Joe Hart has hit out at Thomas Tuchel for criticising the referee following England’s nerve-shredding 3-2 win over Mexico in the World Cup.
England reached the last 16, where they will play Norway, after two goals from Jude Bellingham and a penalty from Harry Kane – despite right-back Jarell Quansah being sent off at the Estadio Azteca.
The Three Lions had to ride a wave of contentious decisions, including a penalty awarded to Mexico in the second half after Kane caught Brian Gutierrez in the box.
England boss Tuchel moaned after the game: ‘It’s just not good enough. The referees are just not good enough, fourth officials are just not good enough.
‘That’s the bottom line. Three people in the VAR from South America in a match like this, if this is correct, VAR overturns… is this a clear and obvious error for the penalty? For sure not.
‘They overturned a situation where he doesn’t even give a foul. Referees just not good enough, fourth officials just not good enough.’
Joe Hart hit out at Thomas Tuchel for moaning about the refereeing in England’s win in Mexico
Tuchel protested that ‘it’s just not good enough’ after Mexico were awarded a penalty
But BBC pundit Hart hit back: ‘I think he has got that wrong.
‘I don’t know why he has gone so hard on that after such an impressive performance.
‘I get it, against all the odds the red card and the penalties, but I don’t think they were borderline decisions.
‘I thought they were decent decisions in the end.’
England always knew it was going to be a challenge in Mexico. Javier Aguirre’s side were unbeaten in the World Cup, hadn’t conceded, were much better acclimatised to the altitude, and had most of the stadium’s 80,824 fans behind them. Plus, they had only lost twice in 89 competitive games at their favourite stadium.
The match lived up to its billing, proving to be a scrappy affair with plenty of goalmouth action and nail-biting moments.
Jude Bellingham gave England a comfortable lead with two quickfire goals in the first half but Julian Quinones halved the deficit a few minutes before half-time.
Quansah was sent off in the 54th minute for a studs-up slide tackle on Jesus Gallardo.
Though he won the ball, his challenge was deemed dangerous and he was dismissed after a VAR review, leaving England facing a long second half.
England’s worries were soothed somewhat six minutes later, when Kane converted a penalty which Anthony Gordon had won.
But Kane’s heroics were quickly undone when he clipped Gutierrez and gave Mexico a penalty at the other end.
Referee Alireza Faghani initially did not give anything, and many thought Gutierrez had gone down easily, but the penalty was awarded after a review and duly scored by Raul Jimenez.
England then had to hang on with a backs-against-the-wall performance and relied on numerous outstanding saves from Jordan Pickford throughout.
John Stones almost turned the ball into his own net with a last-ditch slide, but mercifully the ball trickled past the post.
Tuchel added: ‘I am just proud of the mentality and attitude – round of 32, round of 16 is the moment in the tournament when you find a way to win. We did it with pure mentality and heart.
‘We overcame every obstacle that was thrown at us. I am so proud of the mentality and the will of the team.
‘It felt in the buildup not like a round of 16, it feels almost like we have won a final or something.
‘This last moment where the ref takes his whistle to his mouth and you know you overcame it, 40-50 minutes with 10 men in the altitude against the home country, against a strong, strong Mexican team, this is a moment of joy. It was a heroic performance and heroic result in the end.’
Unfortunately, Jordan Henderson was hospitalised with a serious wrist injury after falling over one of the advertising hoardings during England’s post-match celebrations.
Tuchel said: ‘It is a quite serious injury.
‘It just doesn’t fit to the evening that Jordan is now not with us. I don’t know the procedure which is going on. I just did the [media duties] and the doc told me he’s in the hospital.’
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