England can't blame tough World Cup conditions, says Tuchel

On Friday, coach Thomas Tuchel said England will not use the scorching heat and long travel distances between venues as excuses as they aim for a “long” World Cup campaign.

England are scheduled to play New Zealand in a pre‑tournament friendly in Tampa Bay, Florida, on Saturday, and have been training in the hot and humid conditions of West Palm Beach.

“We don’t want it to be an excuse. It will be tough. It will be hopefully a long World Cup,” Tuchel told a press conference.

“It will be a lot of travelling, it will be a lot of adversity from the heat, from humidity.”

England enter the tournament—co‑hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada—among a group of favorites that includes France, Spain and defending champions Argentina, hoping to end 60 years of disappointment.

After their New Zealand tune‑up and a friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, England will head to a training camp in Kansas City, where temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) and thunderstorms are forecast for the coming days.

The Three Lions will open their campaign on 17 June against Croatia in Dallas, where the mercury is expected to reach 35 °C (95 °F) next week.

If England progress beyond the group stage, they could face a challenging trip to Mexico City for a high‑altitude last‑16 match, with Miami a possible quarter‑final venue as well.

“That’s also the task for us, and that’s also what you want to achieve – that atmosphere where you stay calm, where we stay patient, and where we adapt to the circumstances,” said Tuchel.

“That’s just what it takes to go through the tournament.”

Despite the heat expected during the competition, the manager made it clear that he would not abandon his high‑pressing tactical systems.

“There’s a value in recovering the ball high, even if it brings risk, even if it is highly intense,” Tuchel said.

“But I think there’s also a high value in having the ball and moving the ball and not chasing the ball.”

– ‘Performed in finals’ –

England, who reached the final of the past two European Championships, are in Group L, which also contains Ghana, Panama and Croatia.

An experienced Croatia beat a young England side in the semi‑finals of the 2018 World Cup.

Tuchel said he was delighted by the amount of tournament‑winning experience in his squad, which contains around a dozen players who won a trophy this year.

“We’re very, very happy that we have a lot of winners… it just lets your confidence grow in a genuine way, so it’s not artificial,” he said.

“Players know that they can handle the pressure. Players know that they performed in finals.”

The manager said he had a “clear idea of 14‑15 starters that can start for us and should start for us and can carry this team” against Croatia.

Ezri Konsa is fighting for a starting role at centre‑back, along with the likes of Marc Guehi and John Stones.

Speaking before Tuchel at Friday’s press conference, Konsa admitted that “most of our players are not used to playing in this kind of heat.”

“But we’ve got to get used to it very quickly.”

He added: “We’re coming into this tournament full of confidence.”

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