Shropshire Star

In Pictures: England bugged by flies in World Cup opener

The backroom staff were on hand with insect repellent to help with the problem in Volgograd.

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England had to see off more than the 11 players from Tunisia in their opening World Cup clash in Volgograd.

Tunisia v England - FIFA World Cup 2018 - Group G - Volgograd Arena
(Tim Goode/PA)

Swarms of flies descended on the Volgograd Arena, causing discomfort for the players – who resorted to applying insect repellent in a bid to combat the biting bugs.

Tunisia v England – FIFA World Cup 2018 – Group G – Volgograd Arena
(Owen Humphreys/PA)
Tunisia v England - FIFA World Cup 2018 - Group G - Volgograd Arena
(Tim Goode/PA)

Three Lions captain and match-winner Harry Kane said after the 2-1 victory: “We got told before that there was going to be quite a lot of flies and when we went out for the warm-up it was a lot more than we all kind of thought.

Russia Soccer
(Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

“We had a lot of bug spray on before the game, half-time, which was important because there was some of them in your eyes, some of them in your mouth.

Tunisia v England – FIFA World Cup 2018 – Group G – Volgograd Arena
(Owen Humphreys/PA)

“But I guess that’s part of just dealing whatever comes your way and the team coped with it well.”

Tunisia v England - FIFA World Cup 2018 - Group G - Volgograd Arena
(Tim Goode/PA)
Tunisia v England - FIFA World Cup 2018 - Group G - Volgograd Arena
(Tim Goode/PA)
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