England are flying out to the World Cup in the United States – with the hope they can stay for a full seven weeks and bring home the trophy to end 60 years of hurt.
Captain Harry Kane was pictured preparing to board the plane to Miami from Birmingham Airport today. England head to the Florida coast for a pre-tournament training camp and warm-up matches against New Zealand on Saturday and Costa Rica next Wednesday.
Team-mate Marcus Rashford is already in Miami, having flown out for some solo preparation at Lionel Messi’s club, Inter Miami. He was pictured yesterday breaking a sweat in training and in the gym.
England, led by manager Thomas Tuchel and captain Kane, had been scheduled to jet out on Monday morning.
At 10.45am local time on Tuesday, they will then take part in an open community training session at Palm Beach Gardens. Players will then speak to the media.
On Friday, they will again hold an open training session at Palm Beach Gardens in the morning, before Tuchel and a player speak to the media ahead of the New Zealand clash in the afternoon.
England captain Harry Kane prepares to board a plane at Birmingham Airport to Miami
The team, kitted out in all blue, were snapped boarding the plane on Monday morning
England’s footballers are flying out for their World Cup preparation camp in Miami
England have chosen Kansas City to be their base for the entire tournament, opting to fly to their games rather than move regularly throughout the competition.
Their first match, against Croatia, will be held in Arlington, Texas, at the AT&T Stadium. Six days later, they will head to Foxborough, Massachusetts, to take on Ghana at the Gillette Stadium.
The squad’s final group game is pencilled in for June 27 against Panama, and will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
England will stay at the Inn at Meadowbrook, a boutique hotel in the style of an English country estate, in Kansas.
No expense has been spared, with the Three Lions taking over the entire 54-bedroom property, which features an impressive American restaurant, firepits and a relaxed vibe. Locals say many of the hotel’s staff have been furloughed for the duration of England’s stay, which has left some disappointed.
FA security officials are thought to have asked for a wide-ranging perimeter, but agreed to a smaller cordoned-off area following discussions with local police. It remains to be seen whether they will put screens up.
Interestingly, while it is only a 20-minute drive, the hotel is in Kansas City, Kansas, while the training ground is in Kansas City, Missouri. The state line itself throws up some interesting differences.
In their decision-making process, England had considered heading to an ‘acclimatisation’ centre first to prepare for the possibility of gruelling heat and humidity, before switching headquarters to a cooler site for the rest of the tournament.
Thomas Tuchel was seen boarding the plane with his luggage ahead of take off
Soon after the team boarded, the Virgin Atlantic plane took off for the lengthy flight
A small group of onlookers watched on at Birmingham airport as the squad jetted off
Marcus Rashford has been working up a sweat at Inter Miami’s training base before he joins up with the rest of England’s players
There are concerns, meanwhile, around large measles outbreaks in the USA, Mexico, and Canada are increasingly becoming a ‘concern’ among experts, according to Infectious Disease Special Edition.
Texas, where England play their first game against Croatia on June 17, has been one of the worst-hit areas in the country. This month saw the first recorded cases in Dallas, close to the AT&T Stadium.
However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has only been one recorded case in Missouri, where the Three Lions are staying in an ‘English cottage-style’ hotel on the outskirts of Kansas City.
