How a Lucozade pouch is helping England’s stars to cope with the heat at the World Cup
England’s national football team will use a new high-carbohydrate liquid pouch this summer, designed to help cope with the World Cup rigours this summer.
The Football Association has meticulously prepared for the tournament’s unique stresses, including travel, time zones, heat, and humidity in North America.
This groundwork involved England’s performance nutritionists collaborating with sports drinks partner Lucozade’s research and development team to develop a product for hydration, fuelling, and recovery in North America.
Lucozade Elite, a high-carbohydrate electrolyte solution, is being used by Thomas Tuchel’s side at the World Cup. It is not commercially available, having been exclusively developed for use by the national teams.
England midfielder Jude Bellingham said: “Football is demanding enough on its own, but when you’re playing regularly and at the highest level, the small details become even more important.
“Everything around preparation, hydration and fuelling has to be right so you can perform consistently throughout a game. The right preparation can make a big difference.”
England have been in Florida since last Monday acclimatising to the heat and humidity during a warm weather training camp, which ends with Wednesday’s friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando.
Harry Kane played down the impact the USA’s sweltering temperatures will have on England’s World Cup chances after they had their first proper run-out on American soil.
The Three Lions played their first of two warm-up matches on Saturday evening, beating the World Cup’s lowest-ranked side New Zealand 1-0 – and while Tuchel was unhappy with some of the “freestyle” football shown in the first half against New Zealand, emerging unscathed from the patchwork pitch was a boost.
Kane admitted the surface was “a bit sticky” as they were made to sweat in 33 degrees Celsius heat, but the skipper feels talk about the conditions have been overblown.
“To be honest, I don’t think the heat’s been too bad,” the striker, who played at last year’s Club World Cup in America, added.
“Obviously, we’ve been getting used to it in training. After the first couple of days, I felt like most of the lads were used to it.
“Today actually didn’t feel terrible out there, so I think there’s a talking point that might get over spoke about, to be honest.
“We’re all professional athletes. We all have done the right preparation to get ready for this tournament between us and the staff as well.
“We have another 10 days or so until that first game, training in this environment, so I think come the tournament, it won’t be a factor.”
Kane scored the winner against the All Whites, a sublime first-half header, to take his tally to 67 for the season for club and country.
