England manager Thomas Tuchel says he has to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem.
Tuchel, 51, named his 26-man squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia on Friday and said he will not sing God Save the King before those matches.
“I feel that it is not just a given. You cannot just sing it. That’s why I decided that I will not sing it in my first matches,” the German said.
After his appointment in October Tuchel said he had “not decided” whether or not to sing the anthem.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss officially became England manager on 1 January but will make his debut in the Three Lions dugout against Albania on 21 March.
“I think, first of all, you have a very powerful, emotional and meaningful national anthem and I could not be more proud to be on the sidelines and be in charge of the English national team,” Tuchel said.
“It means everything. It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel because it is that meaningful and it is that emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it.”
Lee Carsley was criticised during his interim spell in charge of England last year for not singing the anthem.
Tuchel joked in his news conference following the squad announcement that he does know the words to the anthem, but plans to earn the right to sing it with “results, building the group and doing my job properly”.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
