MIAMI, July 18 (Reuters) – England manager Thomas Tuchel said he hoped his players would one day look back on finishing third at the World Cup with some pride, despite falling short of their goal of winning the tournament.
A 6-4 win over France in a frenetic third-place playoff at Miami Stadium on Saturday gave England their best finish at a World Cup since their only triumph when they hosted the tournament in 1966.
“It’s the first medal for 60 years, the best World Cup on foreign soil. So I hope that the players can be proud of that in some time,” he told reporters.
“We are fiercely competitive, so like we almost don’t allow ourselves to be proud of the third place because 18 months ago we set ourselves the highest goal … to make it to the final and win the World Cup.
“So it’s very, very painful if you miss out. The pain will stay for a while.”
Tuchel came in for heavy flak after England lost 2-1 to Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday, particularly because of what were viewed as his defensive tactics after his side took the lead early in the second half.
“The press conference yesterday felt as if we went out in the group stage without a win, to be very honest,” the German said.
“The best thing you can do is react on the pitch and get the next win. Everything else is just talking, and talking doesn’t get you points, and talking doesn’t get you a win.
“I’m glad that we showed a reaction. We wanted that reaction, and it’s very impressive.”
Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick for England on Saturday inevitably raised a question about why the right winger was not played in the semi-final.
“It was a tough decision for me to leave him out of the semi-final,” said Tuchel, who admitted he had been cautious with Saka because of the Achilles injury he had been managing for the last few months.
“I had the feeling that Morgan Rogers had something special to give to us with his physicality and his body in the match against Argentina.
“We had (Saka) warm up several times against Argentina. We were ready to change, but the game became so crazy that we in the end opted for a different option.
“But nothing has changed during the World Cup for me. Bukayo is a fantastic teammate, fantastic football player, key player for us, and that will not change. He showed it again today and I’m happy for him.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in New York, editing by Ken Ferris)
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