Thomas Tuchel has revealed the details of his half-time team talk that inspired England to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Croatia in their World Cup Group L opener in Dallas.
First-half drama
Harry Kane scored twice in an action-packed first half, equalling Gary Lineker's record of ten World Cup goals. However, Croatia responded through Martin Baturina and Petar Musa to level the score at 2-2 at the break.
Second-half resurgence
England came out strongly after the interval, with Jude Bellingham scoring in the 47th minute to restore the lead. Late substitute Marcus Rashford, assisted by Bukayo Saka, sealed the 4-2 win with five minutes remaining.
Tuchel told ITV: "The first half was a bit complicated for us, I felt it was a bit nervy. The decisions we took, we basically chose to go safe and played too many balls backwards. I just saw a statistic of 33 per cent ground duels won in the first half and 73 in the second half, so even off the ball, I felt it was not brave enough."
Half-time message
Harry Kane revealed Tuchel delivered a passionate speech at half-time, telling players not to be afraid of losing. When asked to confirm, Tuchel said: "I think I said, 'Even if we lose it will not change my perception of the last seven days, but let's do it our way… we're too focused on the result, too focused on protecting what we don't have at the moment.'"
He added: "I just tried to encourage them to go further."
Praise for Bellingham
Tuchel praised Bellingham's performance, saying: "He's a very good player. He deserved to start and that's what he needs to do. He needs to fight for his place, keep his place and that's what he did."
England face Ghana next Tuesday at Gillette Stadium, aiming to secure knockout stage qualification.
