I managed to witness what I had never seen previously on a
football field - a game of football being stopped midway for a 'cooling break'.
Surely, it was not the first time breaks have been used at the football fields
and surely it won't be the last time. It happens in T20 domestic cricket in the
name of 'strategy' time out for 150 seconds.
Moving forward, what do we make of
this cooling break? Will this be seen as an excellent marketing strategy and
open up a window for advertisement - specifically suited around cooling breaks?
or what I saw yesterday was a one-off instance where heat did disrupt the
players and most importantly 'the match officials'?
Let me look at it the other way. Louis van Gaal utilised
these 'breaks' to communicate his strategy to the Dutch players instead of
shouting behind the line in a hope that 'his messages carry the distance'.
Instead of having just a half-time break, he had 3 time outs (so to speak) to
re-work on his strategies. Since the time Mexico took the lead, the team in
orange were chasing the game. Did these breaks help bring back the focus to the
team? or did it upset the rhythm for the Mexicans?
What would be the future of these 'cooling breaks'? Will
this case be pursued further by the marketing team at FIFA to repackage it as
'strategy breaks' and through this create a new dimension to the sport, thereby
modernising the traditional flow game? or will it be just too much of a change
for FIFA to create this 'break' twice in a match played for 90 minutes (which
has already extra minutes added at the end of each half). Plus, will it provide
a breathing space for spectators to not miss the action while they must go
attend to nature's call or buy a drink or a snack!
This game is after all involves the administration and
guardian of the game FIFA, the players and match officials, the sponsors and
most importantly the spectators who consume the content, the drama which
unfolds on the field.
Will there be a strategy breaks in football, moving forward?
Only time will tell!
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