No. 4 England win just 1-0 over No. 173 Andorra, Tuchel has a problem with the attitude of players a strong slap

Jun 08, 2025

[London (UK) = Egan Sports Chosun.COM Reporter] England coach Thomas Tuchel expressed strong dissatisfaction with his poor performance against Andorra.

England, ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, won 1-0 in the third Group K match of the 2026 North-China World Cup European qualifying round against Andorra in Barcelona, Spain on the 7th (Korea time). Considering Andorra's 173rd place in the FIFA rankings, it was a game that was inevitably criticized.

Tuchel also said something bitter. "I was particularly worried about the last 20 minutes," he said in a post-match press conference. The attitude of the players was not suitable for the World Cup qualifying round at all. There was no concentration or tension." Then "The first 20-25 minutes of the game were okay. However, he missed the flow afterwards, and in the end, the tension disappeared at the end. We will clearly communicate to the players what the criteria we want to be."

In the match, England had 83 percent of possession, but were rarely able to break through Andorra's dense defense and had to rely mainly on mid-range shots. Kane scored his 72nd goal of the A-match by pushing in Nhoni Madueke's cross, but overall the sharpness of the attack was lacking.

On the performance controversy, Tuchel said "The players looked bored" showed a reaction that seemed to agree with the external evaluation. In fact, Roy Keane from Manchester United said in an ITV commentary, `The last half hour seemed to be boring for some players. It was time to show the new coach more", he pointed out. Other commentators, including Dickson and Michael Brown, also evaluated "It's disappointing that the fourth-ranked team is playing this well against the 173rd-ranked team."

Meanwhile, Tuchel tried various experiments by changing the starting lineup of five players on the same day. They made changes, including Curtis Jones at right full-back and Reece James at left full-back, while Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson was given the chance to make his first A-match start since November 2023.

Tuchel said "Henderson was well qualified. Declan Rice had a bad sense of play, and Henderson was a player who showed the energy and commitment he needed for this team."

The most outstanding player in the game was Madueke. Starting on the left wing, he showed active performance by creating four chances and scoring the most touches (12 times) in the box. "He was the most threatening player today," Tuchel said. He was faithful to the game plan and was active. If we continue this performance, we will be able to gain the upper hand in the main competition."

England will play Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday. Tuchel said "Now we need to analyze the problems in detail and reconfirm with the players what the criteria we want are," he stressed.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.