Tuesday’s semi-final against France in Munich began on Friday night in Stuttgart with a few trays of sushi, Dani Olmo’s smart ring and a visit to a portable North Pole after midnight. The battle with Germany had been long and bloody: the match with the most fouls (39) in a Euro since 2016. The exchange of blows until extra time left hardly a player walking with stability. “Exhausted… Exhausted, to be honest,” summed up Olmo, still on the grass. And he recalled his last attack: “I have both calves there.”
From that moment, just before 9pm, until the start of the semi-final, also at 9pm, there were only 96 hours left to recover an exhausted battalion. During those days, it is hardly possible to train. The reconstruction begins in the stomach. The two hours after a match are a metabolic window, the key moment for the body to make the best use of what is given to it. That is where the national team’s nutritionist, Toscana Viar, comes in to work with several objectives: “Replenish the glycogen stores that have been used up during the match, which are like the players’ petrol tanks; repair the muscle damage that has occurred during the match; and rehydrate and replenish mineral salts.”
To replenish glycogen, you need foods rich in fast-absorbing carbohydrates, such as white rice and pasta, but players don’t feel like eating right after playing. There is an alternative: “They can also be shakes, we always make one right after the match,” says Viar. Then it is easier for them to eat rice, pasta or bread. That is why it is common to see pizzas in the changing rooms, which also contain protein, which is necessary to replenish muscle mass: fish, meat, eggs…
On Friday, it was sushi time. “There are days when we can eat a hamburger with quality meat and good bread. We try not to have too much fat, because it hinders the absorption of carbohydrates, which is very important now with many games in a row and few days to recover.” Although not all fats are bad: “Good quality fats have an anti-inflammatory power that is very good for us. For example, the blue fish in sushi, which has omega 3 fats.”
To rehydrate, water and the star drink: “A kind of mojito that they really like, and we usually add ice to it, which is great for lowering body temperature. They also replenish salts with electrolyte and mineral salt supplements.”
All of this provides fuel for the body to begin to rebuild itself. But the essential thing, as Eduardo Álvarez, Manchester City’s physiotherapist for years, says, cannot be done there: “The most important thing is sleep. What regenerates the most is sleep, adequate rest.”
Dani Olmo’s right index finger confirmed this at the press conference he was forced to attend after being chosen as MVP against Germany: as he passed through the locker room he put on his Oura ring, a smart device that he has been using for just over a year and that helps improve sleep quality by processing the data collected by its sensors. In 2020 the NBA bought 2,000 to distribute among the league’s players.
Before going to sleep, however, they had to visit the Polo. Upon arriving at the hotel in Donaueschingen, at almost 0.30, the players spent a few minutes in the cryotherapy cabin, at around 120 degrees below zero. The head of the federation’s medical services, Claudio Vázquez, explained the reason a few days ago: “When the temperature drops drastically, peripheral vasoconstriction occurs and that reduces inflammation and increases heart rate.” These days they will go through that machine again, and through the hyperbaric chamber: “It increases oxygen in the tissues and favors recovery from fatigue and muscle inflammation.” After almost an hour there, they go to phototherapy: “It produces vasodilation, with which oxygen diffuses more easily and helps the player’s recovery,” explains Vázquez.
Álvarez sums up the power of these technological shortcuts: “It’s like cheating the metabolism so that it goes faster.” The central occupation of footballers, as Rodri said in an interview on Cope: “I spend the day trying to recover.”
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