Former US international and CBS Sports pundit Mike Grella launched a scathing critique of England's World Cup performance after their 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway, comparing the team to 'the world's ugliest daughter'. Despite reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1966, Grella argued that England's displays have been unconvincing and that they are fortunate to still be in the tournament.
Grella's brutal verdict
Speaking after the match in Miami, Grella said: 'The good news is you have two games left, semi-final and final, and you can actually win a World Cup for the first time since 1966. The bad news is you're not very good at football.' He added: 'It's like having the world's ugliest daughter and saying, “You're beautiful, baby”.'
Grella highlighted England's deficiencies: 'You're not good with the ball, you're not good at transitions, you leave unbelievable spaces in between the lines. By English standards, it was a really poor performance. The impressive part is how poor you are and you're able to get away with the win.'
Tuchel admits flaws
England manager Thomas Tuchel echoed some of the criticism, admitting he was 'not happy with the performance' despite the result. 'We made life very difficult for ourselves today. The result is amazing. But not happy with the performance,' he said. The German coach pointed to 'sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.'
Tuchel, however, praised his players' spirit and determination: 'No one suggests that I'm not impressed with the shift that they put in, the effort, the spirit, the belief. To overcome adversity and to dig in and to find ways to win is on the absolutely highest level. They cannot get enough praise for that. But I'm also a football coach and I think we can play better.'
Bellingham's heroics
Jude Bellingham scored twice to turn the tie around after Norway took the lead. He equalised just before half-time and then struck the decisive goal three minutes into extra time. England are now two wins away from lifting the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
