'Maybe he doesn't know': Bellingham hits back as coach says England were 'lucky'
England manager Thomas Tuchel criticized his team's performance despite their 2-1 victory over Norway in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, calling the display 'sloppy.' Midfielder Jude Bellingham publicly pushed back against the manager's comments, suggesting Tuchel may not fully grasp the difficulty of the match conditions.
Why it matters
The public disagreement between a high-profile manager and a star player highlights internal tensions within the England squad during a major tournament.
Jude Bellingham appeared surprised after learning that England manager Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with the team's performance despite their 2-1 extra-time win over Norway in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.England booked their place in the last four in Miami, with Bellingham scoring both goals. While the players celebrated on the pitch, Tuchel made it clear in his post-match interview that he was not satisfied with the overall display.The England manager said: “Not happy with the performance…“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today."“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four it’s amazing, but we’re not happy with the performance. The commitment is there but we made life very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played."“Sloppy, lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today."
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