Are Bellingham And Tuchel On The Same Page? FOX Analysts Downplay Comments
England's win over Norway didn't come without post-match controversy for the Three Lions.
Star midfielder Jude Bellingham scored twice to give England a 2-1 win in extra time that sent them to the World Cup semifinals for the fourth time ever. After the match, during an on-field interview, head coach Thomas Tuchel pointed out that his team could have been much better.
"We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today," Tuchel said in a post-match interview on FOX Sports. "The result is fantastic. We’re in the last four. It’s amazing, but not happy with the performance ... in every sense."
Bellingham, who scored both of England's goals to bring his tally for the tournament up to six, seemed to disagree with his coach's critique after England prevailed in the heat and humidity of South Florida, with temperatures reaching 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) at the start of warmups.
"Well, whatever," Bellingham said, shaking his head. "It's difficult out there. It's a tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation goes to the players out there who put in a great shift."
"I think it would probably catch you a little off-guard," former World Cup defender Walk Zimmerman told us for the comments and Bellingham's response. "That’s the kind of thing that would fly, I think, at the club level when you’re playing game in, game out. For a knockout tournament, I think the most important thing is that you can say we didn’t play well, then you immediately acknowledge, ‘We won, we’re moving on. We’re going to enjoy this today and look at what we can do better.’"
Former U.S. men's national team coach and FOX Sports analyst Bob Bradley downplayed the impact of Tuchel's comments, which struck a chord with Bellingham.
"I don't think it's


