Croatia great Davor Suker has criticised England manager Thomas Tuchel for his World Cup comments ahead of kick-off against France
Croatia icon Davor Suker has taken aim at England manager Thomas Tuchel. The German head coach has received criticism following his comments ahead of the Three Lions’ third-place play-off against France.
England take on fellow beaten semi-finalists in Miami on Saturday (10pm kick-off) looking to bounce back from their devastating exit to Argentina. Tuchel came under fire for his tactics after his side squandered a one-goal lead against the reigning champions.
Anthony Gordon had opened the scoring midway through the second-half before late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez turned the tie on its head. A demoralised England will have to lick their wounds against a France side who were brushed aside by Spain.
However, Tuchel’s comments about the battle for the wooden spoon haven’t gone down well with Croatia as the 58-year-old took aim at the head coach.
Suker inspired the Vatreni to third-place in 1998, taking home the golden boot with six efforts.
He said: “I think the rich don’t want to play when they lose. After 1998, when we played the Netherlands for third place, we fought for that bronze medal, and today I can still speak about it with pride.
“Some people have won so many trophies and are so wealthy that this match means nothing to them.
“My message to them is: be quiet, respect all 211 participants, and understand that the world doesn’t belong only to them. It belongs to the middle-sized nations, the smaller ones, and to everyone who loves football.
“Whoever wins third place tomorrow, I assure you that in 20 years, when they’re older, they’ll still remember that bronze medal. That’s why, in this whole story, coach Tuchel doesn’t matter. He’s talking nonsense.”
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The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich head coach caused a stir during his pre-match duties with his comments surrounding the third-place playoff.
He said: “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match. They want to play the final.
“We gave everything to achieve that. Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but that’s how it is. We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism.”
Tuchel faces immense scrutiny over his future in the Three Lions hot-seat after coming in for severe criticism for their collapse against Argentina.
England were within 10 minutes of their second ever World Cup final but regressed and opted to move into a defensive shape that allowed the defending champions to capitalise and keep their hopes of retaining alive.


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