England reunited with World Cup kit after 'heist'

LONDON: England goalkeeper Dean Henderson said he had his boots back after training equipment was stolen ahead of the squad's arrival at their World Cup training base on Saturday.

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas earlier put out a statement on the "heist".

He said officials at "local, state and federal levels" were investigating the theft from vehicles transferring equipment from England's training camp in Florida.

But is understood most of the items have now been recovered.

Henderson was asked after England's first training session at Swope Soccer Village whether he had lost his boots.

"I think I did, but I got them back, so it's all good," said the Crystal Palace goalkeeper.

"I think they got everything back, so it's all good."

Defender Dan Burn was relaxed about the episode.

"Obviously it was to do with the police," he said. "So I don't know how much people know about it. We didn't know a lot about it, but I've got all my kit and all my boots."

Thomas Tuchel's England, among the favourites to win the World Cup, had a gentle training session in front of scores of watching fans on Saturday.

They open their World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, before further games in Group L against Ghana and Panama.

Meanwhile, two men were charged Saturday over the theft of $18,000-worth of kit and equipment from the England team at the World Cup, a US prosecutor said.

Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal each face one count of receiving stolen property, according to a statement from the office of Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson.

The offence under Missouri law carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Johnson's office said in a statement that the stolen property is estimated to be worth about $18,000.

"Jackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have traveled here to compete," Johnson said.

"We thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their quick work investigating this incident and filing charges immediately."