Thomas Tuchel responds to England being able to use viagra against Mexico in World Cup clash
England's World Cup clash with Mexico will already be hard enough without Viagra getting involved.
The Three Lions will return to the iconic Azteca for the first time since Diego Maradona's Hand of God and Goal of the Century condemned them to World Cup misery in 1986.
It's not old foes Argentina who await this time (that could be the semi-final, if England make it that far), though, but co-hosts Mexico, playing on their home turf where they will be cheered on by 80,000 rabid fans and where they have lost just twice ever in competitive matches.
To make matters even worse, England will have high altitudes to deal with as Mexico City stands at 2,240 metres (7,349 feet) above sea level.
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While Mexico are acclimatised, England have not got time to get used to the conditions and are hoping they can get in and out of Mexico City before the worst of the side effects take their toll.
Reports emerged ahead of the game claiming England could use Viagra to help combat the impact of the high altitudes.
Now commonly used as a helpful little pill for men to up their game, Viagra was initially designed to combat high blood pressure, but its effects can be helpful at high altitudes, as it widens blood vessels in the lungs and helps oxygen intake.
Which is very useful when there's less oxygen available, which quickens fatigue and dehydration and impacts decision-making.
As the drug is not classed as a performance-enhancer, England could feasibly have prescribed it to their players, but Thomas Tuchel has laughed off the suggestion.
England won't be using Viagra in Mexico City
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Saturday, Tuchel dismissed the possibility of his players utilising Viagra for the match.
"The information and the support didn’t reach me," the manager said. "That is not true."
A pretty emphatic rejection, but Jordan Henderson did cheekily suggest it could help.
He said: "Well, the Viagra helps... I’m joking, it’s a joke."
England are feeling the impact of high altitudes
England arrived in Mexico City on Friday evening so they could take part in the FIFA-mandated training session close to the stadium on Saturday.
Getting their first taste of physical exertion in the thin air, both Tuchel and Henderson admitted they could feel a significant difference and have already suffered from its impact.
"I felt, for example, a slight headache in the hotel room through the day, I didn't sleep as well as the days before but nothing that you cannot handle and you cannot adapt," Tuchel said.
"I think the players felt it in the first minutes of the training session and the longer it went they could cope with it better.
"It's just what it is. We cannot physically adapt. It's just impossible. But we are here one day before to experience it at least, to not have all the first-time experience in the warm-up [for the match].
"So we will have the warm-up, especially with [focus on] the flight of the ball, with a bit of shortness of breath.
"I think it's not a coincidence that Mexico start their matches normally on home turf very, very strong, very front-footed, very aggressively because I think the first 15-20 minutes will be maybe the toughest for us.
"Once we overcome that I think we are in a good place."
Henderson added: "You can feel it a little bit. Even just walking around. Then today in training, I felt the first 10-15 minutes and then once training got going I stopped thinking about it so much.
"Hopefully tomorrow once they've done the warm-up the full focus is on the game."
Daniel Murphy