England’s national team was robbed on the eve of their World Cup appearance, with items allegedly stolen.
England were reportedly the victims of a World Cup robbery where players’ boots and equipment were ‘stolen’ (Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire.)
England have been targeted in a brazen robbery ahead of next week’s opener against Croatia, with players’ boots and key training equipment “stolen in transit”.
The Three Lions moved their training camp from West Palm Beach, Florida, to their home base at Swope Soccer Village in Missouri, where the theft was reported.
The Daily Mail claims the competition’s official football and key training equipment have been stolen, leaving staff scrambling to find replacements. England will be at home to Swope Soccer Village for the next three weeks as they aim to advance from the group stage.
Thomas Tuchel’s men are due to train for the first time in Kansas City later today, but an investigation is underway to find out what was stolen. Mirror Sport understands that two people have been arrested and a police investigation is ongoing. The FA has also been approached for comment.
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Reports claim only one football was left behind during the robbery, but there are also unconfirmed claims that the boots of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and others were stolen.
This was a major blow to England’s preparations for the tournament, who had enjoyed a successful pre-tournament training camp in Miami.
A post-mortem investigation is underway to determine what equipment they left behind, and the report says the FA is working with local police to recover the stolen items.
The report said England’s staff had packed up vital equipment, including analytical equipment, Tuchel’s whiteboard and a massage table, ahead of the move to Missouri, but were shocked when it did not arrive in Kansas City. Sky Sports claims that some of the equipment has now been recovered.
Staff are currently in a race against time to change equipment before Tuchel’s side take to the training ground later today.
Thomas Tuchel’s England preparations have been full of ups and downs (Image: Getty Images)
Tuchel was pleased with England’s 3-0 win over Costa Rica in Miami, followed by a 6-0 win over Miami FC in a friendly behind closed doors.
“The three players who didn’t play and those who played just 22 minutes plus extra time will be given a few minutes of practice time, which is game time rather than practice time,” the England manager said.
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“We can manage that, we can manage the game time, it will probably be within 2×30 minutes or something like that.
“After that, the players get a day and a half off to switch off, not only physically but also mentally. That’s natural.”
“Then the next part of the tournament, which is the group stage, will start and we’ll be changing locations, but I’m looking forward to it. Not because I don’t like it here (Florida), but it’s been great here and at the highest level.”
“But it would be nice to change things up and give us a new framework for the next period of the tournament. After that we will be fully focused on the group stage.”
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