English football players can deal with the weather if it is wet and bleak, or cold and grim. But heat and humidity is a different story and seen almost as a hostile environment.
Hot and sticky will be the conditions today when England face Italy in the steamy Amazon jungle port of Manaus, where humidity averages 80 per cent. A local adage says there are two seasons: summer and hell.
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England have fretted about playing in Manaus since the World Cup draw six months ago.
“Obviously being English players, we’re not used to those conditions,” defender Gary Cahill said.
England have done what they can to prepare.
There was a training camp last month in Portugal, friendly matches last week in Miami, and a base camp in subtropical Rio de Janeiro with three days of practice in the sun.
Players have been taking malaria pills and sweating – mostly over conditions in the jungle.
“We’ve done the hot-weather training,” Cahill said. “We’ve been in hot climates, we’ve done the heat chambers and we’ve done extra loads of clothing. We’ve prepared as best we possibly can.”
Former Brazil coach Carlos Dunga offered the English some advice.
“They are used to playing full speed for 90 minutes,” he said. “But they are going to have to pace themselves, know when to run and when to slow down. If not, they will exhaust themselves in no time.”
Oliver Holt, a football reporter for the Daily Mirror, said the English were “overly obsessed about the weather”.
“Deep down we might feel that Italy might be a little bit more prepared,” Holt said. “It might not be as foreign to Italy. They’re southern Europeans. They might be more confident about it. So we’re a little bit neurotic about it.”
Holt also speculated there might be another reason for all the concern.
“We’re not very optimistic about our chances here,” Holt said. “Maybe we’re getting our excuses in early.”
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