England arrive in Rio ready for 'the real football' to begin

After avoiding injuries in the 'friendly' against Honduras the Three Lions prepare for Italy

Roy Hodgson at Galeao International Airport in Rio
(Image credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

England arrived in Brazil on Sunday just a few hours after their third and final warm-up match finished goalless against Honduras. The match, and not just the result, was not what England wanted a week before they open their World Cup campaign in Manaus against Italy.

A tropical storm in Miami forced the players off the field in the first half and when play resumed 45 minutes later England found themselves up against a physical Honduras side. Captain Steven Gerrard was one of several England players on the receiving end of wild challenges and the Liverpool midfielder later expressed his anger at the Honduras approach. "I thought there were some horrific tackles for a friendly. I got caught with a bad one," Gerrard complained. "I'm quite frustrated. I thought the ref was poor, the game was interrupted, there was a big one in the first half and they were doing stupid fouls. There was no rhythm, we're frustrated but relieved at no injuries."

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.