Conor Coady, a defender for England, said his team would “embrace” the hot weather in Qatar as they prepare a plan for their World Cup opener on Monday against Iran.
Doha has experienced temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) this week, which contrasts sharply with the excellent autumn conditions in Europe, where the players have just arrived.
After practice at the team’s Al Wakrah headquarters in Doha, the 29-year-old center defender acknowledged the oppressive heat was a struggle.
It was difficult this morning, he admitted. “It was a lengthy session. It was something we as a team needed to adjust to, to feel, to understand, and it’s challenging,” the team member said.
No matter what time it is of the year. “it’s a World Cup,” he continued. “It’s winter now, and it’s 30 degrees here, but we want to use it as much as possible.
We’re going outside to embrace the heat because overanalyzing it or complaining that it’s too hot won’t get us anywhere.
According to Coady, who has ten caps for England, the players are optimistic they will perform well in Qatar despite their inconsistent performance since winning the postponed Euro 2020 final last year, which included being demoted from the peak division of the Nations League.
Over the last few years, the defensive performance has been fantastic in how we try to approach it, so we must keep relying upon only ourselves. We’ll be confident competing. “As a squad, we are aware of the type of play we aspire to protect, what we want to do,” the team said.
James Maddison of Leicester did not participate in practice on Thursday, but Coady downplayed worries over the offensive midfielder, who injured his knee in the Premier League over the weekend.
The former Wolves captain praised him, saying, “He’s been terrific around the camp.” He’s a terrific person and a fantastic player who will be huge for us in this competition, as we’ve seen in training over the past couple of days. As far as I’m aware, he’s all right.
The England team then encountered a group of 17 migrant workers, who first engaged in intragroup football matches before being penalized by Southgate’s squad.
The refugees were handed signed shirts and tickets to watch England play Iran.
“The guys are looking towards it. It’s something we want to do. We’re coming to a place that not many people have gone to before, and if they have, it’s not very often,” Coady said in a statement before the event.
“We desire to take in everything. We want to support and attempt to take full advantage of these opportunities. We want to accomplish as much as we can while we’re here.