Jude Bellingham praised England’s fighting spirit and ability to “win dirty” after coach Thomas Tuchel criticized their performance in beating Norway on Saturday.
The Three Lions came from a goal down to win 2-1 in extra time at Hard Rock Stadium as Bellingham scored twice to set up a semifinal showdown with Argentina, who beat Switzerland later on Saturday.
Tuchel hailed his team’s resolve in recovering from Andreas Schjelderup’s 36th-minute opener but in his initial comments said England were “lucky” to get the win after a “sloppy” performance.
When this was put to Bellingham by ITV Sport (via ESPN), he responded: “Yeah well, whatever. It’s a tough shift, so my thoughts and appreciation go to the players who’ve put a tough shift out there.”
And when Bellingham was later in the mixed zone asked about Tuchel’s comments and whether it displayed the high standards he expects from his England team, he answered: “Maybe. Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these types of conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Ødegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sørloth, you know. That’s not an easy team to play against.
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“We’ve tried to create a positive environment, and we should continue that into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads. You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes, you have to win dirty.”
As well as Norway, England had to navigate the heat and humidity of South Florida, with temperatures reaching 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) at the start of warmups.
Tuchel later spoke in his postmatch news conference to clarify his position on the performance.
“My heart, there is no doubt, I am proud and happy, and I feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes to take the next step,” he said. “They just refuse to lose. They overcome obstacles and adversity.
“But I am also a football coach, and I also have demands and, of course, we want to bring out the best in us and our performance because a top performance helps you win games. So, the head of mine is not fully satisfied and not 100% happy with the way we played, and I stand by it. I think we can play faster, more clinical. We had too many unforced errors and technical mistakes in our game that cost us a lot of belief.”
