Manager Thomas Tuchel knows he has two world-class players in Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham and is delighted that their individual qualities can continue to win England games.
Thomas Tuchel leads England to their fourth World Cup semi-final (Image: AFP or licensor)
Manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that England’s formula is to continue with the combination of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, as “they will do the rest”.
The Bayern Munich attacker and the Real Madrid playmaker are two of the Three Lions’ elite players and continue to be their trump cards. On Saturday night, Bellingham scored twice to defeat Norway and advance to the semifinals.
Between Kane and Bellingham they have scored all but one of England’s goals at the World Cup, with only Marcus Rashford on the scoresheet. The two are the talismans of their club, and have played that role in their home country as well.
Argentina and England will meet in the first World Cup final since 1966, and while Tuchel admits he would like to see more players involved in England’s attack, he also knows he has two world-class players who can continue to win games against Argentina.
After Norway’s win, he said: “If you’re talking about the equation, it’s very simple. You put Harry and Jude together and they’ll do the rest. We need to get better in attack and bring other players into positions, but of course they’re decisive players. They’re decisive players.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that because they love responsibility, they have quality and they show up in the decisive moments. There’s no need to feel sorry for that. These two play for us and decide games for us. That’s impressive.”
“They’re both top players and they found a way to play each other very efficiently through the middle of the pitch. It’s completely credit to them. It’s definitely a top tournament.”
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham sometimes carried England on their backs (Image: Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kane remains in the hunt for the Golden Boot and Bellingham’s brace means he joins his England colleague with six goals in this competition. Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi sit in number eight, meaning the English pair will have to work a little harder to get the gong.
The Bayern striker praised his English colleague as the difference, even though England’s overall performance was noted by the manager.
“I know it wasn’t the best performance, but we’re in the semi-finals of the World Cup,” he said. “The other thing that was different was Jude scoring two goals at the perfect time. That got us over the line.”
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