Ezri Konsa says World Cup games will ‘of course’ be different to PL games due to heat

Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa says World Cup games will “of course” be different to Premier League games because of the heat.

During England’s training sessions this week it has ranged from 28-35 degrees celsius, and players have been seen struggling with the heat.

Konsa said: “Yeah, of course (it will be different). Most of our players are not used to playing in this kind of heat, but we’re training out here now for the next two weeks. We’ve got to get used to it very quickly.

“I don’t think it will be a problem for us, but yeah, of course you want to control every game that you play. For us, that’s something that we’re going to try and do, no matter who we’re playing. So, yeah, control is something that we want to have and we’ve got the players to do that. 

“We’ve got a lot of stuff at the facilities for us to recover. We’re in a good place. We’ve got a lot of stuff that can help us recover really quick and, yeah, that’s a credit to the staff.”

This will be Konsa’s first World Cup, and he said: “It’s a very special tournament. I’ve always wanted to play in since I was a little kid. So, yeah, it’s a dream come true and hopefully I get the opportunity to play. (It doesn’t feel like a World Cup) yet. I think closer to the time, closer to the first game, I think that’s when it’ll feel like it.”