Atlanta, July 16 (IANS) England coach Thomas Tuchel rued the missed chances in his team’s FIFA World Cup semi-final loss against holders Argentina, saying his side was close but couldn’t keep the level up after scoring the opener.

Anthony Gordon fired the Three Lions into the lead in the second half in Atlanta, England conceded in the 85th and 92 minutes to succumb to a 2-1 defeat against Lionel Messi and Co.

England will now take on France in Saturday’s third-place play-off, while Argentina go on to face Spain in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

“We were so close but we got too passive after we scored,” Tuchel said. “We conceded a lot of chances and we could not turn the ball possession around. We conceded so, so many crosses and chances and shots. We were close but we couldn’t keep the level up after we scored. We conceded chances straight away, we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open.”

“They won every header; they kept crossing and crossing, so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air because straight after our goal with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. It doesn’t help if you don’t have the ball. We couldn’t get out. Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I had the feeling it was not a substitution that would help,” he added.

Tuchel, however, was pleased with the mentality of his side despite the result and was quick to praise their efforts across the tournament in North America.

“The team gave everything and we were very close,” Tuchel said after the game. We deserved to be up 1-0. We played one of our better matches, maybe the best match in the circumstances. The team was topped; we couldn’t bring it over the line. No regrets.

“We saw the mentality throughout the match and the strong group. We played the matches as they were; we played against strong teams. We played a lot of miles, a lot of travelling. We played at altitude, we played with 10 men, we played in the heat,” he said.

When they take on France in the third-place playoff, the Three Lions will be vying for their best finish at a World Cup in 60 years after knockout victories over DR Congo, Mexico and Norway en-route to the last four.

–IANS

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