By GRACIE FISHER
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Carla Gregory was fighting the heat even before watching the World Cup quarterfinal between England and Norway on Saturday.
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She carried cold water in one hand. She had an unfolded fan in the other, flapping it with hopes of creating her own little breeze. And the elements seemed to be winning; no matter what she tried, the England fan was still, at best, uncomfortable.
“I can’t imagine playing 90 minutes in it,” said Gregory, who came to the U.S. with her husband from their home in Telford, England to follow their team through the World Cup.
Norway had Harry Kane to worry about. England had Erling Haaland to worry about. And both sides — in what has been a theme for this World Cup — had the weather to worry about. It was 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) when the teams started warm-ups Saturday afternoon, and with the humidity factored in it felt like 104 F (40 C).
That’s a far cry from the seasonable 72 F (22 C) in London or 59 F (15 C) in Lillehammer at that time.
“I think we have trained very lightly,” Norway manager Ståle Solbakken said on the eve of the match. “We haven’t done much hard work. We obviously have tactical sessions, but at a lower tempo and have not trained for long periods.”
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In other words, rest and hydration took precedence for Norway — which spent much of the week in South Florida to acclimate. England didn’t arrive in the Miami area until later in the week.
“Up until now we’ve played in cool conditions, I would say,” England defender Nico O’Reilly said. “But we’re ready for it.”
This wasn’t England’s first trip to South Florida on its World Cup journey. The team arrived in Palm Beach Gardens — about 90 minutes north of Miami Gardens — on June 2 for more than a week of training and to get a feel for the heat and humidity.
England also had to adjust to the high temperatures of its Kansas City base camp, and survive Mexico’s altitude to beat the co-host in the round of 16, but hadn’t faced anything like the combination of heat and humidity that greeted the teams Saturday.
Gregory said she felt for the players.
“It’s hard just sitting and watching it,” Gregory said.
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Gracie Fisher is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.