3 days ago
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Thomas Tuchel laughed off the mockery from the fans and hailed his side for achieving something special after England qualified for the World Cup finals tournament with a 5‑0 win against Latvia in Riga.
The head coach was in good spirits after another fine display and he did not mind being the butt of the joke at a rain-sodden Daugava Stadium. England’s fans did not hesitate to express their displeasure with Tuchel’s critical comments about the atmosphere during the win against Wales at Wembley last week but the German admitted he was fair game and insisted he thought the chants aimed in his direction were funny.
“They had a reason today from my last comments and I guess that’s fair enough,” Tuchel said. “I got a bit of stick and I found it quite creative. It made me smile. It’s British humour and I can take it. No harm done.
“They are here and I said the support in Serbia was brilliant. The support today was brilliant and we are very sure the support in America will be absolutely brilliant. We need it. It makes such a difference if you go out as a player or as a coach and you see the fans behind the team and singing.
“We want to make them happy. They should be happy to watch us and they should be able to identify with how we play. We are on our way to build something.”
Another thumping win ensured that England have qualified with two games to spare but Tuchel is taking nothing for granted. He is unsure if he will make changes to his squad when England finish their qualifying campaign with dead rubbers against Serbia and Albania next month. All eyes will be on whether Jude Bellingham returns.
“Now we know we are qualified, I’m not sure if this changes anything in the nomination process,” Tuchel said. “Maybe it does, but I need to get my head around it next week. I need this moment to enjoy it. I can feel it in the dressing room. It is a very special moment. It’s not daily business that you qualify for a World Cup. We will then think about how this affects our next camp.
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“Maybe it will give us the chance to try some stuff but we will stay competitive no matter how we organise these two matches. We need to keep the thing going. What we build is very precious and we will not gamble on it.”
