England’s stars put together for key World Cup showdown with secret weapon – out of doors yoga
England’s stars warmed up for their World Cup showdown with Panama by winding down – with outdoor yoga. The Three Lions showed they are in the tournament for the long stretch by de-stressing in a park near their tournament HQ in Kansas.
Locals were stunned to see £1.25bn worth of football talent lying on their backs with their legs in their air. Jude Bellingham, 22, Nico O’Reilly, 21, Jordan Pickford, 32, and Marc Guehi, 25, were among those who took part in the session.
A message posted by the FA read: “Rest. Recover. Go Again.” Boffins said the relaxing workout was the perfect way for Thomas Tuchel’s team to get their minds and bodies in shape ahead of what could be an edgy final group match against Panama on Saturday (June 27).
England go into the match top of Group L after a thrilling opening 4-2 victory over Croatia and 0-0 draw with Ghana. Victory will ensure they finish top of the group.
But a defeat could leave them scrambling for a place in the last 32 via the complicated best third place route. Only the eight third spot teams with the best records from the 12 World Cup groups make it through.
England’s four points should see them qualify but they could be plunged into a nightmare knockout clash with one of the tournament favourites and face a horror path to the final.
New Barcelona frontman Anthony Gordon said meditation helped him deal with the pressure of life as a footballer. The former Newcastle star, at his first World Cup, told the FA’s Lions’ Den podcast he uses the relaxation technique to keep calm.
It is not the first time England has deployed yoga in tournament training. The Euro 24 squad marked the International Day of Yoga by being put through their paces, positions and postures by Dr Rebekah Jade Lawrence at their Germany HQ.
She got the players breathing, stretching and meditating their way through a recovery session by teaching them yoga. Afterwards she wrote on Instagram: “Wow, thank you England football team for inviting me to teach yoga as part of your recovery process in Euro 2024. Yoga is such an incredible tool and practice that can benefit athlete recovery and performance in so many ways.”
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs all used yoga to maintain fitness so they could extend their playing careers. We Make Footballers, which runs soccer training camps for kids, teaches yoga to young wannabes.
According to its website, coaches tell youngsters how the discipline has had a ‘much bigger impact on their favourite footballers than they might expect’.
“It’s something that many of the world’s greatest footballers do multiple times a week so they can play at the highest level for as long as possible,” it said.
“Yoga is a way of training muscles that many people don’t even realise they have. For a footballer this can translate into improved mobility, flexibility, speed, strength, and muscular endurance.
“The first footballer to openly champion yoga was Ryan Giggs. He went on to play almost 1,000 games for Manchester United retiring at the age of 40. He referred to yoga as his ‘fountain of youth’ admitting that he wouldn’t have come close to that many appearances without it.
“His up-take of yoga prompted others within that squad such as Gary Neville and Paul Scholes to join in. Neville managed over 600 appearances for United, playing until he was 35, and Scholes racked up over 700 appearances before his retirement aged 38.
“Former Manchester City midfielder David Silva ended up using the same yoga instructor as Giggs had during his playing career. Silva became one of City’s all-time greats and is still playing in the Spanish top-flight at the age of 35.
“Potentially the two most looked-up-to players in world football, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, have both used yoga to keep their bodies at a level where they can play almost 50 games a season, year after year.
“It’s not just their raw talent that has kept them breaking records into their late 30s – it’s the fact they’ve looked after their bodies impeccably. Our expert coaches recommend that players try to incorporate stretching into their weekly routine to help them take care of themselves. Young children with high footballing aspirations need to understand the benefits that the boring bits at the start of a training session give.”
