The Arsenal star’s first-half demand left some viewers bemused
Noni Madueke has faced criticism from a former Chelsea coach and player following his behaviour during England’s World Cup victory against Croatia.
After being selected ahead of Arsenal colleague Bukayo Saka, Madueke contributed to the Three Lions’ impressive 4-2 triumph in Dallas. Madueke earned England a penalty, which Harry Kane converted after a retake, and troubled the Croatian defence with his speed and attacking intent.
However, there were also instances of exasperation for the former Chelsea winger. At one point, after being thwarted by his marker, Madueke turned towards England supporters and yelled “vamos,” Spanish for “come on!”
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The rallying cry drew ridicule from former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris, who served two spells as a Blues coach, including under Frank Lampard. Morris wrote on X: “Imagine being in a 1 v 1 situation as an England winger… defender gets the better of you and blocks your shot when maybe a cross was the better option… so you then gesture to the England fans shouting Vamos, Vamos.”
Several supporters were equally baffled by Madueke’s call. One remarked: “Bro, you are English and you play in England! Where did Vamosssss come from?”
Another responded: “I thought he said vamos and was thinking, my lip reading must be awful!” A third observed: “I thought I was going mad! He definitely was saying Vamos. How strange.”
Jude Bellingham and substitute Marcus Rashford scored during a much-improved second-half performance in Texas, where Kane’s brace enabled him to match Gary Lineker’s 10-goal tally as England’s leading World Cup marksman.
Tuchel said: “I loved the second half. All of it. I loved the reaction to a very complicated first half. We played against a top opponent. I think we showed a bit of nerves. Maybe we wanted to overdo it, but we clearly overthought our decisions.
“We encouraged them to go for it, to play with more courage, to be brave, to be ourselves and I loved the reaction. We created a lot of chances, we had a lot of ball wins, we scored goals and overall I think we deserve to win.
“There are still things to improve. I think this is also quite normal after a first match. You need to grow into a tournament.
“We got a tough draw to start against Croatia, so the positives are clearly the ones where we focus on now and enjoy the moment. We have enough days to adjust what needs to be improved.”
