It was a glorified training game, mainly about acclimatisation for Thomas Tuchel’s England players; unsexy stuff like the right amount of loading, re-connecting with the manager’s principles. But the win was good, too, and it was welcome after the stodge of the March internationals, which had seen the draw against Uruguay and the loss to Japan.
With the temperature peaking at 33C and the humidity at about 40%, Tuchel played different teams in each half and both were too good for New Zealand, who will be the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup.
