Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Ghana, one of the strongest teams from the African continent.  Ghana have been drawn in Group G, largely considered the “group of death”, which also includes Germany, Portugal, and the United States, and they play their first match against the United States on June 16th.

When researching a World Cup team, I typically want to know how and why the players were selected.  In sports science research this topic, termed “talent identification”, gets a lot of attention because coaches and fitness coaches always want to know what the current trends are, and in turn how they may be able to gain an advantage in selecting their teams.  Upon reviewing the dates of birth of the players on the Ghanaian roster, one thing immediately stood out to me; less than 10% of the players selected are born in the first 3 months of the year (January/February/March)

Several recent studies on talent identification looking at soccer as well as other sports, have indicated that, on average, between 35-50% of the players selected are born in the first 3 months of the year.  While there may be several explanations for this fact, the most likely one is that coaches are identifying and selecting players who are chronologically “older” mainly because they are physiologically more developed (bigger, stronger, faster), rather than because they have more ability or talent.  This selection bias towards physically developed players could very likely be unintentional.  The problem with the “traditional” method of talent identification – especially when it is used with youth players between the ages of 10-17 – is that the rates of growth of players in these age categories can be variable.  In some cases, a team with players born in a particular year can be 4-5 years apart developmentally.  Unfortunately, players who are born in the later months of the year (who may be very talented, but developmentally behind the chronologically older players) can get left out of the higher levels of the sport at a very early age.  At the National team level, no coach wants to be faced with the prospect that they have unintentionally diluted their talent pool by being biased towards players who are bigger, stronger, and faster at younger ages.

When I worked as Fitness Coach with the Toronto FC Academy, one of the measurements we took on all players was a sitting height measurement (along with age, body weight, and standing height).  Using all of this information, a value for each individual’s age of “peak height velocity” can be calculated.  Peak height velocity represents the age at which an individual reaches his or her fastest rate of growth.  When an entire team of players has been assessed for age of peak height velocity, the players can be categorized as “early developers” (age of peak height velocity 1-2 years younger than the average for the group); “average” (age of peak height velocity equal or close to the average for the group); or “late developers” (age of peak height velocity 1-2 years older than the average for the group.  When we took these measurements with the Toronto FC Academy, myself and the coaching staff were very happy to see that players considered as “late developers” based on their age of peak height velocity were very prevalent in the Academy.  They had not been cut from the teams, but rather, they had been placed in teams 1-2 years younger, to account for the physical and physiological differences in development.  In the long run, this type of selection process will work much more effectively than the traditional method, because it will allow for “late developers” to catch up to their peers, which will typically happen between the ages of 17-20.

All of this brings us back to the Ghanaian National team.  Of the 26 payers on their roster, the birth months are as follows:

•  January: 2 players
• February: 0 players
• March: 1 player
• April: 2 players
• May: 1 player
• June: 2 players
• July: 2 players
• August: 1 player
• September: 4 players
• October: 1 player
• November: 1 player
• December: 9 players

Clearly, the Ghanaian youth development system is providing a pathway for players born in the later months of the year, who may be “late developers” based on their age of peak height velocity.  Have they selected the right team to take them out of the group of death?  We will have to wait and see what happens in 3 weeks’ time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Germany, the European favorites who have been drawn in Group G, largely considered the “group of death”, which also includes Portugal, Ghana, and the United States. Germany plays their first match against Portugal on June 16th.

Germany have won the World Cup 3 times (1954, 1974, and 1990).  They have also finished second 4 times (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002), and finished third a further 4 times (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010).  In the European championship, the Germans have been just as dominant, racking up 3 victories (1972, 1980, 1996), finishing twice as runners-up (1976, 1992), and finishing in 3rd place a further two times (1988, 2012).  This pattern of success is unrivaled in the history of soccer, and for most fans, it is difficult to even remember a major tournament in which the Germans didn’t at least make it to the semi-finals (for those keeping score, it would be the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, where they failed to get out of their group and finished a disappointing 12th).

But why are the Germans so successful in soccer?  And will they be able to improve on their two 3rd place finishes in the previous 2 World Cups, to win it all for the fourth time?  In a previous post last week, profiling Iran, I discussed the book by Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski called Soccernomics.  The main premise of the book was that the success (or failure) of any country’s National soccer team could be explained based on the following 3 factors: 

1. Population (how large the country is)
2. Gross Domestic Produce (GDP; or how strong the country’s economy is)
3. Soccer experience (how long the country has played the game and how large their national professional league is)

The Germans score highly on all three of these criteria due to their large population (over 82 million), strong economy (at $3.5 trillion GDP, they are ranked 4th in the world behind only the United States, China, and Japan), and their wealth of soccer experience (including the aforementioned history of success at major international tournaments).  Even the words directly under the title on the front page of Soccernomics read: “Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World’s Most Popular Sport”.  Simply put, Germany is a country that has a lot of natural advantages that will allow them to be successful in all sports, including soccer.

The 2014 German World Cup team could be one of their best ever.  The roster features a unique mix of older veterans (35 year-old striker Miroslav Klose is poised to break Brazilian Ronaldo’s all-time World Cup goal scoring record of 15, by improving on his own total of 14); star players in the primes of their careers presently playing with top European clubs (Mesut Ozil of Arsenal, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, and Phillip Lahm, all from Bayern Munich); as well as a plethora of young emerging talent (Marco Reus, Andre Schurrle, Toni Kroos and Mario Gotze).  For the German team and their fans, anything short of a 4th World Cup victory will likely be viewed as a failure.  Based on the principles of Soccernomics and their proven track record, Germany has all the tools to make it happen this year.  We will have to wait and see what happens in 3 weeks’ time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Iran, one of the strongest teams in Asia, who have drawn a tough group that includes Nigeria, Argentina, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The Iranian team will play their first match against Nigeria on June 15th.

Iran is a very unique nation when it comes to soccer.  They are a large (population of over 76 million people) wealthy country (primarily because of large amounts of oil), with a history of success in Asia (they have won the Asian Football Confederation’s Asian Cup 3 times, and placed 3rd another 3 times).  Iran also has a very experienced coach, in the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, whose last World Cup coaching job saw him lead his native Portugal into the round of 16 at South Africa in 2010, where they lost only 1-0 to eventual winners Spain.  In spite of all of these positive factors, however, Iran heads into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as huge underdogs.  Queiroz has even admitted to fifa.com that qualification for the round of 16 seems like “an unrealistic dream.” 

In their 2009 book Soccernomics, Simon Kuper ( a renowned soccer journalist) and Stefan Syzmanski (an international economist) used insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business, to explain the 3 main factors that can be used to predict a country’s chances of success in international soccer.  These factors are:

1. Population (how large the country is)
2. Gross Domestic Produce (GDP; or how strong the country’s economy is)
3. Soccer experience (how long the country has played the game and how large their national professional league is)

The authors of Soccernomics were able to use these factors to explain why countries like Brazil and Germany win so often, and conversely, why England loses more often than not.  Using these same metrics on Iran might lead believers of Soccernomics to conclude that the country could be poised to become one of the world’s next soccer superpowers.  After all, Iran has a large population, they are a wealthy country, and they have a lot of soccer experience, having begun playing international matches as early as 1941.  The authors of the book themselves predicted Iraq and Turkey (two countries that neighbor Iran, and like Iran have large populations and abundant natural resources) to become future World Cup winners. 

Unfortunately, due to recent economic sanctions placed against the country, Iran presently does not have access to the global banking system, meaning their sports teams (including their soccer team) do not have access to adequate funding required for training and other preparation.  As recently as September of 2013, Iran had to cancel a scheduled training camp in Portugal due to lack of funds.  The Iranian professional league has also suffered in recent years, both from lack of money and corruption, and as a result several of Iran’s top players frequently travel to Euorpe to play professionally there.   Here are some other notable quotes from Queiroz that were recently made to fifa.com about Iran’s soccer problems:

• “We lost six months. I hope we will be able to find a solution.” (referring to the canceled camp in Portugal)
• “In a conservative society like Iran, it is not easy to talk about reform and change of habits. It is not easy in Iran, not easy in other parts of the world.” (referring to the skepticism he received from critics, when trying to bring internationally-based players into the Iranian team)
• “We cannot be competitive without international experience. The only thing here similar to professional football is that at the end of the month, players get their salary.” (referring to the lack of standards in Iran’s professional league)
• “With its potential, imagine what Iran could achieve if it had the resources of Qatar.” (referring to the lack of funding) 

Looking at this information through the lens of Soccernomics, it seems as though the Iranian team cannot reach its true potential until their aforementioned problems with funding and corruption are resolved.  The coach, and the team, however, have remained positive and optimistic about the future, despite their recent set-backs.  “My commitment to Iranians is to make them happy,” Queiroz has said. “This is our World Cup, this is our time to tell the world that Iran is a football country.”  Can the Iranians rise above their underdog status and achieve their “unrealistic dream” in Brazil?  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.  

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Bosnia-Herzegovina, an emerging European nation that finished first in their qualifying group (ahead of Greece) and have drawn a group that includes Nigeria, Argentina, and Iran.  Bosnia-Herzegovina play their first match against South American favorites Argentina on June 15th.

One unique aspect of the Bosnia-Herzegovina team is that their coach, former Yugoslavian star player Safet Susic, is the uncle of one of the current team’s young stars in Tino-Sven Susic.  The younger Susic has an interesting back story, having fled his native Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s (because of the war happening at the time), he grew up in Belgium and starred in their youth National teams as a U17 and U20 player.  He also holds Croatian citizenship, and plays for one of the top Croatian clubs Hadjuk Split, so he could have opted to play for Belgium or Croatia instead of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  In the end he chose to play for the country where he grew up and where his family’s roots are.

Tino-Sven is not the first World Cup player to be coached by a family member.  Some notable recent examples include Italian star Paolo Maldini, who was coached by his father Cesare in France in 1998, and Michael Bradley of the USA, who was coached by his father Bob in South Africa in 2010.  Sometimes the father-son (or uncle-nephew) coach-payer relationship can put a lot of pressure on the player to live up to higher expectations of media and fans, who may feel that the player’s selection was not based on merit but rather on family loyalty or bias.  In the case of Tino-Sven, there is also the added pressure that his uncle is not only his coach, but is also a former star player for Yugoslavia who was and still is very popular with Bosnian fans.  Furthermore, Tino-Sven’s father, Sead Susic, is another renowned former Yugoslavian star player, so the player is certainly entering the World Cup with a lot to prove. 

The young Susic has handled this pressure in the right way, focusing the attention of the media on the fact that he has earned his place in the team, and vowing to prove it at the World Cup.  He recently told fifa.com:

“Being a Susic is not easy  I have to prove that I’m in the side not because of my name or my uncle but because of the work I’ve done. I’ve learned to live with that. Some people think I’ve had a few strings pulled for me, but I don’t see it that way at all and I’m going to do everything I can on the pitch to show that.”

For Bosnia-Herzegovina to be successful in a tough group that includes one of the top teams from each of South America, Africa, and Asia, they will need all players including Tino-Sven Susic to rise above the pressure and perform to the best of their abilities.  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started. 

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Ecuador, the emerging South American nation that finished in 4th place (ahead of previous 2010 World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay) in the 2014 CONMEBOL World Cup qualification tournament.   Ecuador are drawn in a group that includes Switzerland, France, and Honduras, and they play their first match against Switzerland on June 15th.

Ecuador is located on the northwestern coast of South America, and the country is aptly named, as it is literally bisected by the Earth’s equator.  Because of its geographic location, Ecuador enjoys 12 hours per day of sunlight, 365 days per year.  With average temperatures of over 25 degrees Celsius, the Ecuadorian players are some of the most experienced in the world at training and playing in the heat.  This experience could prove vital for them at the World Cup in Brazil, a country which also covers the equator and is home to very warm temperatures year-round.

When I worked as Fitness Coach with the Canadian Women’s National U17 team, we competed in training camps in very warm climates (California, Florida, Mexico, Costa Rica) and our qualification tournament for the 2012 Women’s U17 World Cup was held in Guatemala in the middle of May.  Temperatures during the 10-day tournament reached over 35 degrees Celsius, and we played all of our games on a turf field that was typically burning hot by the time we reached our 4:30pm kick-off times.  The Medical team and I took several measures to ensure that our players were able to cope with the heat in Guatemala.  Among them was a simple trick taught to me by a family member who had competed in triathlons in the heat: having the players grab ice cubes in each hand and hold them until they melt.  Of all of our body parts, we contain some of the most sensitive skin receptors to temperature changes in our hands (if you have ever accidentally touched a burning hot stove, you can probably relate to this).  The same goes with cold temperatures.  As a result, holding something cold in the hands can have a profound cooling effect on the entire body.  In a sport like soccer, the “ice cubes in the hands” cooling technique works best during half time, as it can take 5-10 minutes for the ice to melt completely.  We noticed a big difference in the players’ performances in the second half after having cooled off with the ice.

As mentioned previously, the Ecuadorians should be very accustomed to training and playing in the heat, and they may also be very accustomed to cooling strategies like the one discussed in this article.  Their group (group E) includes 2 teams from western Europe (France and Switzerland) that will be far less comfortable training and playing in the South American heat.  Can Ecuador’s experience dealing with warm temperatures help them to get out of group E and into the next round in Brazil?  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.   

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Honduras, a small Central American nation that qualified at the expense of my native Canada, among others in the CONCACAF region.   Honduras are drawn in a group that includes Switzerland, France, and Ecuador, and they play their first match against France on June 15th.

The Hondurans had a tough route to qualification for the World Cup.  In the final stage of the CONCACAF qualification tournament, called the “hexagonal” because it includes six teams, Honduras started brightly by beating the United States 2-1.  Next came the first of their 2 matches against rivals Mexico (the 2nd game against the Mexicans would prove to be pivotal for Honduras’ qualification hopes).  They fell behind 2-0 before half time, but fought back hard with 2 second half goals, to earn a 2-2 draw and a valuable point.  Later on in qualification, Honduras had a streak of bad luck playing away from home, losing to Panama (2-0), Costa Rica (1-0) and the United States (1-0).  Following these defeats, they traveled to Mexico City, to play Mexico in the famous Azteca Stadium, a venue which is notoriously difficult for away teams both because of the huge crowds (over 115,000 people), altitude (2400 metres above sea level) and pollution.  Honduras fell behind again, 1-0, before rallying to score 2 goals and win the game 2-1.  5 points from their final 3 games (against Panama, Costa Rica, and Jamaica) were enough to see them through, ahead of Mexico in the table with 15 points to Mexico’s 11.

Honduras’ 2 come-from-behind wins against the Mexicans represent a critical strength of their National team.   Statistically at the World Cup, teams who concede the first goal are 40% more likely to lose the game.  If the goal deficit then moves to 2 goals (as it did in Honduras’ first qualification match against Mexico) the probability of losing goes up to 67%.  Thus Honduras, who came back from both 1-0 and 2-0 deficits, have proven themselves to be a formidable threat regardless of how they start the game.  With group matches against tough European opponents France and Switzerland, plus a strong South American side in Ecuador, the Hondurans may find themselves behind and having to come back again.  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at France, 1998 World Cup champions and the home to some of the most talented players in the world.  France has drawn a group that includes Switzerland, Honduras, and Ecuador, and plays their first match against Honduras on June 15th.

As I just mentioned, the current French team boasts some of the world’s most talented players, including Karim Benzema, Frank Ribery and Olivier Giroud.  In the past three decades, the French system has developed countless other world class players, making them perennial World Cup contenders and earing the country a reputation as one of the world leaders in youth development.  It was not always this way for France, however.  In the late 1980’s, frustrated with its nation’s failure to qualify for Euro 1988 in the Soviet Union and the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the French Football Federation (FFF) declared a “Crisis of Football”, and began re-organizing and re-vamping their youth development programs.  Among the major changes France made was the opening of the National Football Institute (INF) at Clairfontaine.  The INF was the first of a series of Formation Centres set up around the country, which selected, trained and developed France’s best young talented players, often at as early an age as 9 or 10 years old.  These Formation Centres, inspired by old Communist sports schools, comprised world class facilities, coaches, and an elite level training environment that was created for the sole purpose of strengthening the French National team.  According to Wikipedia, “youth development at Clairefontaine incorporates many principles on football with their students, such as:

• Making the player’s movements faster and better
• Linking movements efficiently and wisely
• Using the weaker foot
• Weaknesses in the player’s game
• Psychological factors (sports personality tests)
• Medical factors
• Physical tests (beep tests)
• Technical skills
• Skill training (juggling the ball, running with the ball, dribbling, kicking, passing and ball control)
• Tactical (to help the ball carrier, to get the ball back, to offer support, to pass the ball and follow the pass, positioning and the movement into space)”

Professional Club Academies in France sent their best players to the INF, where their technical and tactical development was accelerated.  The FFF also poured large amounts of money and resources into re-structuring their coach education program and UEFA coaching licenses, which are now considered to be among the best in the continent.

In the late 1990’s, France began to see the results of their 10 years of hard work since the “Crisis of Football”.  They reached the semi-finals of the Euro 1996 tournament in England, and 2 years later won their first and only World Cup championship on home soil.  France followed their 1998 World Cup victory with a Euro 2000 championship in Holland, and has since been to the final of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, losing on penalties to Italy.  Several of the players who began their youth development at Clairefontaine were key members of the French 1998 and 2000 Championship teams, including Lilian Thuram, Bixente Lizarazu, Patrick Vieira, and Nicholas Anelka.    

In the years since that 2006 World Cup final defeat, the French team has had some disappointing results.  They failed to get out of the group stages at both the 2008 European Championship (Austria/Switzerland) and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and required a 2-leg play-off against Ukraine to qualify for this year’s World Cup after placing 2nd in their qualification group.  Can the changes in youth development instituted after the 1988 “Crisis of Football” help the French team reach the same heights of the late 1990’s/early 2000’s?  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started. 

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Switzerland, the country which is home to FIFA, the world’s soccer governing body, and has drawn a group that includes Ecuador, France, and Honduras.  Switzerland opens their World Cup campaign on June 15 against Ecuador.

The Swiss National Team has been to several World Cups before but has never gone farther than the quarter-finals, which they reached in 1934, 1938, and as hosts in 1954.  More recently, in 2006 Switzerland had the unique distinction of being the only team in World Cup history to be eliminated from the competition even though they did not concede a single goal (they were eventually eliminated by the Ukraine on a penalty shoot-out in the round of 16).  This defensive tradition continued into the 2010 World Cup, when they did not concede a goal until the 74th minute of their 2nd game against Chile (their 1st game being a 1-0 victory over eventual champions Spain), thus earning them the World Cup record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal (559). 

Qualification for the 2014 World Cup produced similar results for Switzerland, as they topped Group E, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 6 in 10 matches.  While this was not the best defensive performance in qualification (Spain, for example, conceded only 3 goals in 10 matches in Group D), it is indicative of the trend in strong defensive performances that should carry over into the group stage of the World Cup.  The Swiss team’s toughest challenge could be against France on June 20th, and if they can keep a clean sheet in that game, they could be well on their way to the start of another long streak of minutes without conceding a goal.  We will have to wait and see what happens in 1 month’s time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started. 

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Uruguay, the reigning 2011 Copa America (South American) Champions who also placed 3rd at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.    In soccer, Uruguay is an enigma.  This small (population 3 million) poor nation has somehow managed to win 2 World Cups (1930, 1950); qualify for every World Cup since 2002; win an amazing and record 15 Copa America titles; and produce some of the world’s most talented soccer players, including current stars Dieog Forlan, Edison Cavani, and Luis Suarez.  The Uruguayans have been drawn in a group that includes Italy, England, and Costa Rica, and they play their first match against the Costa Ricans on June 14th.

I have a bit of a personal connection to Uruguay, having worked there with professional club Canadian SC of the Primera (2nd Division) in the fall of 2013.  During my time there, I saw and learned first hand some of the reasons the country is so successful in soccer.  Simply put, the reason for Uruguay’s success in soccer is that the entire country is obsessed with the sport.  I have published several articles about Uruguayan soccer culture, so rather than repeat myself, here are the 3 reasons why Uruguay win in soccer, taken from my article published in Inside Soccer Magazine in their November/December 2013 issue:

1. Soccer is not just the most popular sport in Uruguay – it’s the only sport

The first thing that became apparent to me right away about Uruguay was that everybody in the country lives eats and breathes soccer.    It’s an obsession for the game that is ingrained into every Uruguayan citizen.  Everywhere I went, I saw people playing soccer (on the street, on small patches of grass, on various outdoor and indoor fields, even in the airport terminals)!  The only time that nobody in Uruguay is playing soccer is when the national team plays (a time when the entire country can be found either at home or at a restaurant/bar watching the game).  The passion that Uruguayans have for the sport is never more evident than when you watch the players train.  In my observations of youth academy training sessions, as well as first team practices, the players were literally fighting (shirt-pulling, wrestling, even kicking each other) to win and maintain possession of every ball from the start to the end of training.  Based on my observations, it may be possible that the element that makes the Uruguayan training sessions more intense is simply that the players have more of a passion and love for the game than Canadian players do.

2. The players are not just competing for a spot on the team – they are competing for their livelihood

On the way to view a professional U16 academy team called River Plate train, my driver stopped to pick up another player from the team.  On the ride to his house, we drove into a “barrio” (Spanish word for ghetto).  The houses on this street were literally falling apart.  There was garbage everywhere, and there were people huddled under blankets on the sides of the road.  The player came running out of the door and into the car.  Over the course of the training session, it became apparent that he was one of the best players on the field, and certainly the most aggressive.  When I spoke to one of the coaches, he explained his opinion on the subject: This player lives in the barrio.  He has 4 siblings and his parents are barely earning enough money to pay their living expenses.  He requires rides from other parents to get to training because he does not have a bicycle and cannot afford the cost of bus fare.  He is hungry to succeed in soccer, because soccer represents the best way for him to escape his present living conditions.  According to his coach, this player’s situation is not unique.  He estimated that in a big city like Montevideo, there are probably over 10,000 talented young soccer players who cannot afford transportation to training.  It may be possible that this hunger for success can raise the motivation of Uruguayan players, which in turn raises the intensity level of their training sessions.   While it is obviously not possible to replicate the economic conditions in Uruguay in a country like Canada, it may be important to consider ways in which motivation and competitiveness may be increased in Canadian youth players.

3. The training facilities and equipment are bad – and that’s a good thing

One other, very important common thread can be found in Uruguayan soccer – something I noticed in all of the training grounds (both for first teams and academies) that I visited during my trip: the training facilities, especially the fields, are of poor quality.  The fields that the professional teams train on in Uruguay are basically made up of very hard/dry grass and dirt, and they are not well maintained.  The ground is not always level, and in some fields the penalty areas were so worn out that the entire 6-yard box had basically been converted into a sand pit.  I was expecting the hard and uneven ground to make the execution of technical skills more difficult for the players, especially when receiving the ball.  Once the players began training, however, I noticed that the field conditions were actually helping the players improve their technique and speed of play.  The Canadian SC first team seemed completely unaffected by the random and unpredictable bounces the ball was taking.  They were still able to pass and move the ball on the ground accurately, and their first touches were executed with speed and precision.   Furthermore, it appeared that the field conditions had a positive impact on the players’ speed of play.  Because the ball travels much faster and more unpredictably than it would on a better quality field, players on both sides of the ball (attackers and defenders) must react and make decisions much quicker.  Almost all the professional teams in Uruguay (excluding the top teams like Peǹarol and Nacional) train on poor quality fields, but play their games on better-maintained natural grass pitches.  If players and the team as a whole can keep possession, attack, and defend with speed on a hard dirt field, the transition to soft grass must make the game feel significantly easier.  It seems that this effect has had a very positive impact on Uruguayan players’ development of both technical ability, and speed of play.  Perhaps this may be another aspect of training that could be useful to further the development of Canadian soccer players.

 

Can this culture of success in soccer help Uruguay repeat their incredible 3rd place finish from four years ago, or possibly even improve upon it?  We will have to wait and see what happens in 2 months’ time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.

Because this is a World Cup year, I have decided to countdown to the tournament by providing a short soccer/fitness related preview of each of the 32 participating nations. In this installment, I will look at Costa Rica, one of the strongest nations to qualify out of CONCACAF (North/Central America and the Caribbean).  The Costa Ricans have been drawn in a group that includes Italy, Uruguay, and England, and they play their first match against Uruguay on June 14th.

As any Canadian soccer fan will know, qualifying out of CONCACAF is not easy.  The final phase of qualification pits the top six teams in the “Hex” (short for “Hexagonal”), where they each play one another in 1 home game, and 1 away game.  The top 4 teams out of the Hex qualify for the World Cup.  In the final round of qualification for the 2014 World Cup, the Hex consisted of Costa Rica along with USA, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, and Panama.  Of the 10 Hex games played by Costa Rica, their results were as follows:

1. Home Games: 5 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses, 10 goals for, 2 goals against
2. Away Games: 0 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses, 3 goals for, 5 goals against

These statistics paint a picture of dominance at home and struggles on the road for the Costa Rican team.  While it is normal for teams to be more successful at home, for Costa Rica the trend of poor results away from home almost cost them their place at Brazil 2014.  One possible reason for the Costa Rican’s lack of success on the road is that they may not be paying enough attention to recovery and regeneration during travel.  Long flights and bus rides, time zone differences, new/unfamiliar foods and accommodations are just some of the things that can have a negative impact on physical performance when traveling.  When I worked as Fitness Coach with the Canadian National Women’s U17 Team in 2011/2012, we had several international trips leading up to World Cup qualification, including to California, Florida, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and the qualification tournament in Guatemala.  To prevent some of the aforementioned factors from taking their toll on the players, myself and the Medical staff took several preventative measures.  Below is a summary of the recovery and regeneration strategies we used:

• Players were required to wear compression pants during all international flights, as well as during bus rides and after training in hotels; compression helps to promote venous return (bringing blood that has pooled in the legs back to the heart for recirculation).  This helps with recovery by decreasing pain and inflammation caused by training/games, as well as decreasing muscle stiffness and cramping that can occur during long flights.
• During flights to countries with different time zones, we had players stay awake until the “proper” sleep/bed time for the new time zone, and also encouraged all players to sleep during the flight if it was “proper” sleep/bed time.  In addition, the team Physician brought melatonin, a synthetic version of the hormone that acts as a natural sleeping aid.  Helping players get accustomed to the time difference during international competitions as quickly as possible pays huge dividends because there are typically only 6-8 days between arrival and the first game, and this time must be spent on training (which requires players to be well rested).
• We scheduled mandatory “walk and stretches” 4-5 hours before every game; this activity comprised a brief 15-20 minute walk, followed by stretching and mobility exercises.  The purpose of the walk-and-stretch was two-fold: firstly, it helped to decrease muscle stiffness, soreness and inflammation; second, it helped the payers to mentally relax and focus more on the upcoming game.

If Costa Rica is to be successful in Brazil (a country with a 3-hour time difference but over 2,500 miles away), perhaps some of the aforementioned recovery and regeneration strategies may prove helpful for them.  They have a tough group that includes 3 former World Cup winners, so they will need all the help they can get.  We will have to wait and see what happens in 2 months’ time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.