Uefa forced to make late change to stadium ahead of England vs Denmark clash to prevent ‘risk to life’
THE BAD WEATHER has forced Uefa into making a late decision regarding England’s upcoming Euro 2024 clash.
The Three Lions face Denmark looking to confirm their place in the knockouts with a victory in Frankfurt on Thursday.
However, the Group C showdown at the Waldstadion will be played with the stadium roof closed due to stormy conditions in the city.
Uefa made the decision today ahead of the clash, which will kick-off at 5pm UK time tomorrow.
The roof of the Waldstadion was closed prior to Denmark‘s players training on the pitch tonight.
The rain storms have already put a dampener on Euro 2024.
Both western and central regions of Germany were issued with weather warnings earlier.
That has seen fan zones in Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen all being closed due to the harsh conditions.
Now, with bad weather already having plagued Euro 2024, Uefa have opted to make an early decision to avoid the game potentially being played in the rain.
Cologne was forced to axe a number of fan events on Tuesday due to the weather.
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A statement confirmed: “Due to an official storm warning from late morning with expected heavy rain, hail and heavy gusts of wind, all events and functions of the Host City Cologne associated with the European Championships have to be cancelled for today.
“The necessary talks with the security partners were already held yesterday evening and the preparatory measures to secure the venues were initiated.
“The decision to cancel all events was made on Tuesday morning after further consultation with the German Weather Service.”
Meteorologist Dominik Jung told BILD stated the closures were necessary and that there had even been a potential “risk to life”.
Speaking on Tuesday, he said: “There is a risk to life.
“We don’t currently know every place that could get hit, but we do know the region where something could happen.
“People will complain again: ‘We didn’t have anything.’ But better safe than sorry.”
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England will be looking to secure their second win of the tournament tomorrow.
Gareth Southgate’s side beat Serbia 1-0 on Sunday thanks to a Jude Bellingham header.
And they know that a victory would ensure them a place in the knockouts with a game to spare.
Meanwhile, Denmark are searching for their first triumph.
They were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia in their opener and will be desperate to take all three points.
Bromances in England squad
CLIQUES that were commonplace in the England camp in tournaments gone by have been well and truly consigned to history.
Declan Rice and Ivan Toney? They have never played together at club level and only a handful of times for England, but are thick as thieves.
Lewis Dunk and Dean Henderson? They play for arch-rivals Brighton and Crystal Palace, but that has not stopped an unlikely alliance from forming.
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer have relished spending time together again, having done so for years for Manchester City before Palmer was sold to Chelsea for £45million last summer.
NFL nuts Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon were chucking an American football to each other ahead of a light training session on Monday.
John Stones and Kieran Trippier gatecrashed Jordan Pickford’s presser to see how their good mate fared, finding it hilarious as he slumped to defeat against talkSPORT.
Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi also have a long-standing friendship and have been besties since they were little playing in the Chelsea academy.
Jude Bellingham and Liverpool man Trent Alexander-Arnold have also become close – evident in the Werewolf celebration they performed against Serbia.