john terry sits at the center of a World Cup preview built around Roy Hodgson's belief that England should be very confident. The 78-year-old said Thomas Tuchel's side will do very well as they open against Croatia in Dallas, Texas, this evening.
Hodgson on England
Hodgson did not hedge. He said England should be "very confident" and added, "I'm confident they'll do very well." He also argued that England should be viewed as one of the teams others will target, not one they can dismiss.
"Nobody is going to look at England and think 'It's only England today.' [They'll say] 'Whoops, it's one of the favourites, watch out,' because they've got big players who score goals and good defenders," Hodgson said. That view lands on the same day England begin their tournament in Group L, where Croatia, Ghana and Panama await.
Tuchel and Group L
Tuchel's squad starts with Croatia, and Hodgson pointed to the makeup of the team rather than any one name. He said England have great players, an experienced coach and a good record in recent years of reaching finals and semi-finals.
He also described England as "a very, very tough team to beat" and said their squad is "very strong and long." Those are the pieces he used to explain why he expects the team to handle the pressure of a World Cup group that offers little room for error.
Hodgson's World Cup lens
Hodgson knows the scale of the assignment from his own World Cup history. He managed Switzerland at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, when they finished second in Group A before losing 3-0 to Spain in the Round of 16 at RFK Stadium in Washington.
England's recent history gives his comments extra weight. They were unable to get out of the group at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, falling to Italy and Uruguay before drawing with Costa Rica, but have since reached two major finals under Gareth Southgate.
That is the contrast hanging over Tuchel's opener. England begin with a chance to show that the depth Hodgson described matches the expectation he set, and a win over Croatia would immediately validate the idea that this squad belongs among the teams others fear in the tournament.
