England’s players will be told to avoid hurdling advertising boards for their Wonderwall celebrations to minimise the risk of any more freak injuries.
Jordan Henderson broke a bone in his arm and will not play again in the World Cup after falling when climbing back over the boards following the team’s last-16 win over Mexico.
Henderson and his team-mates hurdled the boards to get closer to England’s fans inside the Estadio Azteca for the now traditional Wonderwall singalong. While Henderson’s injury was a freak accident, England’s players are now likely to avoid climbing over any obstructions to celebrate.
Thomas Tuchel has lost Henderson and Tino Livramento to World Cup-ending injuries, while Reece James has missed three games with a hamstring problem and Jarell Quansah is suspended for Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway in Miami.
England also have four players – Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly – walking a disciplinary tightrope. They will be banned for the semi-finals if they pick up another yellow card against Norway.
Tuchel cannot afford to lose any more players after admitting that Henderson’s injury had taken some of the shine off England’s stirring last-16 success.
Henderson was taken to hospital in Mexico after hurting himself and could not travel back to Kansas City with the rest of the squad. However, he has been in touch with his team-mates and Guéhi said: “Hendo’s in a better place than he was yesterday. It was scary for him, his family and everyone else. We’re just glad he’s on the road to a speedy recovery.”
Asked about Henderson’s injury after the game, Tuchel said: “My emotions are very mixed. I’m proud but mixed feelings because I am exhausted and emotional – but also sad because Jordan got injured. It doesn’t fit the evening that Jordan is now not with us.”
It is understood Henderson hopes to stay with the England squad in a supportive role if doctors allow him to.
O’Reilly, meanwhile, believes “no one can stop” England from winning the World Cup if they play like they did against Mexico.
The 21-year-old praised the character that England showed in the 3-2 victory, their best on foreign soil in the tournament’s history.
O’Reilly also revealed how Tuchel paid tribute to England’s resilience, saying they were the “rock” in the Azteca.
“Every single player within the team showed character,” O’Reilly said. “Even when we were outnumbered, stuff was going against us, and we dug in to the very end. And if we continue to have this character, no one can stop us.”
England were reduced to 10 men after Quansah’s second-half sending-off – with the Football Association considering its options over whether to appeal – but defended superbly.
“We’ve had this thing where he [Tuchel] has been saying that this is the grind part and we’ve been pounding the rock, breaking teams down,” O’Reilly said. “But he said in this game we were the rock. They were after us. But we managed to get the win, we managed to get over the line. And it’s important in tournament football to be able to adapt and play like that.”
What will have pleased Tuchel is how England responded to a team attacking them, having stated that up until facing Mexico they had played sides who defended deep against them.
“That’s the craziest game I’ve ever played in my whole career,” O’Reilly said. “But we got through it and we’re in the quarter-final. It’s very special, a great feeling. But we haven’t really got time to be celebrating yet. We’ve got another tough game coming. Every team’s going to be tough and we need to be ready.”
O’Reilly and his Manchester City team-mate Guéhi will be up against another City player in the quarter-final: Erling Haaland.
“It’s going to be fun. I know he’ll be up for it. It’ll be a challenge, but it’s good to see familiar faces and try and do our best and try and get a win,” Guéhi said.
The centre-half agreed that the game against Mexico could be a defining performance. “We speak a lot about the togetherness of this team. Not just the guys that started but every single person that came on. Even the lads that didn’t come on, the support you felt from the bench was top. Real team performance.”
Tuchel has placed great store on team bonding and creating a “brotherhood”. The win over Mexico was the greatest endorsement of that. Asked what England could take from it, Guéhi said: “Trust. We already had it before but trust even more. There were times when crazy stuff was going on. Everybody having that bond and trust for one another and hopefully we can build that up.”