New England boss Thomas Tuchel announced his first Three Lions squad on Friday ahead of his first two fixtures as boss, having been tasked with winning the World Cup in 2026
Thomas Tuchel says he will not sing the national anthem – but wants to “earn” the right to do it.
Tuchel is the first German to manage England and there would be huge focus on whether he belted out God Save The King before games at Wembley.
England under-21s boss Lee Carsley, who played for the Republic of Ireland, upset fans when he did not sing the anthem during his time as interim manager of the seniors.
Tuchel says he will not sing it before his first two games in charge against Albania and Latvia later this month but defused a potential row by saying how much he respects it but wants to get some results first.
Three Lions boss Tuchel said: “I have made my decision. 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
“It means everything. It means a lot to me, I can assure you.
“But I can feel it 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.
“I will earn it with results, with building a group, with doing my job properly and by creating a feeling where maybe even you guys say at some point ‘Now it’s time that you sing it, it feels like you need to properly earn it and you’re a proper English guy now!
“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.”
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