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Hodgson concerned over World Cup venues

By on December 2, 2013
Roy Hodgson claimed he is more worried about the climate than facing Argentina in the Brazil World Cup

Roy Hodgson claimed he is more worried about the climate than facing Argentina in the Brazil World Cup

England manager Roy Hodgson admitted he was more worried over Brazil’s climate than the opposition at next summer’s Brazil World Cup.

Summer temperatures in Brazil can reach up to 95º Fahrenheit (35ºC) in tropical venues such as the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba and the Arena Amazonia in Manaus, which is off the shore of the Amazon river, but England will be hoping to be drawn with more southern fixtures in much cooler temperatures during Friday’s Group Stage draw.  Despite the fact that due to England’s thirteenth placed ranking in the Fifa World Rankings England will be drawn in a group containing a top pot seed of either Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay, Hodgson claimed he is most worried about the venues during the draw.

“The venues we play in do worry me more than the opponents,” Hodgson said. “Playing Argentina is a problem any time because they are a good team but I think there’s definitely going to be climatic conditions which will be problematic for teams, not least of all the northern European sides. You have a bit better chance if you get one of the venues where the climate is kinder. The tropicality of Manaus is the problem. Manaus is the place ideally to avoid and Porto Alegre is the place ideally to get.”

Matches will also be played in the middle of the day at 1pm, 4pm and 7pm local time, yet Fifa president Sepp Blatter promised to have matches at warmer venues player at later hours.  However Hodgson is no stranger to climate adaptions having managed Switzerland at the 1994 World Cup in the US and confirmed it was a major problem for his side. “It was something like 40, 41 degrees when we played Colombia and I’ve got to say our players struggled more than the Colombians,” the 66-year-old said. “Everyone found it hard but we really did struggle, not least of all with our playing style which had got us there.

The World Cup is set to be Hodgson’s second major tournament with England after coaching them to a quarterfinal finish at Euro 2012 despite having taken over the side just five weeks prior to the tournament, and the former Liverpool gaffer said his side will be ready to to all it takes to become prepared for the competition.  Asked whether he will be prepared it time, Hodgson said: “We will be, without a doubt.

“The great thing about working with he FA is that they are incredibly well prepared. I came in at late notice with the Euros and a lot of preparation had already been done and it was first-class and it will be first-class again.

“We have got a lot of experience of tournaments, of World Cups and European Championships. We canvassed the players and there is a lot of experience among the players, things they thought worked well and things they thought didn’t work as well.

“We have been occupying our time thinking about a lot of things we can do. But, of course, until we get the draw and we know where we are and when our first game is we have got to leave the actual detail – but in general we have got it all organized.”

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.