‘It’s impossible’ – England and Harry Kane face unsolvable problem in Mexico clash at World Cup

Mexico at the glorious Estadio Azteca awaits England in the last 16 of the World Cup. El Tri are unbeaten in four games, yet to concede a goal and possess one of the most intimidating records in international football on home turf, only beaten twice in 89 matches.

But England’s biggest battle will be against something completely out of their hands. The symbolic home of Mexican football lies 2,240 meters above sea level where barometric pressure is low.

With every breath taken, less oxygen goes into the lungs and bloodstream. It means we breathe heavier, increasing heart rate to circle less oxygen that’s in our lungs and blood. Even for the finely-tuned machines of the English national team, it takes a significant toll on the body.

The Mexico squad will of course have no such concerns, having played all four of their World Cup matches on home soil. But it’s a huge concern for Thomas Tuchel. ‘The altitude will be, of course, a big disadvantage, because we cannot physically adapt to it in four days,’ the England boss said. ‘It’s just impossible and more obstacles will maybe come.’

Harry Kane echoed those sentiments. ‘My understanding is we cannot adapt to the altitude. It’s a huge advantage Mexico have. There’s not enough time.’

Typically, it can take up to a week for the physiological adaption to start kicking in. But some of the more acute adaptions can begin to show promise after three days. But given the logistics of getting to Mexico and balancing all the other commitments that come with competing in the biggest competition in football, it is a window of time England simply won’t have.

‘Tuchel has said it is impossible and he’s probably right,’ Dominic Rae, Head of Sports Medicine and Performance Specialist at Ten Percent Club, told Metro.

‘If you were training at this altitude, you would have had some of these adaptions which include ability to regulate heart rate, ability to regulate respiratory rate and ability to restabilise your sweat rate. Those things would happen within about three days. However, they don’t happen by just going here and standing there. It has to be a period of intense training.

‘So you can maybe adapt in this time but England are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are in a tournament setting, they have just had a game, they have to get on a plane again. How can Tuchel get three days of training in at full intensity? Is it enough to adapt? Probably not. What they have been dealt with is very difficult.

‘Even if they were to get on the plane today, it is very tight. Even doing a recovery session there isn’t enough. The players need to be exposed to some level of intensity so their body can start to learn how to start utilising oxygen more efficiently. That doesn’t happen doing nothing and there’s only so much you can throw at the human body.’

England will have to slow down their playing style

England began their campaign with a bang against Croatia but have still not led at half-time in a World Cup match. They haven’t scored in the first-half since Kane’s brace in the group opener and didn’t really look like doing so against Ghana, Panama and DR Congo.

But a slower approach may be England’s golden ticket at the Azteca – if they can live with the pace and passion of the hosts. Tuchel has also demonstrated just how meticulous he is with his substitutes, valuing the impact of his ‘finishers’ with Sunday’s setting a true test of those decisions.

‘You normally expect around a 10 per cent reduction in VO2 max (the maximum volume of oxygen your body can absorb), and anywhere from six to eight percent drop in general performance metrics,’ Rae continued.

‘Players will notice it from the start, there will be an immediate spike in their heart rate. There will be a slight adaption process in the game but as the game goes on and fatigue also sets in and the requirement for oxygen goes up, we will probably see the difference again.

‘If it’s quite a slow game, with both teams sitting in and England are not pushing to those very high levels of performance output, it’s going to be less noticeable. If it is frantic, played in transition, we will see a big difference between the teams.

‘‘Substitutions have to go through that adaption process too but that’s where the warm-ups have to be good. They can utilise that time on the touchline to ensure they are in the right position to come on and feel ready to make an immediate impact.’

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