England fans seeking respite from the evening deluge in Dortmund ahead of the Three Lions’ semi-final on Wednesday could not find it under the leaky roof of the Westfalenstadion.
Borussia Dortmund’s home ground has been plagued by weather problems throughout this summer’s tournament, with the Turkey-Georgia match being the first to be affected.
There were concerns that the match would be called off due to the amount of rain that flooded the pitch and fans in the stands, but the group stage match went ahead as planned.
More severely affected was Denmark’s match against Germany, where thunderstorms forced players to leave the field after 35 minutes of play.
16 minutes later, the players were back out and competing after the storm passed, but fans in the stands likely remained soaked for the rest of the night.
English fans soaked by leaking roof at Borussia Dortmund stadium
Stewards cleared away large puddles ahead of England’s semi-final against the Netherlands
Fans seemed to enjoy the sudden downpour in Dortmund, with some willing to stand under the waterfall.
Mail Sport’s Mike Keegan shared an image of the deluge flowing through the stadium’s leaking roof, comparing the structure to that of Old Trafford.
Manchester United have been widely criticised over the past season for their own leaky roof, which minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe darkly described as “the third highest waterfall in Britain”.
Fortunately for Southgate’s team, the wet weather has not stopped England from taking to the field and warming up ahead of their clash with the Netherlands.
The coach has made just one change from the team that faced Switzerland in the quarter-finals, with Marc Guehi returning to the team after being suspended for the last tie.
Bad weather meant fans got wet while watching the group stage and round of 16 matches.
But England were able to take to the field and begin their warm-ups on Wednesday.
The Crystal Palace defender is a like-for-like replacement for Ezri Konda, while Harry Kane retains his place as the mainstay of England’s attack despite calls this week for Southgate to leave his captain on the bench.
The Bayern Munich striker has not been up to par on home soil, scoring just two goals in five games in England.