Wayne Rooney believes England should be delighted to have avoided Switzerland in their upcoming World Cup semi-final.
The Three Lions will meet one of their fiercest rivals on the international stage on Wednesday after they overcame Norway in a tense encounter that was eventually settled by Jude Bellingham’s winner in the first-half of extra time.
Reigning champions Argentina were similarly pushed all the way by Switzerland and eventually booked their place in the last four with two goals in the closing stages following a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.
Despite Lionel Scaloni’s squad boasting the talents of Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez, Rooney believes Argentina represent more suitable opposition for England than a canny and underrated Swiss outfit.
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He told the BBC: ‘I think I’d rather face Argentina. I think Switzerland are really organised in how they play and I think they could be a tricky game for England.’
Despite his surprise claim, Rooney was under no illusion that it would require a significantly improved performance for England to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 having rode their luck against Switzerland.
Speaking before Argentina’s eventual 3-1 win in Kansas, he said: ‘I go back to Thomas Tuchel’s interview after the game and I slightly disagree with Micah [Richards] and Alan [Shearer] on it because I think he’s done that purposefully.
‘I think he’s done it to show everyone that the performance wasn’t good enough, to show the players the performance wasn’t good enough.
‘He knows if you get to a semi-final or final that a performance playing like that isn’t good enough to get through.
‘The opposition gets greater than what Norway are and I think he has done that purposefully.
‘When you come up against a Spain, France, Argentina or Switzerland, who are a big threat in this tournament as well, you can’t afford to not play well.
‘What they’ll do is take the ball off you, make you work and punish you. Norway didn’t punish England with the opportunities they had.
‘It’s very clever from Tuchel again it’s sort of the first time we’ve seen that throughout this tournament.
‘The players deserve a huge amount of credit going to Mexico in that climate and the recovery to get through this game in Miami in that heat. But tonight’s performance is a warning sign for the next game.’