EN
Tuchel insists England remain on course despite Ghana draw
Foxborough: England head coach Thomas Tuchel admitted his team had lacked a cutting edge in a frustrating 0-0 draw with Ghana on Tuesday but insisted there were plenty of positive signs going forward in their quest to win the FIFA World Cup.
England had 79 percent of the possession but could not break down a determined Ghanaian defence in the Group L contest.

They also lacked the cutting edge which made the difference in their opening 4-2 win against Croatia in Dallas, having 19 attempts on goal but managing only three on target.

image content
"It's a long tournament and I think the boys tried everything. They played with the right energy," said Tuchel.

"We always try to entertain our fans. It was difficult today but I hope the fans don't lose belief. There is a long way to go. I just feel I was right that we were in a very difficult group."

Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly hit the bar late on after coming off the bench, and Harry Kane blazed the rebound over to sum up a frustrating day for England.
image content
"It fell to him and 99 times out of 100 he (Kane)takes that chance. If he converts his chance maybe we are talking now about the patience and discipline and performance," said Tuchel.

"But now it is 0-0 and maybe the headlines are a little different. We had enough set-pieces to decide the match but we were not clinical enough."

The German said that it was "just natural" to rely on Kane, who was unable to add to his two goals against Croatia and move ahead of Gary Lineker as his country's all-time top scorer at the FIFA World Cup.

Tuchel also admitted that the match could serve as a "reality check", even if the outcome is hardly too problematic for England - they have four points from two games and a win against Panama on Saturday will clinch progress to the last 32 as group winners.
image content
England remain unbeaten against African opponents at the FIFA World Cup but the Black Stars were clearly delighted with the point which keeps them on course to make the knockout phase for the first time since they got to the quarter-finals in 2010.

"Football is not only about possession. It is also about having the right attitude," Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz said as his team built on their opening 1-0 victory against Panama.

"We celebrated because we got a draw against a team who are one of the favourites to win the World Cup."
image content
His team also have four points before heading to Philadelphia next to take on Croatia.

"You have to pay a high price to get points. Probably because we are in the United States where everything is expensive," he joked.

Source: AFP