England fans furiously chanted at Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel during their 5-0 win over Latvia in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. The Three Lions booked their place at the World Cup next year with a thumping result in Riga. After missing the Wales friendly through an ankle injury, captain Harry Kane returned to the lineup with a bang as he scored a brace in a dominating performance.
Tuchel furious with Wembley support after Wales friendly
After their 3-0 win over neighbours Wales in the international friendly at home last week, Tuchel took aim at the 'silent' England fans at Wembley as he claimed that the home crowd could have done more to motivate his side. He told after the game: "We had one-and-a-half training days to prepare against a well-trained team and we did very, very well. We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly but it could have been four or five. It was very, very good. Then we couldn’t score the fourth one or the fifth one and the stadium was silent. Silent! We never got any energy back from the fans and I think the players delivered a lot to get more from the fans. “It was difficult to keep everything going in the second half but we did excellent and deserved to win. A step in the right direction. What more can you give in 20 minutes? We didn't let them escape. If you hear just Wales fans for half an hour, it's sad, because the team deserved more support today."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportEngland fans chant back at Tuchel
Now it was the Three Lions fans' turn to give it back to their manager as a large group of English supporters turned up at the Daugava Stadium in Riga to support their team. As England kept scoring goals, the fans were heard chanting: "We'll sing when we want, we'll sing when we want, Thomas Tuchel, we'll sing when we want!" They also jokingly sang: "Are we loud enough for you?" The fans also came up with an X-rated chant, as they sang: "Our support is f*cking sh*t!"
Tuchel, though, was not bothered by the fans' chants aimed at him as he gave a thumbs-up to the visiting fans. After Anthony Gordon's opening goal in the 26th minute, a section of the supporters chanted: "1-0 to the library."
Kane makes England history
With the double against Latvia, a left-footed strike in the 44th minute and a penalty a few minutes later, helped Kane script another record for England as he went past Nat Lofthouse to become the first Three Lions star to score two or more goals in 13 international appearances. His total goals tally for England now stands at 76 in 113 matches.
Kane was doubtful for the Latvia after he missed the friendly against Wales last week due to an ankle injury that he picked up during Bayern Munich's final clash before the international break against Eintracht Frankfurt. With Ollie Watkins ruled out with a freak injury before the qualifier, Tuchel was concerned over whom to field as the team's No.9. However, Kane fully recovered in time, featured in the starting and guided his team to a dominating win and secured a World Cup berth.
Getty Images SportEngland look a solid unit ahead of World Cup
Tuchel faced criticism at the time of announcing the squad for the October international break, as he overlooked several big names, including Manchester City star Phil Foden, loanee Jack Grealish and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham. However, despite missing some big names, England managed to score eight goals in the two matches they played this month.
With the likes of Eberechi Eze scoring a goal after coming as a second half substitute and players like Marcus Rashford and Jarrod Bowen also able to emerge from the bench, Tuchel is spoilt for choice in the attacking third ahead of the World Cup. With their berth secured, the German coach could consider experimenting with his lineups in the final two group matches against Serbia and Albania in November.