LONDON (AP) 鈥� Thomas Tuchel insisted England鈥檚 dispiriting 1-0 loss to Japan in a friendly on Tuesday will have no bearing on the team鈥檚 chances at the upcoming .
England has lost some of the momentum built up under Tuchel by drawing at Wembley Stadium on Friday and then succumbing to Kaoru Mitoma鈥檚 first-half goal for Japan at the same venue four days later.
Tuchel has fielded experimental lineups for both games, with key regulars like captain , missing because of minor injuries.
The German coach also said many of his players are 鈥渉eavily invested鈥� in their club campaigns at this stage of the season.
For that reason, Tuchel felt sure 鈥渢his camp will not define us.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a reality if teams like Uruguay or Japan come well-drilled, with their top lineup, it鈥檚 a difficult task,鈥� Tuchel said.
鈥淚t was not necessary to lose the match. Unfortunately, we lost it, which is disappointing, and I hate losing, like no one else, and it will take a while to digest. But it will not affect us massively for when we arrive in the U.S.鈥�
Cole Palmer and Phil Foden are star players in the Premier League but battling to simply make England鈥檚 squad for the World Cup, and were given another chance to impress Tuchel after being handed starts against Japan.
They failed to take it, with England especially poor in the first half when the team failed to manage a shot on target for the first time in a friendly match since 2017, according to statistics company Opta.
With Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham other options as attacking midfielders, Palmer and Foden face anxious waits to see if they make the plane for the tournament.
鈥淚鈥檓 not the biggest fan of talking about individuals, but, of course if we put offensive players on the pitch, we demand offensive actions, we demand creativity, we demand shots, we demand assists, and we clearly didn鈥檛 have enough. We could not create,鈥� said Tuchel, who deployed Foden as a so-called 鈥渇alse nine鈥� in Kane鈥檚 absence.
鈥淲e made it difficult for us to find them in the half-spaces. We struggled to open up these spaces. We played against the deep 5-4-1. We didn鈥檛 use the width of the field enough to make the difference, and our offensive players struggled to make the difference.鈥�
Tuchel accepted that the absence of Kane hurt his team.
鈥淣o team in the world has the same threat (without Kane),鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just normal. On top of it, Harry dropped out so we lost not only him as a player, but we lost him as a personality. It鈥檚 always a bit disruptive if the captain leaves the last training after 15 minutes and is out of the squad.
鈥淲e can win games without Harry,鈥� Tuchel added. 鈥淲e will win without Harry. We have won without Harry, but it鈥檚 easier to win matches with Harry, of course.鈥�
In other friendlies, Euro 2024 champion Spain was held 0-0 by Egypt, and the Netherlands 鈥� another title hopeful this summer 鈥� drew 1-1 at home to Ecuador after playing most of the game with 10 men after Denzel Dumfries鈥� 12th-minute red card.
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