Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that England boss Thomas Tuchel was "under immense pressure" for the World Cup opener. The Three Lions had to wait to kick off their tournament, but were in action on Wednesday night as they took on Croatia.
England's Victory Over Croatia
England came out as 4-2 winners thanks to goals from Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford. Tuchel's side had gone in level at half-time after being pegged back twice. But captain, Kane, credited a dressing room speech from the head-coach to inspire an impressive second-half display. The game was Tuchel's first in charge of England in a major tournament.
Klopp's Comments on Tuchel and Kane
And Klopp believes that brought big pressure on his fellow countryman. "Thomas was under immense pressure today," he told MagentaTV. Klopp then highlighted the role of Kane in the England team. "How influential can one player actually be? The answer is Harry Kane," he added. Even before the game, Klopp was full of praise for the England captain. "I recently heard that books will be written about him, songs will be sung about him in the future," he said. "He has changed the way strikers play. He's a connector; he brings everyone into the game."
Group L Standings
The win saw England climb to the top of Group L after the first round of games. The squad are now back in their Kansas City base and will be preparing for the second group game against Ghana on Tuesday night (9pm BST kick-off). The Black Stars came out as 1-0 winners over Panama in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Caleb Yirenkyi's 95th-minute winner proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Tuchel's Half-Time Speech
Speaking after the win over Croatia, Tuchel outlined exactly what he said to his squad at half-time. "Even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days but let's do it our way. We were too focused on protecting the result," he told ITV. "We were a back seven and we didn't defend. If the result doesn't go our way, we want to play our way. I tried to encourage them to go for it."
