playing with one player less so far,’ Ibrahimovic said of Madueke.
‘Madueke has been on the pitch and I have to say every time he gets the ball he makes the wrong decision, and he’s walking on the pitch. If I’m Tuchel I change him, he’s done nothing in these first 45. Even the hydration break didn’t help… They played with one guy less.’
Noni Madueke (right) was hooked at half-time by Thomas Tuchel (left) up against Norway
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (middle) savaged Madueke at half-time and said he made it feel like 10 men
While Tuchel wasn’t explicitly dialled into Ibrahimovic’s remarks on American television, he did see the game similarly as Madueke was taken off at half-time and replaced by Saka.
England got over the line, thanks largely to the magic feet of Jude Bellingham, who scored twice in a 2-1 win, but Tuchel was far from satisfied at the end.
‘We made life very difficult for ourselves today,’ a ticked off Tuchel said.
‘I am not happy with the performance.
‘We made life very difficult for ourselves. We were sloppy, repetitive… we were lucky today.’
It is Argentina or Switzerland up next in the semi-finals in what will be England’s fourth ever World Cup semi-final and it remains to be seen if Madueke will again get the nod to start.
