England manager Thomas Tuchel has said it is impossible for his side to adapt to the altitude in Mexico City ahead of Sunday’s World Cup round of 16 clash against Mexico.
The Three Lions booked a meeting with the tournament co hosts after coming from behind to defeat Congo DR 2 to 1 in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Brian Cipenga’s seventh minute strike gave Congo DR an early lead before Harry Kane scored twice in the final 15 minutes to move past Brazilian legend Pelé onto 13 World Cup goals, including five at this tournament.
Mexico have played three of their four matches at the Azteca Stadium, which sits around 2,240 metres above sea level, while England are based in Kansas City and have travelled between venues throughout the competition.
Tuchel’s side are expected to return to Kansas before flying to Mexico City on Friday afternoon.
Speaking about the encounter, Tuchel said: “I’m just coming from this match, and trying to enjoy, but it is maybe one of the most beautiful fixtures, most exciting fixtures than you can have.
“You play against Mexico in the Azteca, and there will be a lot, a lot, a lot of obstacles waiting for us.
“Not to mention the altitude will be, of course, a big disadvantage, because we cannot physically adapt to it in four days. It’s just impossible and more obstacles will maybe come.
“But we are ready for that, we need it maybe. We have the ideal platform now to genuinely believe that we are ready for that, and when the going gets tough, that we will find the answers.”
Tuchel also raised concerns over possible off field challenges after Ecuador lodged an official complaint to FIFA over fireworks being set off outside their team hotel before their defeat to Mexico.
“I’m not sure if the travel will be smooth, if the sleep will be smooth, if there’s noise outside the hotel,” Tuchel added.
“OK, bring it on. It’s a very beautiful and exciting fixture. There will be lots of obstacles but this team will be ready whatever it takes.”
The England boss insisted, however, that his team had already adapted to the heat and humidity after arriving early in the United States for a pre tournament camp in Florida.
“We came very early to the country, we came very early to the U.S., and banked good heat training into our bodies. That was basically the idea behind, to acclimatise, so the players have a lot, a lot of heat training already in their bodies,” the 52 year old said.
“That would help them, so I think the heat and the humidity will not be the problem for us. We are used to that. We are used to that from training times, and we are used to it from our prep camp in Florida.
“My understanding is that we cannot adapt to the altitude. That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. It just takes too much time.
“We have only three days in between this match. This is physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude, which is quite high.
“We knew that before, so this is just something, it’s just a disadvantage, with which we will have to deal, and I think we showed the attitude that we are ready for that, and from there we go.”
The winners of the clash between Mexico and England will face either Brazil or Norway in the quarterfinals.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
