Official: England to Play Ecuador and Honduras in Miami Prior to World Cup

Juan ArangoJan 16, 2014

U.S.-based promoter Relevent Sports made it official on Thursday, announcing that England would play Ecuador at Sun Life Stadium on June 4.

"We are excited to bring two more top-quality international matches to Miami," said Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano, via Franco Panizo of Soccer By Ives. "Miami continues to be a premier soccer market in this country and we have no doubt that the area’s fans will come out to watch England prepare for the 2014 World Cup against two teams that will also participate in Brazil."

This news broke last week as both the Ecuadorian and the English press reported that the match was going to take place in Miami as a part of The Three Lions' preparation and acclimatization process for the World Cup.

TOP NEWS

Jamie Bradbury of The FA's official website also confirmed the match against Honduras in the same venue three days later.

The conditions for that match will help familiarize England with the local term, "it's not the heat, it's the humidity." The temperature and the humidity will be a little less than Manaus, but it will be a good place to get used to the conditions.

From an attendance standpoint, the match against Ecuador will have some complications as its kick-off time will be 3 p.m. EST. Kick-off on Wednesday will see it very complicated to see a full house, but it will be a great chance for England fans to come to town to see the match as tickets could be readily available.

Saturday's encounter against Honduras will be totally different and will be a 4:45 p.m. EST kickoff against a team that is one of the biggest draws in that market. It will lead to a great sending off for both sides. England will fly immediately to the base in Rio de Janeiro as they will make final preparations to play Italy at the Arena Amazonia on June 14 as they kick off their World Cup participation.

England will then face Uruguay in Sao Paulo on June 24 and then Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte five days later to wrap up their group stage participation.