England can win the World Cup | Kobbie Mainoo & Jordan Henderson react to first training session

Colby, first and foremost, massive congratulations to be part of this squad out at your first World Cup. How special is that? Thank you. And yeah, very special, you know, something I've dreamed of. And I'm sure all the players have dreamed of since we was really young. So to be here and say that I'm playing in the World Cup is an unbelievable feeling. It's extraordinary because you played in the European Championship final, you know, as a teenager. And so we kind of think you're just going to take this all in your stride. But does it does it stand out? Does it does it have that moment for you? Definitely. Always wanted to play in a World Cup for all my life. It's the biggest tournament in the world. So it's definitely different from the Euros, but try and approach it in the same with the goal that we want to win. And then the whole team is working hard and it's coming together really nicely. When did it feel real? Was it stepping off onto the tarmac? Was it getting out there on the training ground today? Still doesn't, to be honest. But hopefully by the time the first game comes, it'll really sink in. It's been such a strange season for you. How many doubts did you have personally when you were sitting on the bench for so long in the first three quarters of this season, almost under Ruben Amerim? Did you doubt this moment would happen with England? I mean, obviously, there was difficult times, but I just tried to keep my focus on what was what was in front of me and take things day by day and just keep working on my craft and keep working hard for the team and training and everything. And I hope the rest will come. And thankfully it has. Seems you're in top form as well. I'm feeling good at the moment. So I'm trying to carry on and keep pushing. What about the weather? I mean, we can see you're sweating now and that was supposed to be a light session. Is it difficult? It's different. It's different. But, you know, they've set up this great facility for us and all the staff and everyone's working really hard to get us climatised as quick as we can. So hopefully by the first game, we'll be ready and feel at home. Can England win this? Do you believe they will? Yeah, 100 percent. 100 percent. I mean, I feel like everyone in the squad, the staff, everyone believes we can win it. But that doesn't come easy. And it's going to come first game, second game. We have to build and build and build. And I think that's what we have to focus on. How do you think you've developed as a player and as a person since the Euros, Kobe? It's a tough question. I feel like I've matured with ups and downs. And as a player, I feel like I've grown. I think I've become more confident and more ambitious. And I just want to carry that through and show that on the pitch. Those ups and downs. I guess when you go in playing in a major final as such a young player, it feels almost easy, your career, to have days where you're not in the team. It helps you grow a little bit more because you can process things in a different way, I guess. Yeah, I mean, it's good to see both sides of it. And obviously to have setbacks is part of football and part of being a person, a human. So I couldn't expect it to all be sunshine. So we're at the World Cup now and I'm just trying to look forward. Just on the heat, can you give us a little bit of a sense of behind the scenes how much attention to detail is going into keeping you cool and keeping you fresh and in the right shape? Yeah, I mean, it's not so much about keeping cool because the weather's going to be like this. So I think it's more getting used to the heat and getting used to the humidity out here. And everyone's really working hard around the players to get us ready. Kobe, you're ahead of the tournament. How much preparation were you able to do with regards to the condition, the heat, time zone, that kind of stuff? Straight after the season, I obviously got away to try and have some time off and I was in the heat by coincidence. But it's tough to really prepare for humidity and heat like this. You know, it's very different to anything I've played in. But hopefully over the next couple of weeks leading into the tournament, it can really, really feel easy to feel at home. I know you want to play every game, but the fact that you perhaps didn't play as much as you'd like for the first half of the season, do you think that would leave you in better stead physically for the tournament, given you might not have played as much football as some of the others? I don't know. I'm not sure. That was a while ago, so I'm not sure it makes too much difference now. But I feel like I'm in decent nick. So hopefully I can just keep building on that. Just psychologically, during the course of the season, a lot of ups and downs. What have you found out about yourself during the course of the past 12 months? Just to try and keep my head down, keep looking forward, keep being positive within myself and just not worry about the things that are out of my control and do everything I can to make sure the things that are in my control are at the best pace they can be. We're here for a reason, and it's about bringing that, being the best version of yourself, being the best version individually and collectively, working every day to achieve our dreams, really. And to do that, we'll have to be on it every day. We'll have to be ready to sacrifice for each other. We'll have to be ready to do all the invisible work, as the gaffer says, and just be there to support each other, because we all know the talent this squad has and what we can do and how we can hurt teams. So, yes, it's exciting, but there's a lot of work to be done. Were there times when you thought maybe you had played your last World Cup? It's been a strange year, a strange few years. You went to Saudi Arabia at Ajax for a bit that you thought, maybe I've played in a World Cup for the last time. I never like to look too far ahead. I always just try to focus on the here and now and the near distant future and not look too far. And, yes, of course, the last few years has been a bit of a rollercoaster, to say the least. But I've worked very hard for the last few years to be in this position and made a lot of sacrifice. And I'm just very grateful and honoured to be here and be a part of it. So I'm looking forward to it. And, yes, again, for me, no bigger tournament in the world cup, so it's about arriving and just giving absolutely everything to make the nation back home, very proud of us. And to do that, we need to just be ourselves. How do you go that one step further? Again, not look too far ahead. I think you have to focus on what's important and what's important at the minute. If the next game, the first two pre-camp games is important, then build fitness, build some rhythm. So we arrive in the World Cup in a good place against Croatia, because we're a very good side, and take each game as it comes. You know, not look too far ahead. Just to pick up on what Rob said about those that are left at home, is there ever a danger that adds pressure to the players that are here, that you're looking and thinking, well, so-and-so could be here or not? Or do you just think, well, that's the manager's choice? I think pressure is the most important thing. And it's about staying together as a squad, which I'm sure we will do. And let's see where we can get together. Jordan, you were in Qatar, Russia was quite warm as well. How does this compare? And what are the secrets of acclimatising as quickly as you can? Yeah, I think it's important to try to build your capacity to come over. So it's hard to really adapt, but it's about this week to build that capacity, to get used to the heat a little bit. The games will be good for that as well, to get that exposure. So just the best we can. We've got an amazing team behind the team, and how much research they've done and tried to cool down and things like that, and recovery and all that's top, top level. And hopefully that can give us a little edge as well when we get in. It's the same for everyone. So we've just got to go and try to just compensate on the football. You mentioned the invisible work behind the scenes. Can you give us an insight to what you mean there? And your role within the team? It's just all the work that nobody sees, really. It's pretty simple. In games, you know, the big moments may be, whether that's the defenders blogging their goalscoring opportunities, yards, sprinting back, lose the ball, the reaction to win the ball back. Little things that everybody won't see, but we notice and we understand the importance of that as a team. And it's about doing that, not only in training every game, but also in every single game that we play. And if we do that, then I think it gives us a good edge.