Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Declan Rice spent the past few days in bed due to sickness before being substituted at half-time in England's 2-1 World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway in Miami. The England midfielder managed only 45 minutes before being withdrawn, with Tuchel confirming he was one of several players struggling with the heat and humidity in Florida.
Tuchel explains tactical change
Tuchel said: "We made life for ourself complicated, we had some players struggling with the heat. Ezri Konsa was one of them, cramps in his hamstring and with Declan, we made the decision to go more offensive at half-time." The England boss added that he opted for an offensive shift at 1-0 down and did not want to reverse the decision even after the equaliser. "It's about being closer to your opponents box, so we put in Ebs [Eberechi Eze] and Bukayo [Saka] and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out."
Rice's illness and fitness concerns
Tuchel explained: "Knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days, he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes. I also knew there was the possibility of 120 so I didn't want to waste another change so I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on."
Training schedule reduced
Tuchel also confirmed that England will significantly reduce their training schedule as they prepare for the semi-final on Wednesday. "They have to, no doubt about it. Our level of training will now go down. The next few days are crucial. We have another. This victory will help a lot. We have a top facility to recover at the highest level."
Positive injury news
There was positive news on the fitness front as Reece James returned to the pitch for the first time since the 0-0 draw with Ghana. Bukayo Saka also excelled from the bench. Jordan Henderson took part in the pre-match warm-up and was named on the bench, though he was never realistically going to feature following wrist surgery.
