Thomas Tuchel laughed off the mockery from England fans and hailed his side for achieving something special after England qualified for the World Cup finals with a 5-0 win against Latvia in Riga. The head coach was in good spirits after another fine display and did not mind being the butt of the joke at a rain-sodden Daugava Stadium.
England's fans expressed 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 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.'
Tuchel praised the fans' support, saying: '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.'
Another thumping win ensured 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 for dead rubbers against Serbia and Albania next month. 'Now we know we are qualified, I'm not sure if this changes anything in the nomination process,' he said. 'Maybe it does, but I need to get my head around it next week. I need this moment to enjoy it. It is a very special moment. It's not daily business that you qualify for a World Cup.'
Tuchel added: '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.'
