The coach of Kazakhstan, Bernd Storck has blamed his players new football boots for their 5 – 1 loss to England at Wembley on Saturday.

A group of Kazak players went to a Sports Direct store in London Colney in the days before the game and almost all bought new boots, strangely, all in size 8.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, a Sports Direct saleswoman said:

I jokingly asked if they didn’t have boots for the game already.

But one said they weren’t as good as those in the shop. It was all a bit weird - they tried on different pairs but in the end they all bought exactly the same ones.

Even more strange is they were all size eight. And when they said they’d wear them at Wembley, I thought it was hilarious.

As well as buying boots at a price of £49.99, it’s understood the players also purchased a number of replica England kits.

However, speaking after his sides defeat, Storck said that his players had struggled in their new footwear and that he himself had to go out the day before the game to buy replacement studs as they are almost impossible to find in Kazakhstan.