UNITED States President Donald Trump has joined criticism of England’s coach tactics in their World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina, by questioning Harry Kane’s second-half “defensive” role.
Manager Thomas Tuchel’s second-half substitutions have been criticised by pundits and supporters following the 2-1 defeat, as Argentina scored two late goals to set up Sunday’s final against Spain (20:00 BST).
BBC Sport reported on Thursday how a number of key players had been left disappointed at how England were instructed to finish the game having taken the lead through Anthony Gordon.
Tuchel reverted to a back five and made a number of defensive-minded substitutions in the closing stages as Lionel Messi inspired a dramatic comeback.
“You have a great player in England who I’ve played golf with. And he is Harry [Kane] who has been fantastic,” said Trump.
“I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player. What do I know about soccer? They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence.
“We got to be a little offensive, right. But no, I’m not going to call it, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual.”
Tuchel was quick to brush off Trump’s criticisms when mentioned to him in a news conference later.
Speaking at Trump Tower during a reception on Friday, the president also spoke about the moment he asked Fifa to review USA striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension.
Balogun, 25, was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.
But Fifa made the shock decision to suspend the automatic one-match ban for 12 months, leading to widespread criticism.
Trump said: “This has been a tournament like no other. Filled with fierce competition, unforgettable moments. Probably the most unforgettable is when they gave that gentleman… is it a red card?
“And I was forced to call Gianni [Infantino]. I said ‘Gianni, I’d like to make a recommendation. Let the guy in the game!’ No, I didn’t say that. I said I’d like to wage a complaint.
“And actually I had no idea what was going to happen, but you know it is so much better the way it worked out because there is no controversy. [Belgium] won the game and our team had all of its players. You made another great decision if you think about it, but you’ll never get credit for it.”
Trump also thanked Fifa president Infantino and described the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada as “the most successful sporting event, maybe in the history of the world”.
Infantino said the World Cup had “exceeded expectations”.
“The American dream, Mr President, came to reality. We united the world in America,” he said.
“This is not just the greatest World Cup of all times, it is the greatest human, social and cultural event that mankind has ever witnessed and we are all part of it and for this I thank you very much, Mr President.”