Brazil is renowned as the home of joga bonito. But here’s a question: will the conditions allow beautiful football to be played at the 2014 World Cup? Considering the heat and humidity, the games every four or five days, the thousands of kilometres and many hours of travel in addition to the pressure of expectation the answer is: maybe not. Stamina and fitness are likely to be as important if not more so than skill and technique.
This has informed the selection policy of Italy coach Cesare Prandelli. He doesn’t just want footballers booked on the plane to Brazil, he wants the best athletes the game has to offer too. That impression only hardened after Italy’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in Madrid at the beginning of this month.
“The difference between us and them is in our respective physical condition,” Prandelli explained. “It’s almost embarrassing. I expected something more from this point of view. If you don’t have the strength and lucidity to get to the ball before your opponent it’s tough and they always got to it first.”
A study in Il Corriere dello Sport the following day showed that the players in Spain’s squad had played 20 per cent more minutes for their clubs than Italy’s had this season. On the one hand, you could argue that it should make them more tired. On the other, that extra game-time means they’re fitter and approaching their season’s peak in time for the World Cup.
Of course, there were extenuating circumstances to explain that performance at the Vicente Calderon. Juventus and Milan, teams that supply the national team with a lot of players, had played each other on the Sunday night before the Wednesday friendly. Giorgio Chiellini was called up but didn’t play. Mattia de Sciglio and Andrea Pirlo only came on in the second half. Mario Balotelli was injured. The starting XI was experimental and lined up in a different system. They were playing the best team in the world too.
Even so, Prandelli was left concerned. He has asked Serie A’s clubs for permission to have the players back for a series of tests at Italy’s Coverciano training base on April 14 and 15. They have granted it. Personalised fitness programmes will be drawn up based on each players’ results. A lot has been made in Italy of Prandelli’s hi-tech preparations for the World Cup. Call them a blue-chip Azzurri.
One of the indoor workout areas at Coverciano has been fitted out with climatic controls so Prandelli can re-create the conditions he expects his players to experience when they play England in Manaus on June 14. Further to that, an award-winning Milan start-up called 'Beast Tech’ has been contracted to provide Italy with a sensor that takes up to 100 measurements a second on a player’s strength, power, explosiveness and speed during exercise.
Prandelli has also canvassed opinion. He has asked former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi and FIGC vice-president Demetrio Albertini for their experiences of USA '94 when the Azzurri played in the full glare of the midday sun in searing heat. How did they prepare? What would they have done differently in hindsight etc? Prandelli learnt a lot from last summer’s participation in the Confederations Cup. He considered it “very precious” for him and his squad. “Never before in all my career had eight out of 11 players asked to be substituted,” he told La Repubblica. “Today we know that during a game there can be notable oscillations in a player’s performance and we mustn’t be frightened by it.”
According to Prandelli, his three priorities in Brazil are as follows: the players’ “physical condition, injury prevention and recovery between one game and another”. Their remote Mangaratiba training base has been selected for that purpose. Located an hour and a half outside of Rio de Janeiro, it boasts a criosauna of the kind Cristiano Ronaldo has installed at his home to sooth inflammation and stimulate muscle regrowth.
As for their itinerary, Italy will fly from Mangaratiba [it has its own military airstrip] to Manaus and back again. They’ll then stay in Brazil’s north-east between their games against Costa Rica in Recife and Uruguay in Natal so the players are travelling less and resting more, a decision based on Italy’s experience at Euro 2012.
Prandelli deeply regretted flying back to their tournament headquarters in Krakow from Warsaw where they beat Germany in the semi-final rather than going straight to Kyiv where the final was held. He felt that their opponents Spain, whose semi had been a day earlier than theirs in Donetsk, would have been given a much closer game had Italy’s travel plans not limited the time his players’ had to recharge their batteries.
Italy won’t make the same mistake. Prandelli is giving even the smallest detail his special attention. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. He is doing everything to ensure Italy won’t.
