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Heat factor

Ross DunbarJuly 11, 2014

Germany and Argentina have seen off all challengers for the World Cup trophy. They've also had to beat other factors too, especially Brazil's hot and humid climate.

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Mexican Players take a Drinks break
Image: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Forget Qatar 2022. Brazil, in some ways, has been the straw that broke the camel's back. The much vaunted concerns around staging the first World Cup in the Middle East have actually transpired amid this tournament deep in South America.

While the 2014 tournament has been one of the most thrilling of all-time, the temperatures have proven to be a leveler for many supposedly weaker opponents. The United States, Central American pair, Mexico and Costa Rica, and the South American countries have favored well in the taxing climate of Brazil.

And, it’s clear the combination of such a condensed schedule and the conditions are playing their part in the performance levels of the players at the World Cup. After a hair-raising group phase, the intensity of the knockout stages dropped significantly. For instance, five of the eight last 16 matches went to extra-time after 90 minutes of tired football, while just a single goal made the difference in three of the four quarterfinals.

Azzurri struggle in the heat

Early in the tournament Italian veteran Andrea Pirlo suggested that there were two tournaments taking place in Brazil, because of the difference in climate between the north and south of the country. Pirlo's club and international team-mate, Claudio Marchisio, even spoke of having hallucinations on the pitch. Italian midfielder Thiago Motta went on to claim the weather was the winner against Italy, not Costa Rica.

In fact, it wasn’t just temperature that hit Italy. The Azzurri had to travel the second highest distance (14124km) between venues during the tournament, playing in Manaus, Recife and Natal. USA travelled the most (14326km), while their victorious round of 16 opponents Belgium had to travel the least (1784km).

But, Italy’s shock 1-nil loss to Costa Rica in the group stage really pushed the players to the limit. The match was scheduled for 1:30pm local time, with temperatures of 29 degrees and more than 70 percent humidity. This followed the Azzurri’s opening match against England in the Amazonian city of Manaus (30 degrees and 88 percent humidity), then the last match against Uruguay in tropical Natal.

South Korean Player takes a break at the World Cup
You had to be fit to keep pace at this World CupImage: Reuters

Change is the problem

It's the variations in temperature, however, that are the biggest challenge for the players though, say the experts.

"If a team has to go from high temperature conditions to low temperature conditions, then that can affect the team very badly, that's for sure,” said Markus de Marées a physician at Cologne Department of Exercise Physiology and High Altitude Medicine in interview with DW. “It's always better to adapt to hot and humid conditions than going back and forward. If a team has to change the conditions often then this negative."

Changing temperature during recovery time is one of the situations where teams can be affected. Germany, for instance, had seven players with the flu after the match against Algeria. In the days before, the Germans had travelled from the coastal warmth of Recife to the colder, Southern conditions in Porto Alegre.

Germany’s stalest performance was against the North Africans before they travelled to Rio to beat France. Germany's semi-final against Brazil was in Belo Horizonte and the final will see them back in Rio. Joachim Löw's men have seen the conditions fluctuate the most across the tournament, while Argentina have the advantage of having exclusively played in cities south of Brasilia.

FIFA’s heat policy

The world football governing body, FIFA, has allowed for cooling breaks in some games in Brazil. FIFA officials decide whether these breaks should take place based on their "wet bulb globe temperature" scale a standardized measurement used by athletes to estimate the potential for heat-stress. It considers a number of factors, including wind speed, sun cover, humidity and temperature.

Cooling breaks, as took place in the Netherlands versus Mexico round of 16 match for instance, only occur when the measurement reading is over 32 degrees. This is four degrees higher than the American College for Sports Medicine recommends.

In fact, an Australian Institute of Sport study found that drinks during just the half-time break were "clearly inadequate" and could lead to hypohydration, a decrease in body water content. They found that when there are deficits of 2 percent of the body mass, performance is affected. The more bursts of high-intensity in humid conditions, the greater the effect on individual performance.

But while the new cooling breaks have been seen as a progressive step from FIFA, FIFPro, the international federation of professional footballers, continues to be a vocal opponent of FIFA's health and safety strategies.

Germany Training at Santo Andre
Germany's fitness coaches have done their best to get the team ready for the challenges of playing in BrazilImage: Getty Images

FIFPro's chief medical officer Vincent Gouttebarge suggested that the FIFA cooling breaks were ineffectual based on previous sports science research. He says that "an optimal rehydration strategy could rely on two short water breaks every 15 minutes during each half of a match, rather than on a single four minute water break during each half."

Preparation is the key

De Marées says that the teams who are still going in the tournament will have done their fitness preparation well. The most important thing is for the fitness advisors to discover the best techniques for post-match recovery, before the tournament.

"The important thing is that the players have done the work before the World Cup. The teams should use ice water baths to recover faster, if you have two intense games in four days," he said.

Germany has obviously done its fitness preparation well enough. So far they have run the furthest of all teams in the tournament. As a group, the Germans run 115.3 kilometers (70.21 miles) a game on average.