Milan, 15 July (LaPresse) – “I don’t feel the weight of responsibility. You can feel the tension and I’ll be nervous, and that’s normal. But I don’t feel any weight.” England manager Thomas Tuchel said this on the eve of the World Cup semi-final against Leo Messi’s Argentina. “His campaign, this tournament, the way he drives the team forward is simply incredible, absolutely incredible,” said the England manager of Messi. “There are no words… to describe such an achievement, the responsibility and the quality he has demonstrated once again in this tournament,” he said. Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, who has also scored six goals, have been the key figures in England’s run to the semi-finals. Tuchel said the pair had given their all “in an incredible way” at the World Cup. However, it was Bellingham who provided the most crucial moments in the last two matches. “We firmly believe that this is a team sport and that no one can do it alone, but of course we also rely on world-class moments from world-class players,” said Tuchel. Both England and Argentina will have to find a way to limit the impact of each other’s star players. Tuchel said he had considered the idea of marking Messi man-to-man, assigning a single player to him for the entire match. “Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to be found. If you analyse the matches, you get the feeling that he sees things before anyone else on the pitch,” said Tuchel. “I think we’ve identified some patterns in their play, but if you shut those down, he’ll perhaps find new ones and create new ones. That’s an extraordinary strength. That’s exactly how it is,” he added. The rivalry between Argentina and England is a historic one, with the South Americans having won only once, in 1986, thanks to Diego Armando Maradona’s two legendary goals, whilst more recently, England beat Argentina in the group stage in 2002, with Beckham scoring from the penalty spot. “If a match produces so many iconic moments, you can’t simply say it’s just another football match, but as managers we do exactly the opposite,” said Tuchel. “We don’t talk about historical events. We don’t talk about iconic moments,” he concluded.
2026 World Cup: Tuchel on Argentina v England: ‘I don’t feel the weight of responsibility’
Milan, 15 July (LaPresse) – “I don’t feel the weight of responsibility. You can feel the tension and I’ll be nervous, and that’s normal. But I don’t feel any weight.” England manager Thomas Tuchel said this on the eve of the World Cup semi-final against Leo Messi’s Argentina. “His campaign, this tournament, the way he drives the team forward is simply incredible, absolutely incredible,” said the England manager of Messi. “There are no words… to describe such an achievement, the responsibility and the quality he has demonstrated once again in this tournament,” he said. Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, who has also scored six goals, have been the key figures in England’s run to the semi-finals. Tuchel said the pair had given their all “in an incredible way” at the World Cup. However, it was Bellingham who provided the most crucial moments in the last two matches. “We firmly believe that this is a team sport and that no one can do it alone, but of course we also rely on world-class moments from world-class players,” said Tuchel. Both England and Argentina will have to find a way to limit the impact of each other’s star players. Tuchel said he had considered the idea of marking Messi man-to-man, assigning a single player to him for the entire match. “Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to be found. If you analyse the matches, you get the feeling that he sees things before anyone else on the pitch,” said Tuchel. “I think we’ve identified some patterns in their play, but if you shut those down, he’ll perhaps find new ones and create new ones. That’s an extraordinary strength. That’s exactly how it is,” he added. The rivalry between Argentina and England is a historic one, with the South Americans having won only once, in 1986, thanks to Diego Armando Maradona’s two legendary goals, whilst more recently, England beat Argentina in the group stage in 2002, with Beckham scoring from the penalty spot. “If a match produces so many iconic moments, you can’t simply say it’s just another football match, but as managers we do exactly the opposite,” said Tuchel. “We don’t talk about historical events. We don’t talk about iconic moments,” he concluded.
