‘Impossible to adapt’ – Tuchel on how altitude has caused headaches and poor sleep in Mexico
· Yahoo Sports
Thomas Tuchel insists England “cannot adapt” but “must overcome” the altitude in Mexico City that they will face in their last-16 tie against co-hosts Mexico.
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England take on Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday 5 July, with much of the build up focused on how the altitude will affect Tuchel’s side – Mexico City sits 2,240 metres above sea level.
Mexico have played all of their home games at altitude and are yet to concede a goal at the World Cup, while England have overcome adversity to get to this point, coming from 1-0 down to beat DR Congo 2-1 in the previous round.
“We feel it [the altitude], even if we don’t train,” Tuchel said. “I felt a slight headache in the hotel room throughout the day and didn’t sleep as well as the days before but nothing that you cannot handle and cannot adapt to.
“I think the players felt it in the first minutes of the training session and the longer it went on, they could cope with it better. It is just what it is. We cannot physically adapt, it’s just impossible.
“But we are here one day before to experience it at least, to not have all the first time experience tomorrow.
“It is not a coincidence that Mexico normally start their matches at home normally very strong, very front-footed, very aggressively because I think the first 15-20 minutes will maybe be the toughest for us. Once we overcome that and we experienced it a little bit already today, I think we are in a good place.”
Tuchel was also asked about the possibility of the kick-off time being brought forward by six hours, and the potential disruption at the team hotel after Ecuador were kept awake by Mexico fans outside their hotel. However, the England boss was quick to dismiss any concerns.
“It’s like so often, it’s so much noise but when you’re in inside of the bubble it’s actually quite calm and focused,” he added.
“The bigger the noises, the bigger the stages, the bigger the tension becomes, the calmer the preparation is.
“I think the players were not even aware that there was a was a a possible change of kick-off time. And and and just this example just shows you to not lose your head – we cannot influence it and it stayed the same.
“Altitude it is what it is, home crowd is what it is – it’s not in our favour. We need to overcome obstacles but we have the spirit, the commitment and the glue between our team to overcome these things.”