World Cup icon slams 'unimportant' Thomas Tuchel over England vs France comments

Thomas Tuchel has been told he ‘isn’t important’ in the grander scheme of the World Cup (Photo: Getty)

Davor Suker says

Thomas Tuchel

is ‘talking nonsense’ after the

England

manager claimed his team ‘don’t want to play’ the

World Cup

Bronze match against France.

England kick-off against France in Miami at 10pm UK time tonight, with a chance to record their best finish at the World Cup since winning it in 1966.

Understandably, the hype for the third-place play-off, which has been rebranded by

FIFA

as the Bronze match, is not high, with both the Three Lions and Les Bleus still reeling from losing their semi-finals against Argentina and Spain.

Some have

called for the match to be axed

, and it remains to be seen whether Tuchel will names as strong a side as possible or

rotate his squad

Ahead of the match, the German claimed that neither nation were looking forward to it, saying: ‘None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match.

‘They want to play the final. We gave everything to achieve that.’

While he has backtracked somewhat since that press conference, expressing a desire to end the tournament on a high, his comments have irked Croatia legend Suker.

Davor Suker (centre) finished third at the 1998 World Cup and won the Golden Boot (Photo: Getty)

Suker has told Tuchel to ‘be quiet’ over downplaying the Bronze match (Photo: Getty)

The former

Real Madrid

and

Arsenal

striker fired his country to third-place back at the 1998 World Cup, scoring the winning goal in the play-off which also secured him the Golden Boot ahead of Ronaldo.

Asked about Tuchel’s comments, Suker replied, as quoted by

Goal.com

: ‘I think the rich don’t want to play when they lose.

‘Some have so many trophies and are so rich that this match means nothing to them.

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane could win the Golden Boot if they score several times against France tonight (Photo: Getty)

‘My message to them is to be quiet, to respect all 211 participants, and to understand that the world doesn’t belong only to them. The world also belongs to the medium-sized nations, the small ones, and those who simply enjoy football.’

England stars

Harry Kane

Jude Bellingham

find themselves in a similar position to Suker, where a few goals in the Bronze match could earn them the

Golden Boot

Both are two goals behind their rival tonight

Kylian Mbappe

, who in turn trails Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s tally of eight goals and four assists, with the final still to play.

‘This match can be very important,’ Suker continued. ‘After 1998 and the game against the Netherlands, we fought for third place, and today I can speak about it with pride.’

‘Whoever wins third place, I assure you that in 20 years, when they are older, they will certainly remember that bronze medal.

‘That’s why, in this whole story, coach Tuchel isn’t important. He’s talking nonsense.’

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