O'Reilly reveals Tuchel's 'we became the rock' message after England stun Mexico at Azteca

Nico O’Reilly has revealed that Thomas Tuchel told his England players they had become “the rock” after their 3-2 victory over Mexico at the Estadio Azteca secured a World Cup quarter-final berth against Norway in Miami on Saturday.

Tuchel had been using the motivational phrase “pounding the rock” throughout the tournament — a reference to sustained, grinding effort — but O’Reilly disclosed that the Germany-born coach shifted his language after what the Manchester City defender described as arguably England’s greatest win on foreign soil.

“We’ve had this thing where he’s been saying after the match that we’re in the grind, this is the grind part and that we’ve been pounding the rock, breaking teams down and breaking teams down,” O’Reilly told the FA’s Lions’ Den show. “But he said in this game we were the rock. They were after us. But we managed to get the win, we managed to get over the line.”

O’Reilly pointed to character as the defining quality England showed in Mexico City, particularly during a spell when the side were outnumbered. “Even when we were outnumbered, stuff was going against us, and we dug in to the very, very end,” he said. “And I think if we continue to have this character, no one can stop us.”

The 20-year-old will face a familiar face in the quarter-final, with his City teammate Erling Haaland leading the line for Norway — a side that has already beaten Brazil at this World Cup. Despite the scale of the challenge, O’Reilly insisted England cannot afford to dwell on the Mexico result.

“It’s special, very special, great feeling. But I think we haven’t really got time to be celebrating yet,” he said. “We’ve got another tough game coming and there’s still a few more games to be played for the top eight places. Every team’s going to be tough and we need to be ready.”

O’Reilly also spoke about the atmosphere inside the Azteca, where England’s travelling support traded noise with a hostile home crowd. “We did hear the fans in the stadium. We had the drums go off, but then as soon as the drums went, their fans would just whistle,” he said, adding that England need the backing of the whole country as the tournament enters its knockout rounds.

“We want to make a good example and make the country proud. The way we do it is by performing and getting the wins on the pitch.”