ENGLAND’S stars had a whale of a time in training yesterday — relaxing on orca inflatables ahead of their Wembley showdown with Germany.
Three Lions aces — including striker Marcus Rashford, 23 — looked more like the Miami Dolphins at the team’s St George’s Park training base.
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The snaps were similar to images which saw stars like Harry Maguire, 28, playing on inflatable unicorns at the 2018 Russia World Cup — where Gareth Southgate led his team to the semi-finals.
And yesterday an England camp source said: “Let’s hope this is a good sign — and means we will get past the Germans on Tuesday and go as far as the semis or further. It worked well to give the lads time to relax in Russia, and Gareth is sticking to many of the same routines.
“The boys all looked to be having a good time, were calm and were bonding well together.
“But as well as relaxing their muscles in the pools, Gareth has had them in for team talks about tactics after studying the German side.
“They have also been getting down to it on the training pitch and working on set-pieces a lot including, of course, penalties.”
Yesterday’s session at the Three Lions HQ in Burton, Staffs, also saw Phil Foden, 21, and Bukayo Saka, 19, chatting and joking with defender Luke Shaw, 25, in a plunge pool.
Aston Villa winger Jack Grealish, 25, showed he could turn his hand to anything — as he played basketball in the rain while sports presenter Josh Denzel held his brolly.
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Striker Harry Kane, 27 — who hopes to find his scoring touch against Germany — was put through his paces on the training pitch.
And Chelsea pair Mason Mount, 22, and Ben Chilwell, 24 — forced to self-isolate after hugging Scotland star Billy Gilmour after the group game — were spotted training away from their team-mates.
The duo’s period of isolation ends on Monday, meaning they are in contention to play in the last-16 clash with Germany in front of 45,000 fans at Wembley.
Yesterday, excitement around the game, which provides a chance to avenge our Euro 96 semi-final loss to Germany at Wembley, was building as fans scrambled for tickets and made plans to watch on TV.
More than 20million are expected to tune into the 5pm kick off on the BBC.
If England win, they face a trip to Italy, where they will take on the winners of the Sweden v Ukraine tie in Rome next Saturday night.
England fans are set to buy more than five million pints when the team face off against the Germans, a pub trade body said.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) hopes eight million pints will be sold on Tuesday, with 5.25million of those served during the match.
But the rule of six in pubs means that figure will be 1.3million pints lower than if the match was shown in boozers without restrictions, the BBPA estimates.
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Meanwhile, England’s Wags face a battle to get into Italy to cheer on their loved ones if we beat the Germans. FA chiefs are in talks with Italian officials as all arrivals from the UK must go into quarantine for five days.
The girls — including Harry Maguire’s partner Fern Hawkins, Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, Kieran Trippier’s wife Charlotte, Kyle Walker’s fiancée Annie Kilner and Luke Shaw’s girlfriend Anouska Santos — are desperate to be there if we make the quarter-final.
The Wags have been out in force at every Three Lions game, cheering on the team and stunning the crowd with their glamorous outfits and personalised England shirts.
FA advisers are desperately trying to find a way around the rules with Covid-secure bubbles, regular testing and flying in and out on a specially chartered plane the same day a possibility.
An FA source said: “It’s unlikely at this stage any of the Wags will be able to get there but we have discussed this situation.”
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A Wags source said: “The Wags like to plan ahead and one or two of them have seen this as a potential fly in the ointment. They have been to every game so far and will be at Wembley on Tuesday.
“If they do win, then England are in Rome on Saturday — but with the new Covid restrictions introduced there it could mean they won’t be able to go.
“Ideally, they would like to be over at least a day before to do some shopping and sightseeing, before watching the game and travelling back at their leisure.
“But at the moment that just isn’t going to be possible so a plan of action is being worked out to see if they can get there. They are happy to forego the shopping and sightseeing if it means they can get to the game.”
Italy’s health minister Roberto Speranza announced the new legislation earlier this month and it came into force on Monday — the day after more than 3,000 Welsh fans had travelled to Rome to see them lose 1-0 to Italy.
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Scientists say they have managed to keep a lid on the Delta variant — which is responsible for 90 per cent of cases in the UK — and want to stop it spreading so they can lift restrictions in Italy.
The Italian Health Ministry says anyone who has stayed or travelled through the UK 14 days prior to arrival must have had a negative Covid test 48 hours before arrival.
They must then isolate for five days before taking another test to ensure they are virus free. It means England fans would have to leave by tomorrow at the latest to ensure they make the kick-off — assuming the team get through.
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