England manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that his players carry the “scars” of a painful World Cup semifinal defeat to Argentina, as he faced heavy criticism for his defensive substitutions.

Anthony Gordon’s goal put England on course for their first final since 1966, but late strikes from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez turned the game around, leaving Tuchel to take responsibility.

“I tried to help, I tried to support. I took decisions trusting my instinct, intuition, experience, and competitiveness. We didn’t get the result, so I take responsibility,” Tuchel said at a press conference.

The German coach acknowledged that despite England’s fourth-place FIFA ranking, there remains a gap to close with top nations Argentina, Spain, and France, who have a history of winning titles.

“It is our pain and our scar. We have to live with it and react,” Tuchel added. England will face France in the third-place playoff on Saturday.

Source: www.aljazeera.com