Declan Rice says England are ready to cope with whatever Mexico throw at them in Sunday’s World Cup encounter at the electric Estadio Azteca.
From unabated hostility to playing at high altitude, Thomas Tuchel’s side expect to face a variety of obstacles as they seek to keep alive their quest to join Sir Alf Ramsey’s 1966 heroes in immortality.
England dealt with an additional headache just before flying to Mexico City as Fifa discussed whether to move the last-16 clash to an earlier kick-off time due to the risk of weather disruption.
Tuchel’s team landed on Friday to news that the game would stay at 6pm local (1am on Monday in the UK) rather than be brought forwards six hours, with more fun and games potentially in store before the tie starts.
“It’s kind of going to be like an away game for us,” England midfielder Rice said. “They’ve played every game in Mexico so far, been at home the whole tournament, so for us it’s just being able to go there and deal with what’s going to be thrown at us.”
Mexico boast an astonishing record at the Azteca, having lost just two of their 89 competitive matches at a ground England play at for the first time since Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ helped Argentina to a 2-1 quarter-final win. PA Media
