By Michael Church
ARLINGTON, Texas, June 16 (Reuters) - Thomas Tuchel will lead England into the World Cup for the first time when his team face Croatia at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday in Group L, heralding his impending appearance at the tournament as the pinnacle of his coaching career.
The German has been a serial trophy winner throughout his coaching career, lifting league titles in his homeland and France before leading Chelsea to the Champions League crown in 2021.
But the 52-year-old was unequivocal
regarding the magnitude of the finals as he seeks to secure England's second title, 60 years after their first.
"It's up there," said Tuchel, raising his hand above his head. "Definitely. Easy. It's the best stage, it's the biggest tournament in the world, the biggest competition, the biggest players playing in the same tournament. This is what it is.
"I'm grateful to have the possibility to be the coach of England and to have the experience to coach in a World Cup.
"It comes with responsibility and I want to live up to this responsibility and push the team, prepare the team and support the players to do their very best.
"We dream. We dream. We have the right to dream, but we don't want to be delusional. It comes with responsibility and with the effort. We want to put the effort in and deserve the outcome. We do that and it starts tomorrow."
Tuchel has been forced into a late change to his squad due to Tino Livramento's injury, with the Newcastle United fullback replaced by Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah on the eve of their opener.
"We called Trevoh Chalobah up because then we can free up Jarell Quansah and Djed Spence on both sides as full backs," said Tuchel. "Trevoh comes as a centre back alternative and gives us full coverage in the back four."
The match sees the two nations meet at the World Cup for the first time since Croatia defeated Gareth Southgate's England side in the 2018 semi-finals, with Tuchel wary of Zlatko Dalic's squad despite their opponent's aging legs.
"I think it's quite obvious they still have the core midfield with (Mateo) Kovacic and with Luka Modric in the centre of their game," he said.
"They have a very strong, a very solid back three and with Mateo and Luka Modric they still have the heartbeat of the team in the middle. They always provide threat with (Ivan) Perisic on the left side with both legs, inswinging and outswinging.
"They have experience in tournaments, they have a very experienced coach in tournaments, they are emotional, they traditionally are a strong national team and that's what we face.
"They are very flexible between back four and back five, they are very flexible within matches so we have to adapt, we have to get the initiative right and we need a complex performance and we need all of it to be able to win.
"I'm confident we know what it takes. It's a strong team and we are full of respect."
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Ken Ferris)
