Fans were keen to see whether England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel would sing the country's national anthem, 'God Save The King', ahead of his first game in charge of the Three Lions.
Tuchel, 51, was appointed as England head coach in October having previously managed the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
And despite officially starting work in his new role on January 1, Tuchel had to wait until Friday 21 March to take charge of a match.
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Tactics, team selection and many other topics were the subject of fan conversations in the lead-up to England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley on Friday evening.
But, like it was for Lee Carsley, whether Tuchel would sing the national anthem was another question on fans’ lips.
The German gave his take on the matter last week, explaining how he would not sing the anthem in his “first matches”.
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“I think first of all, you have a very powerful, emotional and meaningful national anthem, and I could not be more proud to be on the sideline and be in charge of the English national team,” Tuchel said. “It means everything. It means a lot to me, I can assure you.
“But I can feel, because it is that meaningful, and it is that emotional, and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it. I feel that it is not just a given. You cannot just sing it. That’s why I decided that I will not sing it in my first matches.”
He added: "I will earn the right with results, with building a group, with doing my job properly and by creating a feeling where maybe even you guys [in the media] say at some point: ‘Now it’s time that you sing it. It feels like you properly earn it and you’re a proper English guy now!’
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"Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like: ‘He should sing it now, he’s one of our own; he’s the English manager, he should sing it.’"
Tuchel did not choose to sing the anthem in the moments before kick-off at Wembley on Friday. While his Liverpool-born assistant Anthony Barry could be seen belting out the anthem.
Topics: England, Thomas Tuchel
Luke Alfred Davies