A lot of the focus heading to Mexico City is on the altitude and what it does to your body. As a footballer, I’m just as concerned by what it does to the ball, because it changes the calculations you’ve spent your whole life making.
We all know England will have to deal with the humidity and reduced lung capacity on Sunday. But these conditions won’t just make you breathe harder, they’ll make you think harder too.
Golfers often talk about hitting the ball further at altitude because the air is thinner. England will experience this at the Azteca – the ball moving differently, be that quicker or with a longer flight. The scary thought is that, for most of England’s players, it will be the first time they have done so in a competitive match.
Suddenly, those instincts that have served you throughout your career are slightly off. That might not sound much. Believe me, it is.
Football at the highest level is played in fractions of a second. Your brain is constantly doing the maths and you don’t even realise it’s happening. Where will this cross arrive? How quickly is the ball travelling? How high do I need to jump? Where do I need to head this ball? We’ve repeated those calculations hundreds of thousands of times since we were children. Eventually, they become second nature.
England face a daunting last-16 clash against Mexico in Mexico City on Monday morning (BST)
The match at the Azteca Stadium takes place at altitude and that will affect the mind as well as body of the England players
People sometimes laugh when players talk about the tiny details of football, but those details are everything. If David Beckham crossed a ball to me with his right foot, I wasn’t aiming my header at the corner of the goal, I was aiming a yard outside it. Why? Because I already knew how the topspin and sidespin on David’s cross would react when it came off my forehead. If I aimed directly at the corner, I’d probably miss because it would come too far inside the post and the keeper would save it.
The same applies when you’re controlling a pass. People love the neat stripes on a freshly-cut pitch, where the grass changes colour, like at the Azteca. Footballers hate them! A ball rolling across different grains of grass moves differently. It can change direction enough to force a poor first touch.
But the bigger issue here is the altitude, of course, and that percentage cent swing in the air that scientists talk about. It might be the difference when our defenders measure a header and it comes off the top of their head and flicks on rather than heading it out. All it takes is mistiming your jump or connection by a split second for this to happen. These are the things supporters might not notice or appreciate, but players will feel it immediately.
Experts say that 10-14 days is needed for players to adjust to playing at high altitude. Jordan Pickford has 48 hours after arriving in Mexico City to face as many shots as possible to adjust to the flight of the ball. But also, let’s try to turn it to our advantage. Harry Kane’s winning goal against DR Congo was measured at 94 km/h. Mexico’s goalkeeper won’t fancy facing him in any conditions, let alone with the ball coming at him even quicker. Shoot from distance, and that applies to everyone. Let’s ask questions of Mexico as much as they will of us.
I notice the temperature is forecast to be lower than perhaps is normal, but the humidity will still be high. That brings a different challenge. The hottest conditions I experienced at a World Cup came against Brazil in Japan in the 2002 quarter-final. At half-time we practically stripped off before wrapping ourselves in towels soaked in ice water. Everything was geared towards reducing your core temperature. Then it was fluids, fluids and more fluids before going back out again.
Look at our performance in that second half, losing 2-1 against 10 men but we didn’t lay a glove on them. But this doesn’t mean England can’t win. It simply means they’ll have to be smarter and recalculate as they go.
The small prep time England have will be so crucial for the likes of Jordan Pickford in adapting to how the ball behaves at altitude
It will no doubt be a huge challenge for Thomas Tuchel’s side against an in-form Mexico team
I wouldn’t overreact to the DR Congo game, either. We threw absolutely everything at them. If one of those chances had gone in earlier we’d be feeling different about the performance. But my concern as we go through the tournament is the wingers.
Before the opening match I wrote about Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford almost sharing games between them, constantly arriving with fresh legs and frightening tired defenders. Instead, they haven’t contributed nearly enough.
Gordon deserves credit for coming off the bench and creating Kane’s goals against DR Congo, but at some stage those wingers have to become match-winners themselves. They need more goals. More assists. More moments. Look at the influence Michael Olise is having for France.
This Mexico game will be England’s toughest challenge yet, perhaps the toughest this group have ever faced. Every possible question is going to be asked of them as elite footballers – mentally, physically and technically. It can’t just be Harry Kane who provides the answers this time.
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