Sweltering heat and more-than-questionable pitch conditions have been points of concern for England in their Tampa Bay training camp ahead of the World Cup, but that's exactly what they're trying to get used to.
The Tampa Bay heat and humidity has been incredibly unforgiving on the England team as they prep for their World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas, Texas, but it didn't stop them from drudging to a 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand at Raymond James stadium thanks to a Harry Kane header just before the halftime interval.
It was expectedly far from the most aesthetically appealing match for a team that's in the conversation for going the distance this summer, but Thomas Tuchel used the occasion as a glorified training session to get used to the conditions and field two (almost) different starting elevens for either half.
The Three Lions might not face as bad of conditions for their group stage matches of the World Cup in Dallas, Boston, or Harrison, New Jersey against Croatia, Ghana, and Panama, but the whole idea behind the camp in Florida was to acclimatize to the extremes.
They have one more Florida friendly left before the start of their World Cup campaign by virtue of a clash vs. Costa Rica in Orlando - another opportunity to continue to adjust to the heat, humidity, and pitch conditions.
Read More: Thomas Tuchel Refuses To Blame Heat Or Pitch Conditions Ahead Of England’s World Cup Opener
Harry Kane Explains Why the Florida Camp Matters
After the New Zealand win, Harry Kane spoke to ITV about what the Raymond James stadium pitch was like along with the boiling conditions, but rationalized the sentiment of the whole purpose of the team being there.
"A good win. It's not easy. I think the heat itself is what we're here for - to prepare for that, to prepare for the tournament. The pitch wasn't great, to be honest - really hard to play the way that we wanted to play, but this is why we're here, to adapt to it and play against a team that had a good low block.
"In the end, we probably could've scored a couple more, but we take a win and we know we're here for preparation more than the result," the Bayern Munich striker stressed when asked him about what the verdict was on the pitch and the heat.
England Continue World Cup Preparations in Florida
Preparation continues for another week or so before England switches gears to Dallas and their tournament opener vs. Croatia, where they'll more than likely be playing under a closed, retractable roof.
Until then, heat and humidity is where they'll be living and training in Florida, and taking every measure to master the balance between exertion and recovery, going as far as utilizing the palm cooling technology devices they've been using.
As BBC Sport had explained, scientific research has shown that cooling the palms can have a large impact on lowering core body temperature, so Tuchel and England are well and truly leaving no stone unturned in that regard.
