Thomas Tuchel had blood on his hands but a smile on his face.
‘You’re not scratching yourself like Pep, are you?’ we asked, on the eve of the knockout rounds.
‘Not yet!’ replied the England boss.
He should be scraping his forehead now.
Tuchel has failed in his stated ambition of adding a second star to the jersey. Instead, another scar, more regret woven into the fabric of the national-team shirt. Forget mitigation in losing to world champions Argentina, England as good as beat themselves. Tuchel beat England.
This, however, was also a defeat that had been weeks in the making.
The head coach was picking
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