Thomas Tuchel delivered a dressing room dressing down to inspire England to victory in their World Cup opener.
Two-goal hero Harry Kane revealed a furious German laid into his sloppy Three Lions and accused them of being ‘not brave enough’ after they twice blew a lead in a frenetic first-half, before a fine second 45 minutes delivered a 4-2 victory, although Declan Rice is an early injury worry.
‘The manager gave a great speech (at half-time) to be honest, especially after the way we conceded the second goal,’ he said. ‘He told us to take the shackles off, calm down and let’s go. He said “what’s the worst that can happen?”.
Kane twice put England in front with a retaken penalty and a header. But it was a different story at the other end, as Croatia levelled through Martin Baturina and Petar Musa.
Within minutes of the restart, however, Jude Bellingham had restored the lead with a scuffed shot into the bottom corner and following wave after wave of attack, substitute Marcus Rashford finally put the game to bed when he finished neatly with five minutes to play.
Tuchel was seen exchanging angry words with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during an often-concerning opening 45 minutes that suggested much work will follow on the training ground back at their Kansas City basecamp. Kane revealed that Pickford’s team-mates were handed similar treatment when they returned to the dressing room.
Thomas Tuchel delivered a half-time dressing down to inspire England to victory vs Croatia
Harry Kane hailed the England boss for the ‘great speech’ he gave at half-time on Wednesday
‘Credit to the manager,’ Kane explained. He said: ‘Look, if we lose, we lose but we lose in our way”.’
Kane, whose goals saw him reach 10 in World Cups to equal Gary Lineker’s record, added that the German’s words did the trick.
‘You saw that with the way we came out in the second half, we went full gas, and they didn’t live with it,’ he said. ‘And that’s the level we have to set for every game.’
Kane believes the second-half showing, against opposition ranked 11th in the world, has set the benchmark for the rest of the tournament.
‘Credit to everyone,’ he told ITV. ‘The first game of the tournament, a great result against a top side.
‘I just feel without the ball, we went a little bit more aggressive. It was difficult. They’ve got great players. That second half, for sure, (the template). And even the way we controlled the game.
‘Once we went ahead, we never really looked like we were in danger, we controlled possession well, and obviously scored on the counterattack, which you can do in these type of games. We had a spell there, first 20 minutes, but we could have scored three or four.’
Rice departed on 72 minutes and appeared to be struggling. He will be assessed before England head to Boston to play Ghana.
‘We were not brave enough,’ Tuchel said. ‘But I loved the reaction after half-time. We deserved the win but it was emotional. (At half-time) I just tried to reinforce. I said even if we lose, let’s do it our way.’
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