'Maybe he doesn't know': Bellingham hits back as coach says England were 'lucky'

Jude Bellingham appeared surprised after learning that England manager Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with the team's performance despite their 2-1 extra-time win over Norway in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals.England booked their place in the last four in Miami, with Bellingham scoring both goals. While the players celebrated on the pitch, Tuchel made it clear in his post-match interview that he was not satisfied with the overall display.The England manager said: “Not happy with the performance…“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today."“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four it’s amazing, but we’re not happy with the performance. The commitment is there but we made life very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played."“Sloppy, lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today." Tuchel said after the match.Tuchel was then asked if the pressure of the occasion had affected his players.He rejected the suggestion, saying: “It’s not a mentality problem — this is pure mentality."“How can you ask about mentality now? This is pure mentality, you can bottle it up and sell it. It’s the quality of our games. That’s it. It has nothing to do with mentality.”Later, during his own post-match interview with ITV, Bellingham was informed of Tuchel's comments. The midfielder appeared frustrated, responding with an eye roll and saying, “whatever.”He then added: “It is difficult out there. It was a tough shift.”Bellingham also praised his teammates for the effort they put in during the match.Asked about Tuchel's remarks, the Real Madrid midfielder said: “Maybe he doesn’t know what it takes to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, Nusa, Sorloth, that’s not an easy team to play against.“I think we have tried to create a positive environment we should continue that into the final four."“I can’t think highly enough of the lads. You’re not going to win every game popping a thousand passes, sometimes you have to win dirty.”Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.