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Thomas Tuchel called the Wembley crowd “disappointing” for booing Ben White’s international return and hammered the refereeing during England’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay.
White was hero and villain on a night when Ronald Araújo escaped a red card for a painful tackle on Phil Foden and Noni Madueke left the stadium in a leg brace after suffering an injury during the first half.
It was a complicated game for a makeshift England and there was a mixed reaction from supporters when Tuchel readied a defensive change in the 69th minute. White was jeered when he was brought on for his first appearance since his early departure from the 2022 World Cup and there were more boos when England went ahead with a goal from the defender, whose bizarre cameo was capped off when his stoppage-time foul led to Uruguay equalising with a Fede Valverde penalty.
“I heard that he was booed,” Tuchel said of White. “It cannot be the majority. There were some boos and some mixed reception for him which I’m disappointed about because of course we protect our players. He was excellent in camp and he deserved to come on. He got us almost a winner.
“But I also understood that it happened to other players before here. So he needs to take it on the chin. We will always protect him and hopefully we can put it behind, because he is ready to write some new chapters.”
England toiled without a host of regulars against stubborn opponents, with several hopefuls failing to press their claim for a spot in the 26-man squad for this summer’s World Cup. Tuchel praised his side’s effort, though, and focused his anger on a strange performance from the German referee Sven Jablonski.
The England head coach’s outrage at Araújo not being penalised for a poor tackle on Foden was compounded by the VAR recommending an on-field check when White challenged Federico Viñas in the area.
“It’s a very soft penalty,” Tuchel said. “There’s contact but it’s so obvious what the striker is trying to do. The referee saw it and it was not enough for him. I was surprised VAR was in place because I thought it was not working after the tackle on Phil Foden was not even checked, the tackle on Noni was not even checked. Then suddenly this one was checked.”
Madueke’s injury is a potential blow for Arsenal, whose title challenge has already been rocked by Eberechi Eze suffering a calf injury. There was also confusion over Uruguay’s Manuel Ugarte seemingly escaping a sending off after receiving two yellow cards. It was later said that the first yellow card for Ugarte was actually shown to José María Giménez.
