England’s Euro 2024 squad arrived at their training base in Blankenhain, Germany, on Monday night after receiving a royal send-off from Prince William, the Football Association’s president. The players and staff met with the Prince at England’s St George’s Park national football center in Burton-upon-Trent before embarking on their journey to the tournament.
During the send-off event, Prince William presented shirts to the 26 players and delivered a speech, which included some light-hearted advice from his youngest child, six-year-old Prince Louis. The Prince, an Aston Villa fan, joked, “I was on the school run this morning with the children and I said, ‘What shall I say to the England team today?’ The best bit of advice I got to ask you was to eat twice the amount you normally would eat.”
Schoolchildren from the Midlands were also invited to the event to mark England’s departure. The squad, led by manager Gareth Southgate, will now focus on their first group game against Serbia on Sunday. England, who finished as runners-up at Euro 2020, will also face Denmark and Slovenia in Group C.
The team’s preparation for the tournament included two friendlies last week, with the players being given the weekend off to spend time with their families before reconvening on Monday. However, their final warm-up match ended in a 1-0 loss to Iceland on Friday.
England’s accommodation for the tournament is the five-star Weimarer Land Spa and Golf resort in Blankenhain, a countryside town in east Germany with a population of less than 7,000. The resort, which boasts luxury amenities such as six restaurants, two swimming pools, and a large wellness area, has undergone some changes to cater to the team’s needs. Hotel owner Matthias Grafe revealed that the FA had “their own designers” to transform the lounge into a massage area and the restaurant into a lounge, ensuring the players feel at home during their five-week stay.
The squad will have access to 1,000 acres of land, including a forest for walking and cycling, as well as facilities for tennis, padel, and basketball during their downtime. Additionally, England has insisted that the Uefa-certified pitches at Weimarer be changed to feature “the same grass that’s in Wembley.”
As the tournament kicks off on Friday with hosts Germany taking on Scotland, England will need to travel to their three group stage matches, all of which are in west Germany. The team faces Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, Denmark in Frankfurt, and Slovenia in Cologne.
With the royal send-off and their luxurious accommodations, England will be looking to build on their success from Euro 2020 and make a strong showing in this year’s tournament.
Credit: BBC
