MIAMI, July 18 (Xinhua) -- England manager Thomas Tuchel hailed the "unbelievable" resilience of his squad on Saturday after England secured its best World Cup finish in 60 years, overcoming France 6-4 in a thrilling bronze-medal match.
England surged to a 4-0 lead in the first half, and while France found its rhythm after the interval, it was ultimately unable to overturn the deficit. Bukayo Saka completed a hat-trick for England.
"I cannot worship this performance and this mentality today highly enough," Tuchel said. "We had one day less to prepare, thousands more kilometers in our bones than the opponent, and we come from the heat... but again and again, we found a way. It was normal for us to suffer, and I am very impressed that we showed the reaction we wanted."
The victory was powered by a clinical Saka hat-trick, justifying Tuchel's faith in the winger. "He is a key player for me. He was excellent today and showed exactly why he is a pillar of this team," Tuchel said.
The manager was criticized by public following the semifinal loss earlier this week. "The press conference yesterday felt as if we went out in the group stage, but 24 hours later, we have the biggest success in sixty years. I take the blame for the decisions that didn't work against Argentina, but I strongly believe we built more in this World Cup than we can lose in thirty minutes," he said.
Despite the win, Tuchel acknowledged the "scar" of missing the final would remain. "The pain will stay for a while. This is high-level sport. But this medal is a big shout. We have quality, we are joint-top scorers of the tournament, and this will help us move forward." ■
