By Matt McMullen
Team England may be in Kansas City for business purposes, but that doesn’t mean the Three Lions haven’t had a chance to embrace their temporary home.
Now over a week into their stay in the Kansas City area, Team England – fresh off its opening game victory over Croatia last week – has managed to experience a bit of local flare, from a night at Kauffman Stadium for a Royals game to enjoying some Kansas City barbecue at the team hotel.
“It’s been really good. The hotel is great. The facilities are great, and the pitches are really good,” said star striker Harry Kane last week. “Since we’ve arrived, it’s been nothing but positivity, so it’s nice to get out and explore a little bit.”
Kane was one of a handful of England players who attended the Royals game on Friday, which began with a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Manager Thomas Tuchel. Unbothered by the sport crossover, Tuchel tossed a strike from the mound.
“The boss did pretty well,” Kane said with a smile. “He was a little bit nervous before, but handled it really well.”
The members of the Three Lions have varying levels of familiarity with Kansas City’s American football team as well. In the case of Kane, a self-proclaimed lover of all sports, the Bayern Munich star revealed that he’s been a New England Patriots fan for more than a decade.
Striker Ollie Watkins, on the other hand, is more of a novice – although he’s learning quickly.
“I don’t know too much about the NFL. I wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey into Kansas the other day,” Watkins said laughingly on Sunday. “I was with my family, and a guy said to me, ‘You can’t wear that around here.’ I won’t be wearing that again.”
All jokes aside, Kansas City’s professional sports scene has turned out to be of practical use, too. Following England’s victory over Croatia on Wednesday, more than a dozen of the those who saw little to no usage in the match had an opportunity to take the pitch for an abbreviated friendly against Sporting Kansas City on Thursday.
The match featured two 25-minute halves, so not quite the standard length of a true 90-minute game, but it provided Team England’s reserves with a valuable practice session ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with Ghana.
“There are actions you [can only] repeat in a game – they just happen naturally,” said Watkins, who scored in the friendly. “It’s just good to get that flow of minutes into your legs from game-based scenarios rather than just running in straight lines. We’ve grinded it out, and it’s been really enjoyable.”
Watkins and the rest of Team England will soon have an opportunity to put that practice to the test on Tuesday, and if the Three Lions are able to defeat Ghana and ultimately win Group L, some Kansas City barbecue may be on the menu.
“We had a bit at the hotel already – a mixture of our chefs and some local chefs,” Kane said. “I’m all for it. I don’t know how much of it I’m allowed to eat during the tournament, but we’re here to enjoy it, for sure.”
Watkins shared a similar – and well-informed – interest while acknowledging his experience in America’s Heartland so far.
“The hospitality has been amazing. Everyone is so friendly over here,” Watkins said. “I need to check out Joe’s barbecue.”
