Thomas Tuchel compared Harry Kane to a shark and said he was proud of England after they set up a last-16 tie against Mexico by fighting back from the brink against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday.
Tuchel, who was staring at an early exit after Brian Cipenga opened the scoring in the seventh minute, was delighted with his side’s refusal to give in against the DRC. England’s revival meant they won a World Cup game after conceding first for the first time since the 1966 final against West Germany.
Kane lead the fightback with two late goals. He equalised in the 75th minute and scored the winner with four minutes left to ensure England face Mexico in the Azteca Stadium at 1am BST(Sunday 8pm EDT) on Monday. The England captain has five goals from four appearances and is battling with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot.
“They’re all sharks,” Tuchel said. “If they smell blood, they come and score.”
England’s head coach, who altered the flow of the game with some effective substitutions, felt his side deserved praise for staying calm after going 1-0 down. “Things stayed difficult,” he said. “But this team did not accept a defeat. It makes me very proud because they did what was necessary. They showed up and we got a deserved win, even if it was a late one.”
The stat about no comebacks since the 1966 final was pointed out to Tuchel. “That’s a good sign,” he said. “It just shows you the level of determination and the level of belief and also the level of focus. And it fits into my narrative that I didn’t feel the weight on their shoulders. We played with exactly the right attitude and we trusted our spirit.”
Anthony Gordon created both goals after coming on for Marcus Rashford just after the hour mark. Tuchel also appeared to deliver crucial messages during the second hydration break. Eberechi Eze replaced Djed Spence, with Declan Rice moving to right-back, and Kane equalised five minutes later.
“The message was always the same,” Tuchel said. “Keep on knocking, knocking, knocking. Keep believing. Keep on doing what we do. Don’t give in – you don’t give in. That’s what this team is about. It’s so good to get this feeling on the sideline as a coach.
“While you’re trying to support and help, you get this feeling that players are free, players are not anxious. We didn’t play with fear. We played with determination and then we just didn’t accept it.
“We had a bit more of a connection from Ebs because he played wide on the right and helped Bukayo Saka to have this connection. And Declan finished as a full-back, so we had the inswing with a dangerous cross.
“After 60, 70 minutes we come with fresh legs and then you just try to help and support and find solutions from the bench. But I felt it [was] easy today. We didn’t need to unlock something tactically. Every time they spoke to me, they were invested, they were clear.”
England’s next challenge will be to deal with the altitude at the Azteca, which is approximately 2,200 metres above sea level. Tuchel, who fell asleep before a rampant Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 in the last-32 early on Wednesday, anticipates another tough test.
“It is maybe one of the most beautiful fixtures, most exciting fixtures you can have,” he said. “And there will be a lot of obstacles waiting for us. The altitude will be a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it. In four days, it’s just impossible.
“More obstacles may come, but we are ready for that. We need it. Maybe we have the ideal platform now to genuinely believe that we are ready for that.
“But I am very happy. Let’s see how much this cost us. We didn’t play overtime, which is a good thing.
“We have an early trip home. We have a brilliant facility. The most important thing is that we recover because we will travel early to get the travelling out of the way. The players are used to that rhythm. They love this rhythm.”
