English players enjoy a light jog during open practice at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in Queensland. Photo: PA
While local surfers are catching the morning waves rolling off the Coral Sea, dog walkers are strolling along Mujimba beach wrapped in winter coats, and kangaroos are free to roam the local nature reserve, you can forgive any of them that they do not suspect that European champions are just a short jump away. But my taxi driver is one of those who know.
“What do you do for a living, buddy? Do you write about football? Oh, you won't believe it, buddy, the England football team is right next to us!”
It was very kind of him to give the tip. Luckily, Telegraph Sport was already aware of the Lionesses' nine-day warm-up camp on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland ahead of the Women's World Cup.
Before traveling to Brisbane for their first match against Haiti next Saturday, the England team and their staff stayed at the Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort, a quiet spot they share with dozens of kangaroos in the suburb of Twin Waters, just 100 yards away. from the sea, and also adjacent to a small lake.
Their top priority is training as they acclimatize in Australia, but they were given some free time on Tuesday afternoon and made the most of it when a large group including Sarina Wigman went on a whale watching tour. Others decide to head to the nearby Australian Zoo, where they feed kangaroos and wallabies.
A perfect day for that! ⛴ pic.twitter.com/bluWGKLi4E
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 12, 2023
For more serious training, they use the Sunshine Coast Stadium, usually a rugby league stadium that will be used for football matches at the 2032 Olympics. At the moment it has a mound on three sides and a small stand on the other. When the Lionesses opened up one of their practices to local fans, 3,000 people showed up. Well done, taxi driver, for helping to spread the word.
The relaxing atmosphere of the hotel seems to have carried over to many members of the group, typified by Aston Villa striker Rachel Daly arriving for training and dancing to Tina Turner's “Proud Mary”. During the day, the winter sun is relatively warm, but no one seemed to have told Chelsea's Lauren James, who arrived in a thick down jacket as if she were in Cobham on a cold December morning. However, her ball handling skills soon began to entertain spectators, hundreds of whom stayed behind to sign autographs and take selfies with the players.
Over 1,000 people turned up today to watch the English Lionesses practice openly at Sunshine Coast Stadium. The whole England team trained, including Millie Bright, but Kathy Robinson had an easier workout because she has a very minor ankle injury #fifawwc pic.twitter.com/Fu84utrgAo
– Tom Garry (@TomJGarry), July 9, 2023
On the field itself, Wigman and her staff checked on the team fairly regularly. The 75-minute session begins with the team doing a few exercises informally before a group meeting and a short speech by the head coach.
They engage in a short group passing exercise and then proceed with a relatively slow run down the outside of the field before performing a dynamic stretch to complete the warm-up. This is usually followed by a sprint practice where teams race each other the entire length of the pitch and then move into a larger group pass where certain players either follow the ball or stay as a pivot while others move around them. with one player. -touch pass.
Some sessions have ended with small or big games where the central midfielder – usually Kira Walsh – immediately changes teams when possession changes hands, emphasizing the importance of her role in midfield. More specific tactical plans are hidden from the eyes of the media.
Chloe Kelly runs smoothly during training at Sunshine Coast Stadium. Photo: PA 
Midfielder Kira Walsh has extra work to do during practice matches as she switches sides during possession. Photo: PA Back at the hotel, there is a classroom where clips of matches are viewed, as well as seating areas for the players. During the downtime, many players are said to rush to play Partners, a four-person strategy board game that has become popular in Denmark but has also become a constant source of entertainment for the Manchester United and Barcelona teams. was taken to the Lioness camp.
“The United girls brought this game, but strangely enough, me and Kira [Walsh] play the same game at Barcelona, but it has a different name: Brandi Dog,” said right-back Lucy Bronze.
“They had it on the plane, they were mad at someone the other day because it wasn't there, and someone took it away thinking it helps, and they're like, 'No, you ruined our game, we came back to play it later!”
View this post on Instagram :hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>Post posted by Alex Greenwood (@alexgreenwood5)
England purposefully got to Australia earlier than some of their rivals to give themselves time to recover from jet lag before the start of the tournament, not that it was a big deal for Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, who managed to get 11 hours of sleep on her first night after arriving in Queensland.
The squad and staff wore special goggles during the flight to try minimize jet lag issues, and Bronze said, “I think they've helped a few people. It's been an interesting process, it's helped a lot of people adapt faster, which means we can train faster, and obviously all that stuff, small successes.” what you can do adds to the preparation for the tournament.”
How ready England really is, the fans will know when they face Haiti in Group D on July 22. For now, Queensland seems to have made a good impression on Lionesses – and vice versa.
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