England’s World Cup squad are training in 33 degrees heat to get used to Qatar’s climate, but Wales have pushed their sessions back.
Doha is hosting the first ever winter World Cup due to the country’s climate, which made a summer tournament impossible with temperatures regularly over 40 degrees.
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England have been sticking with the warm weather
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Wales are taking a different approach
Conditions are milder towards the end of the year, before a 22 degrees low in the month of January, but currently squads are having to contend with conditions far different from back home.
The tournament will kick off on November 20, with all 32 squads now present and beginning their preparations.
England have opted to acclimatise to the heat by training in the morning, rather than the cooler afternoon.
But, as talkSPORT’s Three Lion correspondent Faye Carruthers explained, they are not the most comfortable conditions for the players.
“There is logic in England training in this heat, because they’re getting used to the hottest time of the day,” she said.
“I know the stadiums will be air conditioned, but if they can train in this kind of heat, they can certainly train when it’s cooler.
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Maddison has been taking things slow but isn’t bothered by the heat
“And they’ve still got to acclimatise to the weather out here, because it is quite humid and oppressive during the day, although it gets dark relatively early around 5pm and it does cool down then, and there’s a breeze.
“We spoke to James Maddison and he said it’s no different to pre-season training, when they go out to Dubai for warm-weather training, so the players don’t really see it as any different.
“It’s about 33 degrees and I’m melting just a tiny bit.”
Unlike a number of other teams, England will not be playing a friendly match ahead of their opener against Iran on November 21.
A selection of players are still struggling with injury concerns, with Maddison missing the latest training session.
“The players have just come out, they’ve had their usual huddle and chat with Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland at the start of the training session,” Faye continued.
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England’s players aren’t too bothered by the heat
“James Maddison came out for the huddle but he’s not going to be in full training for the rest of the squad, they’re managing his load at the moment. The other 25 players are going to be continuing.
“It’s the usual decent mood in the camp, everyone is pretty chilled out and happy.
“But this is the hottest it’s been and training in, because last night they trained at around 4:30pm which is a little bit cooler and replicating the weather they’ll get for the opening game against Iran.
“But this morning it’s absolutely scorching.”
Not all teams are taking the same approach as England, with fellow home nations side Wales currently avoiding the heat.
Manager Rob Page has pushed training sessions back to 4pm from 1.30pm in an effort to avoid the heat, despite their second group game against Iran starting at 1pm.
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Wales believe hot-weather training isn’t such a necessity
But, as Page explained, he believes the air conditioning inside the stadiums will make hot weather training unnecessary.
“They’ve done their best to accommodate that [the heat],” he told the press.
“I went to the stadium where we play our three games and it is exceptional.
“They’ve put air conditioning units all around the pitch, I could feel it from where I was stood.
“I’m not so sure the players will feel it from the middle of the pitch, and certainly our supporters won’t from the top of the stand.”
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