The unprecedented half-hour break, the gibberish of coaches and physical trainers

Purists get their guts twisted.

FIFA is tinkering with football, and each of these arbitrary and commercial modifications distorts the discipline, Americanizing it. Purists disagree with the hydration break. They consider it unnecessary in air-conditioned stadiums and only justifiable in revenue terms: essentially, hydration breaks feed advertising cuts, generate millions of dollars, but act as firewalls in a match, interrupting the natural inertia of the narrative, distorting it.

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The issue has been debated in forums and these days it is being overshadowed by another controversy, another arbitrary FIFA modification affecting Sunday’s final: the final will be superbowlized, giving us a half-hour break, nothing like the traditional quarter-hour, which will be dedicated to a musical show featuring Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber.

The display will hypnotize pop lovers but conditions coaches and physical trainers, responsible for their players’ condition, who are used to fifteen-minute breaks, not half-hour ones.

La Vanguardia has contacted four specialists to interpret how the superbowlized break may alter the flow of the match. They all offer a similar reading: although the extended break will affect the players’ rest, physical trainers and coaches are ready to counteract it.

“Warm-up is done to prepare the body for effort. One of its objectives is to increase intramuscular temperature and prepare tissues for the effort to come. These adaptations last between 15 and 20 minutes. Studies say the effect of the adaptations can last up to 45 minutes, though that is not ideal. Half an hour break is not a disaster, but it must be prevented,” says Francesc Cos, doctor in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and physiotherapist.

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“Physiologically, the longer break gives more time for recovery. What happens is that, if it lasts longer than usual, as is the case, the team that is losing will have more time to rest, talk with the coach, and recover; it is true that the winning team will also have more rest, but they may also lose rhythm. The break breaks the rhythm of the team ahead, not only on the scoreboard but also in the feeling of imposing their authority,” adds Dr. Antoni Tramullas, director of the Sports Medicine and Performance Department at Sevilla FC and former Barça doctor.

“I don’t think it’s right to want to change certain rules that can only go against the players’ performance. Such a prolonged break cools the muscles and body temperature and therefore the physical rhythm the player must maintain to perform in the second half. Surely physical trainers will try to have players do light activation (resistance elastic bands) and other methods to maintain an adequate body temperature,” says Albert Roca, coach and physical trainer who collaborated with Rijkaard and Koeman at Barça.

“The coach will be able to spend more time on the motivational part, instructing his players. And physiologically, tendon and muscle viscoelasticity can maintain tone up to three quarters of an hour or even up to an hour of rest. However, it is advisable that after twenty minutes of break, players undergo some type of activation. They will be encouraged to reactivate in spaces the stadium will have set up for this. It is possible that stationary bikes will be used,” concludes Miquel Àngel Cos, who is an osteopath, doctor in Physiotherapy, and head of Physiotherapy at the Spanish Athletics Federation.

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