The England World Cup loss to Argentina left a sour taste in the mouth for most of the English supporters.
After having played so well for an hour and taking the lead deservedly, Thomas Tuchel decided that his team should sit back and defend their one-goal lead, which in turn let Argentina come back and win the England vs Argentina World Cup semi-final.
Argentina scored twice in the space of seven minutes to bring about the England World Cup loss and hand the Three Lions’ supporters a defeat full of dejection.
The England World Cup loss on Wednesday, July 15, was by no means the first in the latter stages of major tournaments, but it is going to be the one that hurts the most.
England World Cup Loss: A Half Of Football Tuchel Will Like To Forget
From the time England scored their goal to the time Argentina equalised, the English had only 12% possession, which was abject and almost unheard of in any major tournament involving a major team.
Argentina, who struggled against the long passes played to Morgan Rogers on the right flank, which was a new position for him, and Anthony Gordon on the left for around an hour, suddenly were given a fresh lease of life.
They no longer had to worry about defending anymore, as England decided to concede territory inside their own half permanently, which gave Enzo Fernandez enough space and time to fire in the equaliser.
Harry Kane, who could have been so effective from counter-attacks, had to do some half-hearted marking inside his own half.
Jude Bellingham shunned all his attacking instincts, and Gordon and Declan Rice were simply taken off to make way for an English switch to a back-five.
The English substitutions were defensive as Argentina’s were desperately offensive. Still, the English reinforcements failed to do justice to the purpose they were sent with.
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Even then, the English substitutes failed to do what they were supposed to. Nico O’Reilly, a left-back introduced as the left-winger in place of Gordon, failed to curb the Argentine attacks through the right led by Lionel Messi.
A lion’s share of the crosses played into the box against the English low block were played from the right flank.
Dan Burn, introduced to take care of the aerial deliveries into the box, failed to stop Lautaro Martinez, who is a foot shorter than him, from heading in Argentina’s winner.
There was a gap of seven minutes between the two Argentine goals, and even during that time period, England did not attack, knowing fully well that Argentina were stacked with offensive players now and only had Nicolas Otamendi and Christian Romero as defensive players guarding the goal.
It remains to be seen whether Tuchel remains the England manager in their next major tournament.
However, for the German, who has won the UEFA Champions League as a manager, the England World Cup loss should have hurt a lot.
Had England been more positive after scoring their goal in the England vs Argentina match, it would have probably been a different result for them. The England World Cup loss on Wednesday in Atlanta has to be one of the most disappointing ones in their history.
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