17/09/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | SEPT 17, 2026

30

Grass-eating regret England boss Tuchel opens up on Mexico triumph and bond forged with players

Ű BY ANDY HAMPSON

T HOMAS TUCHEL has revealed he wished he had eaten some of the grass after England’s memorable World Cup win over Mexico. England produced one of their greatest over seas performances when they beat the host nation 3-2 with 10 men in Mexico City in a last-16 tie last summer. Although the campaign was ultimately to end in semifinal disappointment, that victory was a moment to savour and, for manager Tuchel, the experience created a bond between himself and the players. The German said: “I texted a friend after the match and I just wrote, I regret that I didn’t eat

upcoming international break and Tuchel is due to name his squad tomorrow. He said: “I’m very excited. I think we got another step closer and I think we’re there. It’s very difficult to prepare for a World Cup in the US, but I think it’s possible to prepare for a Euros and we prepare in Nations League Tier One. “The target is to have another 10 matches. We had 10 matches in the US – eight wins, one draw, one painful loss. That is something to build on. “We all have the right to hold our heads high and go with courage and positivity into the next challenges. We have four matches in Nations League coming up, and that’s where the focus is.” – The Independent

Jordan – not going nowhere, in full empa thy. It was just so special.” Tuchel now hopes to carry that feeling forward into qualifying for Euro 2028 and the tournament itself, which will be co hosted by England. “It created a huge bond to these players,” he said. “It feels like they are my players now. This is the beauty of it. “You have success and you have painful moments together, but you have so much time together and then you create a natural bond. So I’m happy to see them. I’m happy to challenge them, happy to push them, and very proud to be a part of that.” England return to action later this month when they host world champions Spain in the Uefa Nations League. They also travel to Croatia and play the Czech Republic home and away during the

some grass after the match to keep some thing from this in my body forever. That was the feeling. That was the moment.” Tuchel felt the spirit and togetherness of the squad were clearly evident after that game when Jordan Henderson landed awk wardly vaulting over an advertising hoard ing during the celebrations and broke his arm. “This game had so much of what you could wish for,” Tuchel told former England striker Daniel Sturridge in an interview for the Football Association. “If you needed any proof of what it meant to these players and how they were with each other, it was the moment when Jordan fell over and broke his arm. “Within a second, the players were there. Every single player was there stopping the celebrations, building a shield, protecting

6186/2026

16/09/2026 (WED)

2439 1755 5059

Draw Date: 16/09/26 (Wed)

Draw No: 6133/26

8077 6310 7088 1872 7114

2023 5268 7276 8011 6058

8077 2440 8794 3554 5997

8368 6666 0218 8948 8591

England boss Thomas Tuchel (left) embraces Harry Kane after the Three Lions’ win over Mexico in the 2026 World Cup RO16. – Fifa

3961 3368 0852

6,676,400.64

3976 + 8949 5025 + 8296 9030 + 4259 9305 + 2244 0401 + 7440 6693 + 5954 0181 + 4344 8994 + 1116 4522 + 7008 9792 + 8511

2439 1755 2439

5059 5059 1755

2439 2439 1755

5059 5059 1755

151,598.37

6

RM2,634,458.70

3961+3368 3961+0852 3368+0852

3368+3961 0852+3961 0852+3368

2439 1755 5059 BOAR

RM372,961.40

RM638,333.30

DRAGON 443 961+

2 1 4 5 9 1 4 5 9 4 5 9 5 9

RM1,280,114.60

HORSE 073 368+

Boro fight back to hold Millwall

5 2 2 4 1 7 5 1 6 0

DRAGON 720 852+ RM1,953,339.00 973 976 638 949 765 025 448 296 169 030 414 259 119 305 312 244 610 401 477 440 636 693 155 954 860 181 474 344 588 994 511 116 874 522 697 008 579 792 308 511

MIDDLESBROUGH fought back from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw with Millwall in the Championship, while Lincoln won 1-0 at Bristol City yesterday. Kim Hellberg’s side had over 80% of the possession at the Riverside Stadium, but trailed at halftime to goals from Tairyk Arconte and Lyndon Dykes. Arconte fired home off the post in the 11th minute and Dykes poked in Caleb Taylor’s flick in the 36th minute. But Middlesbrough recovered to claim a point after Hellberg made three changes at half-time. Amario Cozier-Duberry scored his second goal since arriving on loan from Brighton with a deflected effort from the edge of the penalty area in the 50th minute. And Will Lankshear, signed from Tottenham in the close-season, headed his eighth goal this term to punish poor mark ing from Taylor in the 61st minute. That result lifted Middlesbrough to third place, behind leaders West Ham and second placed Swansea on goal difference. “This group has strong character – we know that – coming from behind again,” Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees . “We’re up to seven points from behind already, which is massive. But it puts us in

tougher situations to be 1-0 and 2-0 down. “I didn’t do well enough in a lot of things and I take responsibility for that. We strug gled in the first half, not being good enough, not having enough energy. “We did a lot of changes in the second half, we came away with a point, and it could have been three. “It’s a lot of players who’ve played a lot of games and maybe over their limit over a period of time in terms of what they’ve come from. “But it’s my responsibility to pick the right group, the right team, and try to read who’s ready to go and who’s not. I’m disappointed as I didn’t get that one right.” At Ashton Gate, Bristol City boss Michael Skubala suffered defeat at the hands of his former club Lincoln. Skubala left Lincoln to take charge of City after guiding the Imps to promotion from League One last season. The grudge match in the west country was settled in the 53rd minute when Ben House intercepted Rob Dickie’s miscued back-pass, which left goalkeeper Sam Tickle stranded. Freddie Draper pounced to shoot into an unguarded net, lifting Lincoln into eighth place in their first season in the second tier for 65 years. – AFP/Agencies

7 8 6 5 3 3 8 6 5 3 3 6 5 3 3 5 3 3

7 8 6 5 3 7 8 6 5 7 8 6 7 8

3 3

1 4 16 18 22 41

961

368

852

11,351,102.07

18 21 30 38 50 53

RM610,610.60 961 + 368 + 852 368 + 852 + 961 961 + 852 + 368 852 + 961 + 368 368 + 961 + 852 852 + 368 + 961

16,239,912.03

2 3 11 12 27 31 46

1,270,560.14

147,635.75

1+3D J1 RM16,119,422.60 & 3DJ RM897,485.10 won on 13/9/26!

RM109,871 Toto 4D Jackpot 2

RM35,981 won on 13/09/2026 ! Toto 4D Jackpot 2 (i-System)