MANCHESTER, England — In a bid to end its decades-long wait to win a second World Cup, England has put its fate in the hands of a German.It’s fair to say the appointment of Thomas Tuchel was not universally well received.“I’m sorry I have a German passport,” the serial-winning former Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich coach quipped at his official unveiling in 2024.He had woken that morning to some unflattering headlines in the British media. The Daily Mail described it as a “dark day for England” and said the national team had gambled on a “GERMAN.”The leader of the right-wing Reform Party Nigel Farage asked on X: “Why can’t we have an English manager?”Never mind that Tuchel was a Champions League winner who had lifted trophies in three different countries. Or the fact that England has gone down the foreign route before: a Swedish coach in Sven-Goran Eriksson and an Italian in Fabio Capello. And in the days before Tuchel’s appointment, there were rumors that Pep Guardiola was also a leading candidate.A point of contention was the fact that Germany has long-been England’s biggest soccer rival. Since winning the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany, England has often struggled against the Germans in major tournaments. Some England fans have brought 20th-century history to the rivalry with provocative chants taunting Germany about World War II.Debate about Tuchel’s nationality, however, dissipated quickly, helped by his easy-going charm when dealing with the media and a perfect winning record during England’s World Cup qualifying campaign. According to professor Jan Rüger, author of the upcoming book “Great Powers: A History of Britain and Germany,” the wider reaction to Tuchel’s appointment points to a change in Anglo-German relations after the tensions that prevailed in the decades following two world wars. “There were questions, but it certainly hasn’t turned into an ongoing saga in the way in which it would have in the 1990s or even around the turn of the century,” Rüger told The Associated Press. “Then it would have been unthinkable to have a German manager.“Germany really isn’t the bad guy anymore. That’s long since passed. I don’t think it works portraying Germany a …
