'11 broken hearts': England coach fights back tears in emotional BBC interview during France World Cup clash

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England assistant manager Anthony Barry was on the verge of tears in his half time interview against France. Barry has

fronted up for the half time interviews in every World Cup match

this summer.

When he and

Thomas Tuchel

have been unhappy about a first half display,

Barry has been the one to express their criticism and honesty

. His tone has often been blunt and hard hitting, but after the Three Lions put four past France before half time in the bronze medal match, Barry was completely different.

He was visibly emotional when he spoke about the breathless first half which saw

Declan Rice

and Ezri Konsa find the net, before

Bukayo Saka

scored a brace. After reflecting on the mood of the players

after the loss to Argentina in the semi-final,

Barry struggled to hold back the tears.

He said: "I have to be honest no frustration. I'm a little bit emotional, I'm struggling to find the words to describe how proud I am of these players. They're playing the game with broken hearts.

"I see 11 lads with broken hearts, seen them in the last two days broken hearts, they can build a performance like that through playing for England, the team spirit we built the last seven weeks, it's been a privilege to watch.

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"I know what the cynics will say, 'It's too late'. But we still play against a

world

class opponent. That 45 minutes I'm so proud. There's still 45 minutes to go, anything can happen but in isolation, I'm proud of the team and hopefully everyone back home is too."

Before the clash in Miami, both Tuchel and France manager Didier Deschamps made it clear they, and their players, were not looking forward to playing in the match.

By the way the Three Lions came out of the traps in this first half, Tuchel and Barry had combined to generate a reaction from them. Rice intercepted a loose France pass, drove forward and found the far corner from 20-yards.

He then turned provider by whipping a cross onto the head of Konsa, who flicked it across goal into the far post. The hydration break did not quell England's momentum, as Saka squeezed the ball in after he and

Marcus Rashford

both saw efforts be saved and cleared off the line.

He then completed a first half brace by finding the far corner in emphatic fashion after Eberechi Eze found him with a wonderful reverse pass. Things became nerve-wracking after half time when Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola found the net within the first nine minutes after half time to halve England's 4-2 lead.

Mbappe then grabbed a second to really jangle England nerves, but after Les Bleus missed several chances, with Michael Olise fluffing his lines with the goal at his mercy, Bukayo Saka eased any tension by completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.