England Tossing Chicks During Their Training Ahead of Semi-Final Against Croatia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - England used rubber chickens instead of a ball in one of the exercises during their training session ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final match against Croatia on Tuesday.
Sputnik

Photos showing the unusual way of training were posted on the team's official Twitter account. The team was divided into two groups and played a game of tag with a chicken. After the warm-up, the training session went on as usual.

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Earlier on Tuesday, FIFA correspondent Laure James, who attended England's morning training session, reported via Twitter that all 23 Gareth Southgate's men took part in the training.

Commenting on the training, England head coach Gareth Southgate stated that it was aimed to add "a bit of fun" to their preparations for the World Cup semi-final.

"Our physical performance coaches try to keep refreshing the warm-up to keep the players stimulated, so just a bit of fun to get them moving," Southgate told journalists when asked about the purpose of using toys in the training session.

England will play Croatia at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday, with the kick-off due at 21:00 Moscow time (18:00 GMT).

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