Ahead of the start of this year’s World Cup on Thursday, the teams have set up shop at training facilities across the United States, Mexico and Canada, where players are practicing, recovering and — in at least one case — dispelling rumors.
Less than a week before Switzerland’s tournament debut, a team press officer, Sergio Affuso, and the midfielder Michel Aebischer began a news conference on Monday with a “short explanation” unrelated to soccer: “It’s about an animal,” Mr. Affuso told the crowd in San Diego.
The Swiss team incited a media frenzy this week after posting a marked-up photo of its San Diego training facility on Instagram, complete with a gym, soccer field and a large, wooded expanse nearby — tinted red and labeled “snake area.”
“Watch out for the snakes,” the post’s caption read.
Several headlines warning of rattlesnake sightings at the team’s training camp — at the San Diego Jewish Academy, a day school nestled in the city’s hillsides — soon followed.
“We have not seen a snake on the pitch,” Mr. Affuso clarified, explaining that the social media post was a joke intended to refer to an article about wildlife surrounding the facility published by a Swiss newspaper in April.
“People in Switzerland understood the joke,” Mr. Affuso said. “But maybe, abroad, they didn’t.”
The San Diego Jewish Academy — which has previously hosted several national soccer teams, including the U.S. men and women — abuts a large nature preserve, according to Adam Benmoise, a school official. Snakes have “never been an issue” on the school’s 56-acre campus, but “it is California,” he said.
“If there’s natural woods and desert land around us — which there is — there is wildlife,” he added.
Snakes are so commonplace in the area that the labeled area is equivalent to a gator warning in Florida, said Pamela Heatherington, who directs the Environmental Center of San Diego, a nonprofit, and is a lifelong city resident.
The San Diego Jewish Academy is one of 48 facilities spread across the World Cup’s three host nations to accommodate teams throughout the tournament. The 104-match tournament kicks off on Thursday in Mexico City, where Mexico will face South Africa.
The tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 in New Jersey. In between, the Swiss national team is guaranteed to play at least three games, beginning with a match against Qatar on Saturday in Santa Clara, Calif.
“I think people should focus on the things that are important, which is the global game of soccer, and how it brings everybody together,” Mr. Benmoise said.
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