'England would have been crucified for a draw'

The English media is renowned around the world for both their scathing criticism and their boundless praise for their nation's sportspersons and almost both sides of the coin were witnessed on Monday night when the Three Lions pulled off a late 2-1 win against Tunisia in their World Cup encounter.

After a mundane display from the Englishman for most of the match, most live feeds from English newspapers were sounding the alarm bells by questioning coach Gareth Southgate's tactics and scapegoating numerous players including Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard. There were also mentions of the poor refereeing throughout the match against England's favour.

All those negatives were forgotten the second captain and striker Harry Kane headed in from close range in the 91st minute, his second of the match, to give England the win.

Instead, the narrative shifted to Kane's goalscoring prowess and about how England, in the face of a 'rugby-like' approach from Tunisia in their tackling, had overcome adversity to get a win.

However, Denmark's legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel believes that none of those things that popped up later would have mattered and that the English media would have 'crucified' their stars had the result not gone their way.

"I feel happy for the England team, because they would have been crucified by the media. Even so, I am not sure they are going be let off completely," the former Denmark goalkeeper said during the post-match analysis in Moscow.

Schmeichel said that with his winning header Kane put himself in line with other world-class strikers at the tournament, putting him alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal striker.

"He is the definition of a big player. When it's needed for the team, they turn up with the goods," said the pundit.

Schmeichel said that the cushion of the first victory now ensures that novice tournament manager Gareth Southgate is free to make clear-headed decisions.