Highlights: England beat Croatia 4-2 in thriller
England players received a stern half-time message from manager Thomas Tuchel as their World Cup campaign began with a 4-2 victory against Croatia in Dallas.
Harry Kane scored twice, while Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford each added a goal to secure the win. Despite England taking the lead twice in the first half, the score was level at 2-2 at half-time.
Captain Kane reflected on Tuchel's impact during the break.
"I thought it was a game of two halves. In the first half, we were OK," Kane told ITV.
"[We were] really disappointed to concede in the way we did. I thought we dropped off.
"Credit to the manager, he gave us a speech at half-time and said if we lose, we lose in our way, and I think we saw that in the way we came out in the second half.
"We went full gas and they couldn't live with it. Credit to everyone for the first game of the tournament."
England at 'best level' in second half against Croatia - Kane
In an interview with , Kane, who plays for Bayern Munich, added further detail about the half-time instructions.
"The boss said at half-time to up the tempo, go man for man and completely take the game to them, and that is exactly what happened.
"You saw us at our best level, both with and without the ball and we could have scored three or four goals in that 20-minute spell in the second half."
Tuchel's assistant describes first half as 'fearful'
Speaking to ITV at half-time, Tuchel's assistant Anthony Barry characterized England's first-half performance as "fearful."
"Overall, a complicated and confusing first half from us, really," said Barry.
"A lot of nervous energy early on. I think that's accepted and maybe expected in the opening game of a World Cup.
"From there, then we made some decisions where the energy was not free in our minds. Playing long when we should play short, playing short when we should play long really, not playing through the gaps, not allowing us to accelerate our game the way we wanted to.
"You'd think the penalty would free us up, allow us to play more like us, to be ourselves, but again we fell back into some fearful patterns."
When asked about his half-time message, Tuchel told ITV:
"Even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days, but let's do it our way.
"We were too focused on protecting the result. We were a back seven and we didn't defend. If the result doesn't go our way, we want to play our way.
"I tried to encourage them to go for it."
The half-time talk had an immediate effect as Bellingham scored within two minutes of the restart, putting England ahead 3-2.
Bellingham, who plays for Real Madrid, told ITV:
"It wasn't one of those where it was a big drama or standing up and shouting; it was what the team needed.
"We have a mature group with great leaders in there. Everyone knew the level we had to get to. The start of the second half gave us a great platform."
Bellingham 'put noise aside' before England win over Croatia
'I could not see my team'
The match in Dallas marked Tuchel's first experience as a World Cup manager. However, he revealed that the moment was somewhat diminished by the presence of photographers obstructing his view during the national anthems.
"I have to tell you something. I'm begging Fifa to change the position of the photographers in the national anthem, because I could not see my team. It was a very special moment today, and I was standing in front of a wall of 50 photographers and I could not see one single player. It ruined a little bit my experience today.
"It is very emotional. Listen, when I was young, and even when I started coaching, this was too big to dream of, to have this kind of a career.
"I felt the spirit, and what it means to be part of a World Cup. It's just amazing, and I felt very, very alive the last two days. I didn't want to be anywhere else in the world than here."
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