England fans are worried ahead of the World Cup after seeing footage of the players training in Qatar’s intense heat.
Ahead of their first match against Iran on Monday, Gareth Southgate’s men trained at 12:30pm under some pretty intense conditions in order to acclimatise to the heat as quickly as possible.
On Thursday, the Three Lions trained in 33C heat as they were put through their paces by the manager and his coaching staff.
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England posted a video of the players cooling off at the end of the training session. The likes of Callum Wilson, Jude Bellingham, Ben White, Conor Coady and Trent Alexander Arnold were all seen rushing to stand in front of an air-conditioned fan in order to cool down.
This has got fans worried on social media.
One fan said: “Whose idea was it to play football in a literal desert?”
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Another tweeted: “This is how you know y’all aren’t ready for the World Cup.”
A third fan added: “Really doesn’t bode well for our chances lmao.”
Someone else commented: “This is going to be a nightmare. The Iran game will be tough and they’re used to that heat.”
However, the stadiums where matches will take place were all built with air conditioning in order to keep the temperature as comfortable as possible for both players and fans.
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England defender Conor Coady spoke about the difficulties of training under the intense heat.
He said, as per The Guardian: “It was hard. It was a long session and it was something we needed as a team to get used to it, to feel it, to understand it. I’m not going to say it’s not tough but we’re professionals, we understand what we are doing.
“It’s a different environment for us, it’s something we want to take on board as quickly as possible. Going out there and overthinking the heat or thinking it’s too hot will get us nowhere. Listen, we don’t get the sun too often back home so let’s enjoy it.”
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After Iran on Monday, Southgate's team will take on the United States before a clash with rivals Wales. England are expected to top Group B and head into the knockout stages with relative ease.
Topics: England, Qatar, Football World Cup