He was substituted at the interval, with Tuchel confirming that Rice was among a number of players who struggled in the sweltering heat and humidity of Florida. Tuchel said: “We made life for ourself complicated, we had some players struggling with the heat. Ezri Konsa was one of them, cramps in his hamstring and with Declan, we made the decision to go more offensive at half-time.
“It was a bit of an offensive shift. I made the decision at 1-0 down and didn’t want to go back on the decision. Even after the equaliser I thought this was the right signal to the team, to take up higher positions and more connections when Norway defends in a deep block.”
“It’s about being closer to your opponents box, so we put in Ebs [Eberechi Eze] and Bukayo [Saka] and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out.
“Knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days, he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes.
“I also knew there was the possibility of 120 so I didn’t want to waste another change so I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on.”
Tuchel also confirmed that England – despite flying back to Kansas City – will considerably scale back their training load as they gear up for the final week of the World Cup.
He explained ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final: “They have to, no doubt about it. Our level of training will now go down. The next few days are crucial. We have another.
“This victory will help a lot. We have a top facility to recover at the highest level.”
There was encouraging news on the injury front, however, as Reece James returned to the pitch for the first time since the 0-0 draw with Ghana. Bukayo Saka also impressed after coming off the bench.
Jordan Henderson took part in England’s pre-match warm-up, teeing up the forwards for shots on goal. He pulled on his kit and was named among the substitutes, though realistically had no chance of featuring following surgery on his wrist.