ENGLAND PUT ON A DOMINANT DISPLAY IN CROATIA TODAY (AFTER A WEEK’S R&R IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL RESORT IN CROATIA DURING WHICH TIME THOMAS TUCHEL MADE SURE THEY HAD PLENTY OF DOWN-TIME, ENABLING THEM TO GO SWIMMING AND SCUBA DIVING AS PART OF THEIR TRAINING REGIME) – SO IT’S NO WONDER THEY WERE FIGHTING-FIT WHEN CHARGED WITH THE JOB OF PLAYING AGAINST CROATIA – BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (APART FROM AROUND 5,000 CROATIAN SCHOOL-CHILDREN SCREAMING EXCITEDLY FOR THEIR HEROES!) THERE WERE ALSO AROUND 100 ENGLAND FOOTBALL FANS, WHO GAVE-AS-GOOD-AS-THEY-GOT IN OUTSINGING THE SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH CHANTS OF ‘COME ON ENGLAND’. CROATIA MADE 323 PASSES, WITH AN 86% PASS ACCURACY, (HAD 42% POSSESSION), AND 10 SHOTS WITH 1 ON-TARGET, BUT NO GOALS ON THIS OCCASION, BUT WITH ENGLAND HAVING HAD LOTS OF SLEEP DURING THE WEEK, AND LOOKING VERY FIT AND RELAXED, THEY SAUNTERED ONTO THE PITCH (MUCH TO THE VEHEMENCE OF THE SCREAMING SCHOOLCHILDREN!) BUT ENGLAND PAID-NO-MIND TO SUCH VEROCITY FROM THE TERRIFYING CROWD😊, MAKING 709 PASSES WITH A 94% PASS ACCURACY, (HAD 58% POSSESSION), AND 16 SHOTS WITH 9 ON-TARGET, INCLUDING A BRILLIANT BRACE FROM HARRY KANE AT JUST 8 MINS., AND 53 MINS. RESPECTIVELY AND THEN STUNNERS FROM JUDE BELLINGHAM AT 21 MINS., ANTHONY GORDON AT 39 MINS., ANOTHER BRACE FROM BUKAYO SAKA AT 45 MINS. AND 68 MINS., AND A LATE FINISHER FROM MORGAN ROGERS AT 87 MINS! THE CROATIAN SUPPORTERS DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THEIR HEROES THOUGH – ONLY BRIEFLY BREAKING CONCENTRATION TO DIG OUT SOME OF THE SANDWICHES THEIR MUM’S HAD MADE FOR THEM – STILL SEEMINGLY JUST HAPPY TO BE THERE. IT WASN’T UNTIL THE END, IN FACT, PROBABLY AFTER THE 6TH OR 7TH ENGLAND GOAL, THAT YOU COULD SEE THE ANNOYANCE ON SOME OF THEIR LITTLE FACES, WHEN ONE OF THEM THREW HIS DRINK ON THE PITCH – AND ANOTHER, A PACKET OF CRISPS! BUT, HEY-HO, ALL’S WELL-THAT-ENDS-WELL, NO DAMAGE WAS DONE – AND ALL SEEMINGLY ENJOYED THE EXPERIENCE OF WATCHING ALL THE EXCITEMENT! (JUST AS WELL IT WASN’T THEIR DAD’S THOUGH!)

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE :  CROATIA VS ENGLAND – 03/10/2026

THOMAS TUCHEL SPEAKS AFTER THE MATCH

SLAVEN BILIC SPEAKS AFTER THE MATCH