Spain is experiencing very bad weather. Hurricane Filomena hit several areas in Spain. According to AEMET (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología) or the Spanish BMKG, this storm is the worst storm in 50 years. 61 cm thick snow blanketed the city of Madrid.
This blizzard even caused four casualties. Quoted from The Guardian, José Luis Ábalos as Minister of Transportation of Spain urged the public not to leave the house. “The situation is very serious. I urge people to stay at home and follow the rules of the government. When the storm subsides, we will face intense cold weather, ”said Ábalos.
Madrid’s Barajas Airport was temporarily closed, and roads were also covered with snow. Apart from affecting transportation, of course this extreme weather affects football. The match between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao on January 9 was postponed. The plane carrying Bilbao players and staff left for Madrid after an hour’s delay due to bad weather. After flying close to Madrid and 30 minutes waiting for certainty to land, the captain finally decided to return to Bilbao.
Most recently, Atletico’s match against Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium continued even though the temperature reached -7 degrees Celsius. The Atletico club prepared a special technology to remove snow on green grass. Cleaning a large football field from heavy snow is not an easy matter.
There are 11 high power lamps installed several meters above the grass. The surface of the field was heated to a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. The remaining snow was cleared by more than 30 volunteers. The match finally went smoothly. Atletico won the match by a score of 2-0.
Unique scenery seen at the match. Joao Felix and several other Atletico reserves were not on the bench. They wore thick jackets plus gloves in the stands while pedaling stationary bikes and getting closer to the temperature heating.
For Diego Simeone, the weather is not a barrier to football matches. “When you play, it’s just football, there is no sun, wind, rain or snow. When the ball rolls, it’s football. When you play football, you forget everything, ”said Simeone in the post-match interview.
Atletico play with a low block and focus on closing space, not pressing on the ball. This tactic is quite challenging in cold weather conditions. The player does not move much so that body temperature can decrease. Even so, Atletico’s players can still focus on organizing the defense and registering non-goals against Sevilla.
Atletico’s city rivals, Real Madrid, come to El Sadar Stadium, Osasuna’s headquarters in the city of Pamplona. Bad weather delayed Real Madrid’s departure by up to four hours. The match, which was held on January 9, is still going on. There were no goals created, both teams were both having trouble making opportunities. A total of only three shots on target were created from both teams.
Zinedine Zidane expressed frustration in the post-match interview. “It is not a football match and it should be postponed. I will protest in the next match if the conditions (weather) are not good, “said Zidane.
Competing in bad weather is definitely not easy. “In cold or hot weather, the body always performs homeostasis,” said Brendon McDermott, a professor at the University of Arkansas. Homeostasis itself is an automatic process and mechanism carried out by living things to maintain a constant condition so that their bodies can function normally, despite changes in the environment inside or outside the body. In this case, the condition that must be maintained is body temperature.
Cold temperatures make the body have to work extra to maintain the normal temperature of the human body, which is around 37 degrees Celsius. “The body needs extra energy because the body maintains a normal temperature and at the same time has to provide energy for exercise,” said James Carter, director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.
Muscles also suffer from cold temperatures. Cold muscles make movement ineffective. “Your muscles become stiff so they are inflexible and make you unable to move quickly,” says Jonathan Finnoff, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine. The nerves that send signals from the brain throughout the body also slow down in cold temperatures, meaning that the response rate slows down as well.
There are several ways to deal with cold weather. When the first half is over, players still have to be active in moving so that the muscles don’t get too cold. For reserve players, physical activity like Felix’s can be applied. Some of these things complement the heating technology of the pants, jackets and the bench.
Bad weather is not an easy thing for football players. However European clubs have a sport science department who will assist them in preparing for their physical condition in all situations. Good research and application from the sports science team will keep players performing optimally even though the weather is not friendly.
ASL
