• Roy Hodgson's team face heat of Amazon jungle in first match
• 'It's not the group we would have picked … it's very tough'
Roy Hodgson on Friday struggled to put a brave face on a World Cup draw that paired England in a group with Italy and Uruguay, and involved a trip to the heat of the Amazon jungle.
The manager had said before the draw that he hoped to avoid the heat of Manaus, prompting an angry response from the city's mayor, but England have been drawn to open their campaign there against Italy on 14 June. They will then return to their base camp in Rio before facing Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani and their Uruguay team-mates in São Paulo on 19 June and a final group match against Costa Rica on 24 June in Belo Horizonte, the city in which they lost to the USA in 1950.
Costa Rica and Italy officials immediately dubbed it "the Group of Death", while the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, was seen jokingly drawing his hand across his throat following the draw. Hodgson said: "I think it's going to be very tough. If that is what the group is being named, you'd think it's our presence in it that contributes to that. People are not going to be rubbing their hands with joy because they've got to play England."
Italy's manager, Cesare Prandelli, said he was "not worried" by what he called a difficult group but emphasised it was important that Fifa change its rules to allow players to stop for a water break in Manuas, where temperature regularly reaches 33C in June. That idea was backed by Hodgson. A spokeswoman for the Italian FA said: "It's a nightmare. It might be a good story for the tournament but not in any other way. We're going to have to be able to drink on the pitch, it's a serious risk of dehydration for the players."
Hodgson said that the prospect of coming up against familiar rivals filled him with excitement as well as foreboding, despite the fact England have never beaten any of their group stage opponents in tournament football. "[Luis] Suárez is a top-class player and I came up against [Edinson] Cavani with Liverpool [against Napoli] and I rate him highly too, just as a I rate [Mario] Balotelli and [Andrea] Pirlo and lots of other players," he said, "but I'd like to think that we've got one or two players in our team as well. I was asked by Italian TV about how we would block Balotelli and Pirlo but maybe they'll have to start thinking about how they'll block [Steven] Gerrard and [Wayne] Rooney."
Hodgson attempted to take heart from the fact that the other teams in the group were concerned about facing England. "I can't deny that it's not the group we would have plucked out for ourselves. I'm glad they [other managers] do all the nominating of names for the type of group it is. I'll just call it Group D."
If England qualify, they will face a team from Group C – made up of Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan – in the second round. European broadcasters are unlikely to be happy about the prospect of England's opening match kicking off at 2am BST.
There was speculation that they may lobby to have it moved to an earlier kick-off time or even switched with the other opening match in Group D, Uruguay v Costa Rica, which would mean England's game moving to Fortaleza. A Fifa spokeswoman dismissed the idea as "nonsense", while Hodgson said he would resist any attempt to move the fixture to an earlier kick-off because of the heat.
As England camp attempted to look for positives, they said that at least they would not have to abandon their plan to base the team in Rio de Janeiro – because their second and third matches involved short hops of less than an hour. "My fear wasn't one long trip, which most teams are going to have to do, my fear was having to move the base camp if all our games had been in the north. We've been lucky in that respect," Hodgson said.
The hosts will kick off the World Cup against Croatia in São Paulo on 12 June and will also face Mexico and Cameroon. The holders, Spain, were drawn in a tough group with Holland, Chile and Australia.
But France, who benefited from a last-minute rule change, drew the easiest group on paper alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.
• 'It's not the group we would have picked … it's very tough'
Roy Hodgson on Friday struggled to put a brave face on a World Cup draw that paired England in a group with Italy and Uruguay, and involved a trip to the heat of the Amazon jungle.
The manager had said before the draw that he hoped to avoid the heat of Manaus, prompting an angry response from the city's mayor, but England have been drawn to open their campaign there against Italy on 14 June. They will then return to their base camp in Rio before facing Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani and their Uruguay team-mates in São Paulo on 19 June and a final group match against Costa Rica on 24 June in Belo Horizonte, the city in which they lost to the USA in 1950.
Costa Rica and Italy officials immediately dubbed it "the Group of Death", while the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, was seen jokingly drawing his hand across his throat following the draw. Hodgson said: "I think it's going to be very tough. If that is what the group is being named, you'd think it's our presence in it that contributes to that. People are not going to be rubbing their hands with joy because they've got to play England."
Italy's manager, Cesare Prandelli, said he was "not worried" by what he called a difficult group but emphasised it was important that Fifa change its rules to allow players to stop for a water break in Manuas, where temperature regularly reaches 33C in June. That idea was backed by Hodgson. A spokeswoman for the Italian FA said: "It's a nightmare. It might be a good story for the tournament but not in any other way. We're going to have to be able to drink on the pitch, it's a serious risk of dehydration for the players."
Hodgson said that the prospect of coming up against familiar rivals filled him with excitement as well as foreboding, despite the fact England have never beaten any of their group stage opponents in tournament football. "[Luis] Suárez is a top-class player and I came up against [Edinson] Cavani with Liverpool [against Napoli] and I rate him highly too, just as a I rate [Mario] Balotelli and [Andrea] Pirlo and lots of other players," he said, "but I'd like to think that we've got one or two players in our team as well. I was asked by Italian TV about how we would block Balotelli and Pirlo but maybe they'll have to start thinking about how they'll block [Steven] Gerrard and [Wayne] Rooney."
Hodgson attempted to take heart from the fact that the other teams in the group were concerned about facing England. "I can't deny that it's not the group we would have plucked out for ourselves. I'm glad they [other managers] do all the nominating of names for the type of group it is. I'll just call it Group D."
If England qualify, they will face a team from Group C – made up of Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan – in the second round. European broadcasters are unlikely to be happy about the prospect of England's opening match kicking off at 2am BST.
There was speculation that they may lobby to have it moved to an earlier kick-off time or even switched with the other opening match in Group D, Uruguay v Costa Rica, which would mean England's game moving to Fortaleza. A Fifa spokeswoman dismissed the idea as "nonsense", while Hodgson said he would resist any attempt to move the fixture to an earlier kick-off because of the heat.
As England camp attempted to look for positives, they said that at least they would not have to abandon their plan to base the team in Rio de Janeiro – because their second and third matches involved short hops of less than an hour. "My fear wasn't one long trip, which most teams are going to have to do, my fear was having to move the base camp if all our games had been in the north. We've been lucky in that respect," Hodgson said.
The hosts will kick off the World Cup against Croatia in São Paulo on 12 June and will also face Mexico and Cameroon. The holders, Spain, were drawn in a tough group with Holland, Chile and Australia.
But France, who benefited from a last-minute rule change, drew the easiest group on paper alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.