Thomas Tuchel sends message to ‘every fan who stayed up’ | Football | Sport
England Manager Thomas Tuchel has thanked England fans who stayed up into the early hours to watch his side reach the World Cup quarter-finals. The Three Lions overcame Mexico in a 3-2 thriller, which was delayed by an hour from the original 1am kick-off, meaning fans who stayed up did not get to bed until gone 4am.
The game’s kick-off time had prompted discussions about late-night pub visits and potential school absences, but the England manager was full of gratitude for the lengths fans went to support the Three Lions. He told reporters: “I just want to say thank you if you stayed up and sent us your energy, I just want to say thank you. Because if they (fans) think we don’t feel it, we feel it.
“We feel it 100%. There is so much to love about this team, they should just keep pushing, pushing and pushing, we will go now full steam ahead, we get two recovery days and we will go and use this energy to keep pushing and stay in the tournament.”
Supporters packed out hundreds of bars and pubs for the late-night clash after the Government extended opening hours to 5am on Monday, with beers flying into the air at the final whistle following 11 minutes of added time.
Two-goal hero Jude Bellingham was also full of praise for England fans, telling them to “have a day off”.
Bellingham, when asked for his message to supporters back home after the match, said: “Text your bosses and tell them you’re not coming in, simple as that.”
He added: “Kids stay off school, parents don’t go to work, enjoy your day, have the day off if you can, these nights don’t come often.”
But parents were urged to get their children to school by a Government minister, who said it was “important to learn that resilience” of getting through the day tired.
Early education minister Olivia Bailey said that every day of school mattered, even if they are “a bit sleepy” after watching England’s late-night World Cup clash with Mexico.
She told Times Radio: “I would absolutely encourage kids to get themselves into school this morning.”
And she addressed children directly on Sky News, saying: “You might feel a bit tired, but that’s also important to learn that resilience, because there’ll be many more days when you feel a bit tired at work, and you’ve got to get through, and you’ve got to still learn.”
