Typhoon threatens England hopes

The England World Cup team and their supporters were today drenched by a downpour from a tropical typhoon.

As many as 10,000 fans are gathering in the Japanese coastal town of Osaka where David Beckham and his team play Nigeria tomorrow.

Their welcome was a wet and unbearably muggy one. The tail end of Typhoon Noguri came through today and, although the 100mph winds the storm had notched at its zenith were long gone, the rain was still very much around.

What was worse though was the humidity the rain failed to shift.

Weathermen recorded 77 per cent humidity - double the level the team experienced in Sapporo for their victory over Argentina - and anticipated it would remain at this level until after kick-off time tomorrow when temperatures are expected to reach 30C. Michael Dukes said: "The good news is that by the time of the match the thundery downpours will be out of the way.

"The bad news is that high temperatures and oppressive humidity may suit the Nigerians. If anything, it will be hotter and more humid than it has been up until now."

This was providing a real concern for fans in Japan. Politics student Paul Bush, 21, exploring Japan's most popular tourism site, Osakajo-castle, said: "I've never known anything like this weather - it's really hard going doing anything. I was struggling to walk up a flight of stairs just now. I wouldn't dream of playing 90 minutes of football in this."

Richard Phelps, a chemistry student, said: "Our success against Argentina was built on high work rate but in these sort of conditions it's going to be very, very difficult to sustain that drive," he said.