England's Hero Disagrees with Tuchel's Assessment

Jude Bellingham disagreed with manager Thomas Tuchel's assessment of England's performance in their 2-1 extra-time quarter-final victory over Norway, calling for more positivity. Bellingham was the star of the show with two goals as England battled through the intense Miami heat, earning his fourth Player of the Match award in six games.

Tuchel's side had to fight hard against the Scandinavians, needing extra time to secure their fourth World Cup semi-final berth, and the German stated he was "not happy with the performance." The Real Madrid star didn't take kindly to this, challenging his coach's opinion.

"Maybe he doesn't know what it's like to play in these conditions against Erling Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, Sorloth. That's not an easy team. So I think we tried to create a positive environment. We need to continue that into the final four," Bellingham said.

"I can't praise the lads enough. You can't win every game by just knocking the ball around and making a thousand passes. Sometimes you have to win ugly, and we did that again tonight," the international added.

When asked if he agreed with Tuchel's assessment that England was lucky, he replied: "No comment."

Bellingham drew level with Harry Kane on six tournament goals after almost single-handedly guiding the team to the semi-finals with his brace. The 23-year-old said it was beyond his wildest dreams to be the star on such a grand stage but was quick to share the praise.

"Yeah, probably a bit beyond, to be honest. I'm a confident lad, but I don't think you go to bed at night dreaming of games like this. It's nice to have an impact and help the team. But, my goodness, the effort from these lads . . . I'm so proud of how they keep fighting, no matter what situations we find ourselves in. They can be really proud, and I know they are. And I'll make sure they feel it too," Bellingham concluded, as quoted by DPA.