England Pour it on after Pouring Rains in Orlando
England wrapped up pre-World Cup play with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in Orlando thanks to three goals from Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon, and Ollie Watkins.
Despite some early storm clouds and heavy rains, the atmosphere was palpable in the 25,000-seat Inter & Co. Stadium, home to MLS’s Orlando City, my hometown club.
Just like Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, it was once again a surreal experience to see supporters of the Three Lions pack into one of my favorite stadiums in the state of Florida.
After some festivities at the Soccer Republic at the Harp and Celt, a popular destination for pre-match pints, I headed down Church Street, as I have many times before, this time surrounded by St. George’s Cross flags and red and white kits.
I found myself reassuring many England supporters in the lead-up to the match that, despite the torrential downpour, the pitch would be ready to go. Thankfully, with the unpredictability of central Florida weather, we are quite used to dealing with what many would consider somewhat extreme conditions.
It turned out that, thanks to the draining capabilities of the Inter & Co. Stadium, I was happily proven correct, and the match went off, mostly, without a hitch. Kickoff was pushed back an hour, but this ensured a full stadium at the start of the match, as the rains had slowed the arrival of the excited supporters.
Unlike the much hotter, slow-paced contest against New Zealand, the Three Lions wasted no time in taking a 1-0 advantage in the ninth minute. Gordon hit 2025/26 Premier League winner Rice, who slotted the ball past Costa Rica keeper Patrick Sequeira to the delight of the heavily English crowd.
In the second half, an Eberechi Eze shot glanced off a Costa Rica defender’s elbow, leading to a well-taken penalty from Gordon to put England up 2-0 in the 68th minute.
The Three Lions continued to keep the pressure on, and in the 87th minute, Watkins provided the cherry on top of a brilliant team performance, heading home a rebound off the keeper from in close.
The vibes amongst fans were markedly more positive both before and especially after the match, for obvious reasons.
At Saturday’s match, I had heard many of the doubts swirling about Thomas Tuchel’s selections for the World Cup roster, but the fans I spoke to on Wednesday at the Harp & Celt seemed quite relaxed and reserved to hope for the best.
And then there was one jolly chap who, in the midst of his smoke break as we waited for the rain to clear, dropped perhaps the most colorful (as well as my personal favorite) England prediction I’ve heard for the World Cup yet. It’s worth quoting in full here:
“Our media are f****** dreadful. I don't know if you see it much over here, but our media are awful,” he asserted in reference to the many pundits who have slammed Tuchel’s roster. “They criticize the team. They make it so much worse than it needs to be.
The media and the fans pressure them and drive them crazy. Well, we've got no right. We've not won it since 1966. We've got no right to believe we need to win it every year.
The problem is you've got the population of Britain that's all got an opinion on f****** England. It's a load of b*******. Let him get on with his job. He picked it, f****** back it now, and he's come out in the media afterwards and gone, ‘I've picked the f****** team. It's on me. Take the pressure off the players. Let them f****** do their job.’
I don't want to say it, but I think we'll win.”
Whether this impressive display of optimism will prove to be prophetic remains to be seen, but the Three Lions certainly backed his enthusiasm later in the evening.
It’s a bit of a shorter post tonight, as tomorrow begins the Northeastern stretch of my World Cup journey. Next stop, hopefully, will be the National Mall in Washington, DC to watch the USA take on Paraguay in their first group stage match. Stay tuned!