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“I hope they don’t lose belief.” That was the message to England fans from head coach Thomas Tuchel after the misfiring Three Lions were held to a goalless draw by Ghana on Tuesday night.
Going into the match on a high after an impressive 4-2 victory over Croatia in their opening group L clash at the World Cup, England were left frustrated by a stubborn Ghana side who defended gallantly at the Boston Stadium.
Despite the draw, England remain top of the group, level on four points with Ghana, and will be overwhelming favourites when they face Panama in New Jersey on Saturday.
“It is a long tournament,” said England boss Tuchel. “I think the boys tried everything and again they played with the right energy.
“I know it’s a very different game and, in this case, if one team tries to play and to run against this deep block and you don’t find the spaces, it is difficult for you to create chances, it can be difficult to watch.
“It is not as exciting as two teams trying to win it in a more open game. We know. We always try to entertain our fans. It was difficult today. I hope they don’t lose belief. It is a long way to go.”
England dominated possession but failed to convert several late scoring opportunities in a rain-filled 0-0 draw.
After scoring twice in the 4-2 win over Croatia, captain Harry Kane struggled to get chances against Ghana, though he did fire over in the 86th minute after Nico O’Reilly’s header had hit the crossbar.
Tuchel doesn’t believe England are too dependent on star striker Kane, who won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“He was not involved as much as we would like to, but it was so narrow,” Tuchel said. “It was difficult to find space. The little moments that he had were just so unlucky.”
Saka and Rashford to start against Panama?
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz admitted that his team’s plan was to “block and frustrate” England from the first minute. And “we did it”, he said.
With Ghana sitting back, the Three Lions “needed a touch of individual magic”, said the BBC’s chief football writer Phil McNulty, but “they could not find it”. There’s “no need to panic” for England, but this was “a reality check”.
Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke failed to help England make the breakthrough and the “early evidence suggests it will not be long” before Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford start out wide in England’s attack.
“For Thomas Tuchel, I now expect changes on Saturday night against Panama,” former England captain Wayne Rooney told BBC Sport. “England probed, but there are little details throughout that game that Tuchel will look at with the team and try to improve on.
“When a team is sitting in a low block, you have to cross the ball. It is very difficult to defend against. I don’t think we crossed the ball enough in 90 minutes.”
Former England defender Kyle Walker also believes “it is time for a change”. Writing in The Sun, Walker said it “might be the moment” for Saka to start the game against Panama and “get some minutes in his legs” for the knockout stages. And maybe also for Rashford, who “needs a chance too”, Walker said, and “we can see what the two of them bring”.
Group L fixtures and results
- England 4 Croatia 2
- Ghana 1 Panama 0
- England 0 Ghana 0
- Panama 0 Croatia 1
- Saturday 27 June: England vs Panama 23:00 CET
- Saturday 27 June: Croatia vs Ghana 23:00 CET