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WEDNESDAY | MAR 26, 2025

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England earn back-to-back wins as Bellingham ‘lucky’ not to see red So far so good

England’s Harry Kane (centre) shoots at goal during the World Cup European qualifiers, Group K match against

Latvia at Wembley Stadium yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

T HOMAS TUCHEL’S baptism as England’s head coach could not have been any smoother. Two games, two wins, five goals scored and none conceded represents a satisfying start for the German. Yesterday’s 3-0 victory over Latvia at Wembley, like Friday’s 2-0 defeat of Albania, was far from perfect. But Tuchel already has credit in the bank for some wise decisions. On Friday he gave a debut to Arsenal’s teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly and the 18-year-old repaid him with a goal. Yesterday, Tuchel made four changes to his lineup and one of them, Reece James, marked his first start since 2002 with a sublime freekick to open the scoring. Winger Eberechi Eze also bagged his first England goal against Latvia after coming on as a substitute. England already look well on course to win a modest Group K and take their place in next year’s World Cup finals by which time it will be 60 years since their last trophy.

the foot and the quality the boy has. “He is amazing, he has every right to be proud and happy and satisfied with his performance.” Speaking to ITV Sport after opening his England account, James said: “It’s been a long time. I’ve had a frustrating two-and-a-half years and I was so happy to get called up for my country again. “I saw the wall and I felt I could bend it around, and thankfully I managed to hit the back of the net.” James also spoke highly of his former Chelsea manager Tuchel: “His ideas are clear, his goals and his targets. “He set them out from the minute he came in, and we have one objective. It starts with this international and we have to keep on building right up to the World Cup.” England skipper Harry Kane added: “He’s fantastic. I think he’s settled in straight away, it’s a real pleasure to have him as a coach – the energy he’s brought, and the passion. I know we’ll get better as we go on.” – Reuters/The Independent

the first minute,” he said. “There’s still room to improve. But overall, we have two wins, two clean sheets. We did not allow anything, any good chances in two matches. So there’s a lot of positives.” Tuchel said Jude Bellingham was “lucky” to not be sent off after picking up an early booking in the first half. Bellingham appeared fortunate not to have been shown a second yellow card for a late tackle on Raivis Jurkovskis. Tuchel quickly reacted, bringing Phil Foden on in place of the Real Madrid playmaker. Tuchel, who had urged Bellingham to be “more disciplined” last week, was not convinced by the midfielder’s first yellow card but conceded to ITV Sport : “We were a bit lucky, and took straight away the decision to not take the risk and take him off.” Elaborating on James, who has previously thrived under Tuchel’s guidance at Chelsea, scoring with an exquisite curling freekick, the German boss praised: “I know Reece and I know

That will be the real test of Tuchel’s impact on England, but for now the German former Chelsea, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich coach appears to have taken to the international stage like a duck to water. Asked for his impressions of his first camp, Tuchel praised his squad for making his life easy. “Very happy because of the players mainly,” Tuchel, the first England permanent manager to win his first two games in charge since Fabio Capello in 2008, told reporters. “They reminded me instantly why I was excited about the job. Top characters, a very good group. I think we had some excellent days on the pitch, but also off the pitch. Good energy and very positive atmosphere.” Six points was the minimum requirement for England’s opening two games and while the opposition were not of the highest quality, Tuchel said they were useful tests. “I think we need exactly these kind of matches, the tension of World Cup qualifiers and also the tension that not everything falls into place from

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