England manager Thomas Tuchel is proud of his team’s World Cup run but has sights set on the next tournament. The Three Lions ended the quadrennial tournament in third place after a 6-4 win against France at the Miami Stadium on Saturday. This is England’s best finish since they won the mega event back in 1966.
Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick whereas Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and Jude Bellingham also found the back of the net for England.
Meanwhile, Tuchel’s tactics were questioned after England suffered a 2-1 loss in the World Cup semifinal against defending champions Argentina.
Tuchel said, “The press conference yesterday felt as if we went out in group stage without a win to be very honest.
“And 24 hours later we have the biggest success in 60 years. So, take the low not too low and the high not too high is what we try for us and the team. The low and the drama about what happened against Argentina was too low but listen, that is part of it.
“The best thing you can do is react on the pitch and get the next win. Everything else is just talking and talking doesn’t get you points. You have to endure it, be strong and keep believing. I am glad that we showed the reaction. We wanted it and it was very impressive.
“It is the first medal in 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil so I hope the players can be proud on that in some time. We are fiercely competitive so we almost don’t allow ourselves to be proud with third place. Eighteen months ago we set the highest goal, the highest dream to chase.
“We were very, very ambitious with our dream to make it to the final and win the World Cup so it is very, very painful is you miss out. The pain will stay for away but the scar will stay. This is how it is in high level sport.”
Asked if England’s run could help them in future with Tuchel set to stay in charge of England until 2028, he replied: “Yes, this game will help us for sure even if a part will never allow you to fully celebrate a bronze medal.
“But I think this is a very important one. Jordan Henderson gave a very impressive speech today in the hotel to put this in the right frame and put everyone in the right mindset. He helped unbelievably today.
“That was very emotional and very, very impressive to put this game into perspective.
“I said yesterday here we want to close this gap. We feel that there’s still a gap open. There’s still a gap to close to the top three teams who are ahead of us in the world rankings, and that starts with today.
“It was a big shout because a lot, a lot of world-class players was in the attack on the other side.
“They come from a less demanding schedule physically, have one more day, so it was a big shout.
“But, again, we could rely on what we built. This team built something very, very special in the last seven weeks, and we will never negotiate on that.
