Thomas Tuchel tore into England fans for staying ‘silent’ during the Three Lions’ 3-0 demolition of Wales at Wembley last week, but had a change of heart in the wake of the nation’s 5-0 thrashing of Latvia.
Thomas Tuchel gave England fans their flowers as the Three Lions qualified for the 2026 World Cup – after making their feelings known in Riga.
The head coach was incredibly critical of fans inside Wembley for their lack of noise as England eased to a 3-0 win over Wales last week, despite it being a friendly game. As a result, fans at the Daugava Stadium in Riga on Tuesday evening were quick to take aim at the German, as England faced Latvia in the World Cup qualifying.
Fans could be heart sarcastically singing: “Thomas Tuchel, we’ll sing when we want,” and: “Are we loud enough for you?” as the clash unfolded. Meanwhile, others could be heard ringing our a chorus of: “Our support is f****** s***,” albeit in jest.
And speaking after the game, which England ultimately won 5-0 to book their spot in the showcase, Tuchel had seemingly had a change of heart with regards to the nation’s support. When asked about the fans by ITV, the 52-year-old laughed as he said: “Yeah, it was good.
“Got some stick in the first half. Fair enough and well done. Good sense of humour, no problem. I can handle it.”
When asked if the crowd were in fact loud enough, he beamed as he said: “Yeah. It was brilliant support from start to finish.”
It was a night to remember for Tuchel and his squad in Riga, as England put on a masterclass against Latvia to seal qualification for next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring 26 minutes into the match – running on to John Stones’ ball from deep over the top of the Latvian defence before cutting inside on his right foot and curling the ball past Krishanis Zviedris.
Harry Kane then scored with a well-placed strike from outside the area in the 44th minute. The England captain doubled his tally during first-half added time. Antonijs Cernomordijs was deemed to have pulled Kane’s shirt in the Latvian box during a corner, as the Three Lions were awarded a spot-kick as a result.
Things then went from bad to worse for Latvia when Maximis Tonisevs put the ball into the back of his own net while attempting to clear an inviting cross from Djed Spence in the second-half. Jarrod Bowen then penetrated Latvia’s defence with a pinpoint through ball 86 minutes into the game – allowing Eberechi Eze to dribble the ball on to his right foot and seal the deal from inside Zviedris’ box.
As a result of their win, England currently sit uncatchable at the top of the Group K table. That’s with six wins from as many games, boasting an immaculate 18 points.
They will now face no pressure whatsoever when they face Serbia and Albania in the qualifiers during November’s international break. And it wasn’t just Tuchel who was vocal about the support the team received on Tuesday night.
Speaking with ITV after the match, Kane said of the travelling fans: “Amazing. I know Thomas come out after the last game and said the fans weren’t great, but I don’t think you can question our away support ever.
“And the way they were tonight was fantastic. And look, we’ve qualified for another major tournament.
“We know the England fans enjoy going out – and America’s going to be a special place to play – and we’ve got something to look forward to now. Yeah, credit to them for travelling out here and showing the noise they did.”
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