Ahead of their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years, the England squad trains hard at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. However, the soccer players were left in surprise when a rubber chicken made an appearance during the training session on July 10. With just a day to go until England battles Croatia in the 2018 FIFA, it seems that coach Gareth Southgate got a unique way to spark up the team spirit. Hours before the semi-final match between France and Belgium, the English footballers were spotted swinging around a colourful rubber chicken in preparation for their big day.

In the video, it could be seen that each player was tasked with passing the red and blue toy to a team-mate before moving onto stretching and ball work. Fans, of course, were thrilled to look at the players getting along so well. "Actually love the atmosphere of this England team. Throwing around a rubber chicken as a training drill. Even if it isn’t coming home, which it is, they’ve been an absolute delight to follow this campaign," tweeted one enthusiast. While others found it amusing to see the players messing around with rubber chickens in training.

Watch the fowl video of England team practising with colorful rubber chicken.

Despite tension to reach the first World Cup final since lifting the trophy home in 1966, the Three Lions looked relaxed, balancing well during their morning session. Croatia v/s England will be played on July 11 at the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital looking to earn a place in Sunday's final.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 12:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).