00:00Thomas, congratulations into a World Cup semi-final. Good result, but we've already heard that you were far from happy
00:07with the performance
00:08and yet Jude has said that the players put in a good shift and it was hot out there.
00:12Absolutely, no one disputes that.
00:15I am impressed with the shift that they put in, the effort, team spirit, the belief and to overcome adversity
00:26and to dig in and find ways to win is on the absolutely highest level.
00:33They cannot get enough praise for that, but I'm also a football coach and I think we can play better.
00:41In general, I think it was not a high-level game. I think we had better games in general.
00:49We had a lot of momentum swings for both teams.
00:52So, yeah, full credit to the team. We found a way in the last four.
00:57This is, of course, the most important, but the analyzing head of me and the football coach in me
01:07still thinks that we can and have to play better football.
01:11Okay, this side here.
01:13Hello, coach. Here, Daniel Santiago from Mexico, Channel 6.
01:16The present of Jude Bellingham, four goals in the last two matches and knockout matches.
01:22What do you think about that present of your player?
01:25World-class. World-class performance from a world-class player in big, big moments and crucial moments.
01:31So, absolute top class.
01:35Hi, Thomas. Can I ask you a question about sort of the mentality of the players to have now twice
01:41come back from a goal down in the tournament
01:44to go on and obviously win in knockout matches?
01:48And can I also ask just to check on the condition of Declan Rice and Esri Konza?
01:54Well, they just refused to give in. They just refused to accept a defeat. They overcome setbacks.
02:01Like I said, there were a lot of momentum swings in this match and they just refused.
02:07They overcome and I agree with Jude. They put a shift in. There is not 1% complaint about that.
02:15But I think today we made life for ourselves complicated.
02:22We had some players struggling in the heat, Esri Konza was one of them with cramps in the hamstrings.
02:29And who was the other one?
02:31Well, Declan, we made a decision in half-time to become more offensive, to have a bit of an offensive
02:36shift.
02:37I made the decision when we were 1-0 down and I didn't want to go back on the decision
02:41because of the equalizer.
02:43I thought that this is the right signal to give the team to have higher positions when Norway defends in
02:50a deep block,
02:50to have higher positions, more connections, be closer to the opponent's box.
02:55So we put in Epps and Bukayo on the right wing.
03:00That meant that we had to take Elliott or Declan out, knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days,
03:07where he was most of the time in bed.
03:09I knew he cannot survive 90 minutes.
03:12So, yeah, and there was a possibility that it goes 120.
03:16So I didn't want to waste another change.
03:20So the decision was to take Declan earlier out than he needed to go out,
03:24just to save us another change later down the match.
03:29Congratulations, coach.
03:31Harit Zataryan, MediaMax Sport Armenia.
03:34After the whistle, you celebrated emotionally,
03:37and I would like to know what happened also in the dressing room,
03:42how you celebrated it,
03:43and do you have plans today to watch after this press conference?
03:47Who is going to be your opponent?
03:49Well, if we can, but we struggle with the timings.
03:52I don't see as many matches as I would like to see.
03:55Sometimes we are in training, sometimes we are in the bus or in the plane.
03:58So it happens now, maybe again,
04:01that the second match is while we are traveling.
04:05So not so easy.
04:08Yeah, of course, if you go to a semifinal in overtime,
04:12of course, the celebration is for the players
04:14and for all the backroom stuff.
04:16These are the moments to fully enjoy.
04:21I was, yeah, I'm very proud of the players,
04:24and I'm very impressed with the mentality
04:27and the winning mentality
04:32that they showed during this tournament.
04:34It's nothing but impressive.
04:36I'm very convinced.
04:36if I go to a semifinal in the room,
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