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England fans stormed out of the Dallas Stadium in glorious weather after Thomas Tuchel's team displayed a strong will. Harry Kane told his England team-mates to "be mentally free" and embrace the pressure of the World Cup — and they've heeded his words, for better and for worse. England's opening 4-2 victory over Croatia was a mixture of thrilling attacking football and worrying defensive frailty, but the smiles on the faces of the fans leaving this massive stadium told another story. It was, to say the least, amusing. England have not been known for playing well recently, especially despite reaching the finals of Euro 2024 and the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar four years ago. These two tournaments were extremely boring, although England improved there — but ultimately failed. While Gareth Southgate's record is good, it doesn't offer much in terms of quality of play. But in this match things were completely different. It was a great match to watch without batting an eyelid, with Tuchel's cool fury in the first half and a comet of attack in the second half. When the England coach smiled at former Germany boss Jurgen Klopp as he discussed strategy for his countrymen after the match, it was a thrilling display for the crowd to match. But the question is, if England's weakness defensively against good teams is revealed, will the fans be equally delighted? Because, due to the weak defense in this match held in Dallas, Croatia was able to get into England's defense again and again. We will have to wait and see if Tuchel is worried about this or will find a solution very quickly. There must be some evidence of a change in defensive play for English fans. England's bulwark in this match was quite controversial in terms of selection. Ajri Konsa, who plays for Aston Villa, has been questioned as to why he was played, especially why Manchester City's Mark Guhi was not included in the playing XI. Tuchel was furious when Croatia started to score England goals in the first half. Two goals from Harry Kane were still allowed to score for Croatia. But Jude Bellingham quickly scored in the second half to regain control of the match in England's hands. After that, a flurry of attacks on the Croatia team and finally Marcus Rashford sealed the match with a goal. Tuchel was forced to make some tough decisions in his XI. Jude Bellingham was retained in the XI but there was another tough decision, the omission of Morgan Rodgers. Bellingham played great throughout the game, all eyes were on him. When he scored a goal as well as making great runs from defense to attack, the game began to change for the opposition. In particular, he scored a great goal at the beginning of the second half. Tuchel was very aggressive in his changes. He made four changes in 72 minutes, which was extremely risky. Famous football analyst Wayne Rooney commented on this, "I know Tuchel is a very tactical coach to make changes, but the way he changed today (Friday), it was very attacking. When a match is 2-2, usually coaches take a defensive strategy, but Tuchel did the opposite. He changed to increase the attack. I liked it very much." England's performance in this match was not satisfactory, but when they were able to attack, it was very exciting. It will be a concern for other teams. However, it remains to be seen whether the weakness of the defense will be seen against another good team. England's next match is against Ghana in Boston on November 28. --- ## Related Articles 1. [월드이 2026: Concern raised about snakes in training camp](https://taegeukgoal.com/ko/news/2026-115) 2. [New kits worn by our team: World Cup 2026 progress](https://verrikalam.com/ta/news/2026-114)