England defender Dan Burn revealed an unconventional secret to his World Cup preparation: a family holiday to Disney World.
The 34-year-old, whose career has seen a remarkable ascent from pushing trolleys at Asda and playing non-league football to starring for his boyhood club Newcastle, credits the pre-tournament trip with helping him acclimatise to the intense heat ahead of this summer’s global showpiece.
Burn’s inclusion in the England squad, following a maiden call-up in March 2025 under manager Thomas Tuchel, marks another extraordinary chapter in his journey. With the World Cup promising a challenging blend of travel, heat, and humidity, the defender proactively sought to adapt to the conditions before the squad’s warm-weather camp officially commenced in Florida last Monday.
Reflecting on Saturday’s 1-0 friendly victory against New Zealand in sweltering Tampa, Burn admitted the full weight of the World Cup had not yet settled in.
“It doesn’t feel like the World Cup yet, but coming in and seeing the fans, the hype of it all and getting excited about it, so, yeah, I was happy with how it went,” he said. “I think we dealt with the heat pretty well, got a win and a clean sheet. We can build on that.”
His personal experience of the conditions was notably positive, a direct result of his Disney adventure.
“I didn’t notice (the heat) that much, if I am being honest,” he said. “I have been here a week before, I did Disney with the kids because I wanted to get a bit of a head start. Honestly, I think that helped. Don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t like a Saturday afternoon in Newcastle, but I felt a lot better than I was expecting to.”
Burn, who enthusiastically endorsed ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ as the top ride at Disney, was among several players who travelled across the Atlantic early to gain an advantage.
“I wanted to do that because I am not used to the heat as much,” the defender explained. “About half the squad did that and half the squad didn’t, but I feel better for it.
“Personally, it hasn’t affected me as much as I thought it would, but I can’t speak for anyone else.”
England’s adaptation process continues at their temporary West Palm Beach base. The team, which utilised different line-ups for each half against New Zealand, is now preparing to face Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday. Burn described the initial friendly as a chance to reinforce core principles.
“It was more sort of refreshing on the things that we did well, especially in October and November, and going through our principles,” he stated.
He acknowledged that the first warm-up game wasn’t about peak performance saying: “We knew it wasn’t going to be an unbelievable game where we were firing on all cylinders.
“We have had a long time away from each other, but we’ve had a good week of training, so it was more about bringing out the stuff we spoke about this week in training in the games. I think we saw plenty of that and now it is about turning that up for the Costa Rica game and into the first game.”
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
