Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk has urged FIFA to reconsider the implementation of hydration breaks during the World Cup after Netherlands' 2-2 draw against Japan. The Dutch began their campaign with a creditable point against one of the tournament's dark horses but were left frustrated following Daichi Kamada's late equaliser.
It was not just two dropped points that left the Liverpool skipper, who had opened the scoring with a trademark first-half header, aggrieved however. FIFA's implementation of compulsory breaks has effectively turned matches into games of four quarters, despite the weather conditions during certain games having been relatively mild. Indeed, conditions in Houston last night, where the game was played under cover, were almost ideal for football with the temperature around the 20 degree mark.
'Hydration breaks are a bit interesting because I was obviously watching almost all the games, up until today and every time going to a commercial is a bit… not really what I like,' said Van Dijk when asked about the divisive rule change. 'I think also think for the neutral watchers on TV it's also not great. So if it's really hot it would be good to put them in, but you have to look at it in every game separately in my opinion.'
'I think I've said enough already on that,' he added with a rueful smile.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea star Juan Mata had earlier expressed his concern at a development that is only likely to disrupt the natural ebb and flow of matches. He told ITV: 'When you are playing the game you just want to keep playing. If you are losing you want to try to score, if you are winning you want to try to keep the ball. Those breaks I think they break the momentum. As a player I don't think it's fair.'
Fellow ITV pundit Ian Wright argued that TV companies and FIFA's motivation for the hydration breaks had little to do with player welfare and were just another way of making further commercial gains. 'I just feel like it's another way to get adverts in, there's no way Fox haven't had a say. You know with FIFA and Fox they've got some hand in what they want to do,' he said. 'They've used the fact that it's for the hydration of the players, not for me.'
The early evidence has suggested that the breaks, which come midway through each half, have clearly benefited teams who have been on the backfoot and provided opportunities for coaches to rectify tactical issues. 'One of the beautiful things about football is there's only been one break. It's not like NBA or NFL. It's a coaches game this World Cup, there will be analysts sending down three or four clips with tactical adaptations,' said USA women's team head coach Emma Hayes. 'You see Ancelotti make it in the first half by moving Paqueta inside which made a difference because they'd lost a grip of the game in the first 25 minutes. You've seen it with every manager so far that coaching comes into play and it's so advantageous for the team that is losing momentum. If you are on top you don't want it.'
