05/07/2026

theSun on Sunday JULY 5, 2026

2026 WORLD CUP

SPORTS 12

England unconcerned by altitude, atmosphere ahead of Mexico clash ENGLAND are not shying away from the formidable task awaiting them at the Azteca Stadium tomorrow (8am not have it any other way. “The build-up and everything around we can beat pretty much anyone.” Striker Marcus Rashford brushed aside suggestions that the altitude and atmosphere could prove decisive.

for the possibility of off-field distractions after Ecuador complained that players were kept awake before their round of-32 match by fans outside their hotel. “I’m not concerned about it at the moment, but I won’t be happy if it wakes me up,” said Rogers, who joked he might have to invest in earplugs. The prospect of facing Mexico at a packed Azteca has only added to the anticipation. “I’m expecting an unbelievable atmosphere... We’re going to enjoy the occasion, the adversity, everything going against us, and use that to our advan tage,” Rogers said. – Reuters

it, the different obstacles we have to face, I think just adds to that kind of adrenaline, that kind of excitement that you have as a team, and the prospects of getting to a quarterfinal of a World Cup, and what that means to us as play ers, as well,” attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers told reporters on Friday before the team departed for Mexico. “With that extra bit on top, I think it’s a great occasion. Of course, we know the difficulties, how well they’re playing, the atmosphere, and all of that,” he added. “But we know that if we’re for our best,

Malaysian time), saying they welcome the challenges posed by altitude, a hos tile atmosphere and the high stakes of a World Cup last-16 showdown against hosts Mexico. With fears that Mexico supporters could seek to disrupt England’s prepa rations, and the fact the hosts are condi tioned to play at a lung-busting 2,200m above sea level, the match is shaping up to be one of the toughest of the tourna ment. England, however, insist they would

“It’s a game of football. We’ve all been playing football since we were kids and we’ve played in different environments, different atmospheres, some easier than others, some terrible to play in, and dis gusting,” he said. “It’s up to us to try and find a way to come out on top, and that’s what the focus is... We have to work together and try to bring as close to our best as we can, and we’ll be fine.” England have also been preparing

Pharaoh spot on Penalties taken ‘in the zone’ put Egypt in World Cup round of 16 E GYPT’S PLAYERS were encouraged to blot out all dis tractions and just concentrate on delivering their kicks, coach Egypt players study the penalty footage on a laptop, analysing opposition goalkeeper Maty Ryan’s movements before the penalty shootout against Australia at Dallas Stadium in Texas yesterday.

Hossam Hassan said after they con verted all their penalties to overcome Australia in a shootout to advance at the World Cup yesterday. Egypt won 4-2 in the shootout

after a 1-1 stalemate to book a place in the last-16, winning a first knockout tie at the World Cup. “I went to the players and

talked to them. I wanted to take some pressure off,” Hossam said of his passionate pre-shootout delivery as the players huddled around him at the end of extra time. “I told them, ‘Do not succumb to the pressure. Do not think about the pressure. Do not look around and wonder what are we supposed to do? Just let that curtain drop. “Just let everything out, just don’t think about anything else. Just think about your penalty kick. Don’t even think about the goalkeeper, only your kick.’” Hossam, who is Egypt’s top goals

corer and previously also the world’s most capped interna tional, has extensive experi ence of similar pressure situations. “As a coach and an ex-player, you know

“Australia offered a great match. They were a great opponent. And with all due respect to them, there was a lot of pressure that we applied on them. “We missed a lot of chances, and when Omar Marmoush missed a gift (at the start of the second half), I thought, ‘okay, something is wrong,’ but we rethought the match plan, made a few changes and it worked out for us,” Hossam added. – Reuters

“If somebody was going to do it, it would be me. I am more experienced than others and I wanted to give them confidence,” said Salah. “I decided last minute, I had to do it.” Hossam felt his side deserved yes terday’s win. “I’m so proud that they made such a strong game from the beginning to the last minute. I think for 90% of the match we were control ling matters,” he told reporters.

converted, including a “Panenka” from Mohamed Salah, who has previ ously missed for his country in key games, including when Egypt lost to Senegal at the last World Cup in Qatar. Salah was clearly ham pered by a hamstring strain, but played the whole 120 minutes and stepped up for his country when they needed him.

it’s huge pressure. They are thinking about everything. They’re thinking about the fans, the noise, about everything,” he added. Egypt’s kicks were competently

Egypt’s Mohamed Salah celebrates after his side qualified for the World Cup RO16 following victory over Australia on penalties yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Popovic targets elite status for Socceroos

“If you look at all the nations that don’t progress, and all the big nations that haven’t had success over a big period of time, we can’t take this for granted what we’ve achieved, and we need to keep growing. “And hopefully if we get to this point again in four years’ time we can take that next step and progress.” Six of the players who started for Australia were 23 or younger, including 18-year-old Lucas Herrington, who hit the crossbar with his side’s fourth spot-kick to set up Hossam Abdelmaguid to score the winning penalty for Egypt. – Reuters

consecutive World Cup but have now been beaten on three occasions in the knockout rounds, with the loss against Egypt following on from defeats against Italy in 2006 and Argentina four years ago in Qatar. “We want this to inspire us to do bet ter,” he said. “Hopefully we can take a step for ward at the Asian Cup, which is coming up for us in January. “And then in four years’ time, let’s have bigger targets, bigger expectations. But we also know that being at the World Cup is not easy, firstly to arrive, to qualify.

“The only way we can change that is by competing with the elite more often at major tournaments,” said Popovic. “By our performances, we should already take a major step. “We will have to keep doing that to gain the necessary respect, whether that’s in this room, whether that’s people in general, whether that’s officials, whether that’s opponents. It could be a range of different areas. “We’re on a path to achieving that and knowing that we will have to earn that.” Australia were appearing at a sixth

AUSTRALIA COACH Tony Popovic wants them to establish themselves among world football’s elite in an effort to gain greater respect from officials after see ing his side exit the World Cup in a pen alty shootout against Egypt yesterday. The Australians lost 4-2 on penalties at Dallas Stadium after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time to miss out for a third time on the country’s first win in a knock out round tie at the tournament. Popovic felt several key decisions went against his team and stressed the need for the country to become one of the sport’s leading lights.