Belgian midfielder De Bruyne left the King Baduino stadium in Brussels with his head down after his team was beaten 4-1 by the Netherlands in the first round of the European Nations League on June 3. “The body needs to take a vacation every now and then.” He followed the sentence with the outburst: “I haven’t rested for eight seasons.”
If the World Cup were played in the middle of the year, as it always was, De Bruyne and Europe’s great players would not have a full vacation again. It will be in November, to escape the excessive heat of Qatar between June and July.
“In terms of physical conditioning, it is unquestionable that it will be better in November, especially for those who play in Europe”, says Tite, coach of the Brazilian team.
There are two immediate likely effects. The first is that the stars will play at a high level, which has not been seen in the World Cups of the century. The second is that whoever scores by pressure, closer to the opponent’s goal, will do well.
Tite discusses the second theory, because it can depend on the characteristics of the players and the strategies of the selections. The weaker ones will lower the block and try to counterattack. The strongest, no.
The first thesis draws attention to what happened at the end of European seasons, before the World Cups of the 21st century. Zidane decided the Champions League on May 15, 2022 with an incredible no-jump, with his left foot, which entered the angle of the goalkeeper Butt, from Bayer Leverkusen. On May 31, France opened the Asian World Cup, without Zidane injured.
That season, Real Madrid played 66 matches, and their greatest star entered the field in 44.
In 1986, Maradona took the field for the last time for Napoli on April 27, at the end of Serie A. He made his World Cup debut on June 2, 36 days later, at the peak of his physical form.
The European season does not wear out like the Brazilian one. Liverpool played 63 games in 2021/22, seven more than Champions League champions Real Madrid, 15 fewer than Palmeiras will be able to do if they complete all the competitions planned. Even so, the biggest stars end the European season physically exhausted, due to the number of games and greater intensity than there was in the 1980s.
De Bruyne, Neymar, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Mbappé, possible highlights of the next World Cup, will arrive in Qatar with approximately 15 matches this season. rested. This will allow for tactical advances.
The biggest one linked to the intensity of the game, the ability to mark the entire field, to recover the ball closer to the penalty area. Jürgen Klopp says that, nowadays, there is no number 10 like pressure.
That was missing from the latest “Fifa date”, which concluded on Tuesday with Hungary thrashing England in the UK and Germany over Italy in Mönchengladbach. The Hungarians recovered the ball five times in the attack, the English nine, but the high defense became fragile for the Hungarian counterattacks.
In the 1950s, the Hungarians surprised England and imposed the first defeat on the inventors of football at home. The 6-3 had the talent of Puskás, Kocsis and Hidegkuti combined with the warm-up strategy before kick-off.
Hungary in 1954 went 2-0 before 20 minutes in the London friendly and in all the Cup matches — except for the semi-final against Uruguay, 1-0 in the 12th minute and 2-0 in the 47th minute. The Netherlands and their total football 1974 stunned the Uruguayan Pedro Rocha, in his debut, by taking the ball from him with pressure in the attacking field.
“The physical level and performance of the players depend on many factors. Even with fewer games at the time, Argentina and England played low intensity, in Mexico, 1986, because of the altitude. In the 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands had three muscle injuries . There was heat, travel and the proximity of the end of the season. These are examples”, says Daniel Gonçalves, coordinator of the health and performance center at Palmeiras.
This time it might not be.
“The pressure is linked to the physical issue, but not only to that. It is also related to the tactical model that the coach likes. The mistake can be fatal, because it is a single game, and teams may want to counterattack”, thinks Tite . “It’s also linked to the characteristics of the athletes. At Corinthians 2012, you couldn’t do lose-and-press all the time, because Guerrero and Danilo didn’t have that characteristic. In the national team, the players give that condition. Another factor is the heat. . It’s directly linked to the rhythm.”
There will be cooler temperatures in Qatar than in mid-year Europe, but not as much as in April, when the Champions League semi-finals historically take place.
“Only in November will there be absolute certainty. In theory, this Cup being played with more intensity is very plausible”, predicts Daniel Gonçalves.
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