NEW YORK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- England coach Thomas Tuchel was pleased with his side's display in a convincing 3-0 win over Costa Rica in its last World Cup preparation game.
Although the kick-off in Orlando was delayed for an hour after a torrential storm flooded the pitch, England produced a crisp and aggressive performance, in contrast to Saturday's lackluster outing against New Zealand.
Declan Rice's early finish, an Anthony Gordon penalty and Ollie Watkins' late goal saw England cruise to victory as Tuchel's side dominated from start to finish, with Gordon and Jude Bellingham, who played in an advanced role, both impressing.
"I wished for that, I demanded that; I said before the match we want to push it to the next level, from intensity, commitment, cohesion, and we did that," said Tuchel, who said he was pleased with the progress his squad is making.
"We see the adaptation to the heat and we see things clicking, but we demanded it today from the players to take the next step and they did. The result takes care of itself, but we did it on a high level," he said.
Tuchel said earlier that the fact England hasn't won the World Cup since 1966 means it can't be considered one of the favorites for the tournament, but he was positive in his post-game assessment.
"The work rate gives us a good feeling and intensity, and we can impose ourselves on the opponent, and the movement is up front and not running backwards," he said, before singling out Bellingham for praise.
"I wanted to see Jude in the combination today for the first time with Harry [Kane], Elliot [Anderson] and Declan [Rice] at the center of the game. I know what Morgan [Rogers] gives us there, I just saw it so many times. It was the first time for Jude, and he buys into these ideas. He has to and he loves to do it, and that's part of our game."
England will play a closed-doors friendly against local side Miami United on Thursday before facing Croatia in its first group match on June 17. ■
