Thomas Tuchel is set to urge England to play with conviction and take the game to Norway as they look to ensure their World Cup quarter-final ends without “no regrets.”
The Three Lions head coach struck a confident tone before tonight’s high-stakes meeting in Miami, where kick-off temperatures are expected to climb to 32ºC.
“This is the exciting part now,” Tuchel said. “But we need to let go, reconnect with our identity, reconnect with what makes us strong, be proactive and be brave. It is the quarter-finals, and the brave will have luck on their side.”
Erling Haaland has suggested the pressure rests with England, but Tuchel dismissed the notion that Norway truly see themselves as outsiders, particularly after their victory over Brazil. “They have over-performed, but I think internally they know exactly how good they are,” he said.
“They understand the problems they can create for any opponent. They have shown that already. They knocked out a major football nation on a huge stage, and after that, there is no such thing as favourites.”
England head coach Thomas Tuchel has delivered a rallying message before the meeting with Norway
Tuchel has urged his England players to show bravery in their World Cup quarter-final
“Every team is playing to win the competition and every team has the right to dream,” Tuchel added. “But I do not sense fear in our players. I do not feel the weight of the shirt.”
Elsewhere, Tuchel says he has not had an explanation from FIFA over why they decided to double the ban handed to Jarell Quansah.
Speaking on the eve of England’s crunch quarter-final clash with Norway in Miami, Daily Mail Sport asked the German if anyone from the governing body had seen fit to tell him why the Bayer Leverkusen defender was given a two-match ban instead of one – and whether he thought his stinging comments in the wake of England’s 3-2 win over Mexico may have had an impact.
‘I haven’t had an explanation,’ he said.
Following the epic win in the Azteca, which saw VAR intervene to hand the hosts a penalty and send Quansah off, Tuchel lambasted the standard of refereeing at the World Cup.
‘It’s not good enough,’ he said. “He [the referee] can send any team out in any moment. It’s just not good enough. It’s just erratic, it’s just unreliable in matches. Now we have two fourth officials who just scream at you if you put one foot out of a coaching zone. It’s just not good enough.’
Quansah was given a red card after a VAR review while Harry Kane gave away a penalty after another review. England subsequently raised similar concerns to those brought forward by the Americans when they, with the assistance of a call from President Donald Trump to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, managed to have the one-match ban handed to striker Folarin Balogun suspended for a year.
However, FIFA decided to give Quansah an extended, two-match ban. The governing body has declined to give an explanation when asked by Daily Mail Sport, which we pointed out in the question to Tuchel.
Following Tuchel’s answer the FIFA press officer read out the email address of their media office (which Daily Mail Sport had messaged twice).
Tuchel revealed he has received ‘no explanation’ from FIFA on Jarell Quansah’s two-game ban
Tuchel, who is worrying over the fitness of several key players, allowed his stars 48 hours’ rest and recovery following the exertions of the 3-2 win at altitude in Mexico in the early hours of Monday.
But when they returned to their Kansas City training base on Wednesday, his message was clear – Mexico was gone.
‘The Azteca and a match like that really was the full package of an experience,’ said Tuchel. ‘We just had to find a way. That was how we framed it with the team.
‘If you need a picture from the Premier League, it is January, it’s away in Sunderland or Leeds. It’s adversity. It’s not good weather. You don’t like the decisions of the referee. Everything feels bad.
‘We found a way. But we cannot get carried away, we have to stop looking back now. That is what we agree with the team – we draw a line in the sand. It is no more Mexico. It is only about Norway.
‘Football and the World Cup is there to make a country and our fans dream, to believe and excite them. This is what it’s for and we want to take the next step.’
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