England manager Thomas Tuchel has said his players carry the “scars” of their painful World Cup semifinal defeat to Argentina. The England World Cup exit continues to weigh on the team as they now must respond against France.
According to AFP, Tuchel spoke on Friday ahead of England’s third-place playoff against France in Miami on Saturday. After the England World Cup exit, this match holds extra importance for the squad.
England missed the chance to reach their first World Cup final since 1966. This happened after surrendering a lead in their 2-1 semifinal defeat to defending champions Argentina and suffering the England World Cup exit.
Anthony Gordon put England ahead. However, late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez completed Argentina’s comeback and sent the South American side into the final.
The defeat attracted criticism of Tuchel’s substitutions. Some supporters and analysts accused the German coach of becoming too defensive after England took the lead.
Tuchel accepted responsibility for his decisions. He explained that he made them under pressure and with the intention of helping the team protect its advantage.
“I tried to help, I tried to support,” Tuchel said.
“I took a decision, I took several decisions, trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness and I took the decision in order to help the team and get the result.
“We didn’t get the result, so I take, of course, the responsibility for these decisions. But the decisions are made under stress, the decisions are made in-game.”
Tuchel appeared alongside defender John Stones at the pre-match press conference. He admitted that he and the players would feel the pain of the defeat more than anyone else. The England World Cup exit remains a talking point within the squad.
“We have to live with this, so it’s our pain, my pain and the players’ pain — we feel the most pain of all,” he said.
“And it is our scar that we carry now. It is a very painful defeat, and we have to live with this defeat, first and foremost, not the critics, not the experts, not our family members who suffer as well with us and want only the best for us, but it’s basically us.”
Tuchel, who previously managed Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, said England must still improve to match the standards set by Argentina, Spain and France.
The England manager said those countries had built successful national teams over several years. Therefore, they had developed stronger expectations of reaching finals and winning major tournaments.
“I think the gap is there because of the titles that Argentina, France and Spain have as national teams, as countries,” he said.
“What they built over many years with the coaches and the team, there’s still a slight gap that we have to close.
“I think the gap shows in almost the expectations of these countries to win a World Cup and to be in a final.” In summary, the England World Cup exit will shape the team’s motivation going forward.
England will face France in the third-place match. This comes after Didier Deschamps’ side suffered a 2-0 semifinal defeat to European champions Spain.
Argentina will meet Spain in Sunday’s final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Despite the disappointment of missing the final, Tuchel promised that England would use the defeat as motivation. They will begin their response against France.
“We will overcome it, we will use it, we will have a reaction and it starts from tomorrow,” he said.
“We have a gap to close, and we are aware of that, and that’s where the focus is.”
