Thomas Tuchel lifts England squad ban just days before the World Cup starts
Thomas Tuchel has decided to lift a ban that would have affected the entire England team just days before their first World Cup group match against Croatia.
England finished their World Cup warm-up with an easy 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday night. Declan Rice scored early in the 9th minute in Orlando, Florida. Anthony Gordon added a second-half penalty, and Ollie Watkins scored in the 87th minute to seal the win.
The match was supposed to start at 9 pm UK time but was delayed by an hour because of thunderstorms near the Inter&Co Stadium. Tuchel said after the game that this delay was actually a positive. It gave the team a chance to practice dealing with bad weather, which might happen during the World Cup.
There are many things to think about for the tournament, with England beginning their Group L games against Croatia on June 17. The team will stay in Kansas City throughout the World Cup, and Tuchel and his coaching staff have planned everything carefully.
This also includes their training camp in Florida before the tournament. It’s been revealed that Tuchel decided to allow players’ wives and girlfriends to visit the team hotel in Florida, reversing a ban set by former coach Gareth Southgate during past World Cups.
The Sun reports that Southgate didn’t let partners visit the team before the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Tuchel thought about keeping the ban but chose to change things.
Several family members, including Harry Kane’s wife Kate, have visited the hotel and were spotted watching England’s warm-up games. Tuchel plans to give the team some downtime after the Costa Rica win and wants to give players more quality time with their partners and family before the first match.
England will start their World Cup journey in Washington D.C., but their first game against Croatia will be in Seattle on June 17. Then they travel to Boston to play Ghana on June 23, and finally to New Jersey to face Panama on June 27.
While they play their group matches in different cities, the team will be based in Kansas City. Last month, The Guardian reported that the FA is happy with the hotel, training base, and the short travel time for matches.
Their training base wasn’t the FA’s first choice, but Argentina, as reigning world champions, got to pick their base first, so the FA had to settle for Kansas City.