England have reportedly been the victims of a daring World Cup heist ahead of their opener against Croatia next week, with players' boots and key training equipment 'stolen in transit.' The Three Lions have moved their training camp from West Palm Beach in Florida to England’s Swope Soccer Village base in Missouri, where the theft allegedly took place.
The Daily Mail claims players' boots, official tournament footballs, and key training equipment have been stolen, leaving staff scrambling to find replacements. England will call the Swope Soccer Village home for the next three weeks as they look to advance from the group stage.
Thomas Tuchel's men are set to train in Kansas City for the first time later today, Saturday, June 13, but an investigation is underway to determine what has been stolen.
According to the report, only one football was left behind in the heist, while there are fears that the boots of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, among others, have been taken. This is a major blow for England in their tournament preparations, having enjoyed a good pre-tournament camp in Miami.
An inquest is underway to determine what equipment they have left, and the report claims the FA is working with local police to recover the stolen goods. Mirror Sport has contacted the FA for comment.
The report also states that England staff packed important equipment ahead of the relocation to Missouri, including analysis equipment, Tuchel’s whiteboards, and massage tables. Staff are now in a race against time to replace the equipment before Tuchel's squad takes to the training pitch later today.
Tuchel had been pleased with England's preparations in Miami, having beaten Costa Rica 3-0 and then Miami FC 6-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly. 'We get some minutes into the legs – game minutes, not training minutes – for the three players who didn’t play, for the guys who came for just 22 minutes plus extra time,' the England boss said.
'We can manage that. We can manage the game time. It will very likely be not more than two x 30 minutes or something like this. Then the players get one and a half days off, not only physically but also mentally to switch off. Well deserved.'
'Then we start the next chunk of the tournament, which is the group stage, and we change location, which I’m looking forward to – not because we didn’t like it here (in Florida), it was excellent here and at the highest level. But it is nice to change scenery and give it a new frame for the next period of the tournament, which is then full focus on the group stage.'
