England’s final friendly before the World Cup has been delayed after torrential rain caused a waterlogged pitch at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
The Three Lions had been set to take on Costa Rica on Wednesday night in a 9pm BST kick-off in their second friendly out in the States, after beating New Zealand 1-0 on Saturday. Kick-off is now set for 10pm BST.
It is set to be Thomas Tuchel’s final chance to look at his side in match action before they get their campaign under way on June 17 against Croatia, but the game was thrown into doubt.
In an empty stadium at around 7pm BST, a message was displayed on a big screen inside the stadium that read: ‘Lightning strikes. Please seek shelter.’
Other images from the ground showed the pitch waterlogged as officials rushed to get the game kicked off on time.
And, at 7:41pm BST, the FA confirmed the game had been delayed with a statement that read: ‘Today’s game against Costa Rica has been delayed due to weather conditions in Orlando.
England’s final World Cup warm-up match has been delayed due to torrential rain in Florida
England fans had started to make their way to the stadium as the rain continued to fall in Florida
‘We’ll provide further updates as soon as we have them.’
The then said the game would kick off at 10pm BST ‘subject to there being no further lightning strikes in the area.’
It is understood that the team stayed at the hotel initially, but did make their way to the ground at around 8:30pm BST. The kick-off time in Florida was 4pm – now moved to 5pm.
Groups of fans had started to make their way to the stadium, kitted out in England colours.
The type of weather is not uncommon in the area. Rules state that if there is lightning strike within eight miles, the game cannot be played for 30 minutes after.
Weather reports suggest another strike is planned for during the game.
Fans, though, have started to flood into the ground with a clean-up mission underway – and the impressive drainage system getting rid of most of the water.
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