Football is a game that unites millions. Especially big tournaments, including the World Championship, are tournaments that interest young and old, men and women, representatives of various fields. The participation of the national team of Uzbekistan in the World Cup for the first time greatly increased the interest in this tournament among our people. At the same time, some industry experts wished our players victory and shared useful thoughts and advice in their fields. One of them is a permanent resident of our site, climatologist Erkin Abdulahatov.
Erkin Abdulahatov, climate scientist:
– I am interested in football. Since 1998-2000, I regularly watch big tournaments. As required by my profession, I also observe the games through the prism of the external weather environment and model the external influence on the players’ condition. It is recognized by the whole world – the external environment has a 20-30 percent effect on the players’ physiology and game. Cold weather, heat stress – thermoregulation undoubtedly affects the actions of football players, including passing the ball, pressing, sprinting. This is scientifically proven and not new.
This includes the height above sea level. Many people experience a lack of oxygen when they climb a mountain. Let’s say that when you go to Amirsoy or Arashan, you will notice a difference in your movements on the plain and on the ground. For example, on the plain, you spend 11-12 seconds to run 100 meters, but on high it can be 15-16 seconds. Because the air pressure decreases above, oxygen becomes rarer. Mexico City, Mexico, where our national team plays, is 2240 meters above sea level. There is also the town of Toluca and it is 2660 meters above. These are the stadiums at the highest point in the history of World Cups. The “Azteca” stadium, where we played, also hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup matches. Even at that time, various mass media reported on the difficulties of playing in these stadiums, the statements of the teams that played there.
I must emphasize that I am not talking about these factors after the game. I wrote about it on social networks before the game. There are two options for players to prepare for games at such a height: the first is to go 48 hours before the game. In this case, the body adapts to the weather and pressure. In doing so, they do not have time to learn the factors of physical impact on the ball. When kicking the ball, it is necessary to learn how to hit in a normal plane, and how to hit with high power. In order to study it in detail, it is necessary to go to that environment 10-15 days before. As you can see, when our players passed the ball in standard situations, the passes were very unclear. The ball always went beyond the intended distance, that is, the ball passed to the player’s teammate did not go accurately, but flew 3-4 meters or more.
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Our match against Portugal will take place in favorable weather conditions. A covered stadium in Houston. It is expected to have air conditioners and a comfortable environment of 22-24 degrees.
