A game of four quarters: Socceroos will try to exploit World Cup ‘hydration breaks’

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is already exploring how to turn FIFA’s controversial “hydration breaks” into a tactical advantage for Australia at the World Cup, even though he admits they probably aren’t necessary.

In response to fears about a hot summer across North America during this June’s tournament, FIFA has mandated a three-minute drinks break in play in the middle of every half at the World Cup – even if conditions don’t call for one.

It’s unlikely they will when the Socceroos tour the continent’s west coast for Group D clashes in Seattle, Vancouver and San Jose, where temperatures rarely edge above the mid-20s through even the warmest part of the year. But television broadcasters will get the opportunity to run advertisements during that time, which appears to be FIFA’s primary ambition, despite claiming to have made the decision for player welfare reasons.

According to The Athletic, rights holders will be able to run ads for two minutes and 10 seconds of the three-minute stoppage, but have the option of choosing to screen studio analysis or run squeeze-back ads instead of cutting away to commercials.

A spokesperson for SBS, broadcaster of the World Cup in Australia, said it was still working through what it would do, noting that it could show a maximum of five minutes of commercial advertising every hour in linear broadcasts.

It’s not unprecedented: the A-League did the same thing four years ago, asking referees to pause games or call for a drinks break to fit in an advertisement when Saturday night fixtures were being broadcast on Network Ten’s main channel, but backed away after widespread outrage.

FIFA, at the time, said such breaks could not be linked to “commercial considerations”.

Popovic kept his opinion to himself – he called it an “interesting decision”, a description which did a lot of heavy lifting – but his brain is already working through the mechanics of how these interruptions will affect play, and whether they can get some practice in during their pre-Cup friendlies.

“Four quarters is very different,” he said.

“We’ll have to come up with a few ideas and strategies around practicing certain parts of our game, whether it’s just prior to the break and after the break, how will that look? How quickly can we get back into the rhythm of the game and just accept that it’s happening, not dwell on it ... how can we best utilise it – is there a way that we can get an advantage over our opponent before and after those breaks?

“The rules and regulations are constantly changing, and there are things that we’ll all agree with and things that we will question. [I] just accept that this is a decision that’s been made, and my mind goes straight away ... how do we make the most of this? As opposed to dwelling on whether we like it or dislike it, and how it’s a negative for the game. Is there an advantage that we can gain?”

The search for answers to these questions and others has taken Popovic beyond his own code.

Last week, he had breakfast in Tokyo with former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones for advice on how to manage a group of players over the five- or six-week timeframe of a World Cup campaign – something he has never had to do. Popovic seems mindful that his intense style works in short bursts during international windows, but that it might grate over a longer period.

“When you’ve coached at least four different nations, you’ve won a World Cup, you’ve done many five-to-six week preparations,” Popovic said of Jones.

“He was very open and showed me a lot of information and how he learned from things that they did wrong, in terms of whether it’s family and friends, or whether it’s not giving enough days off to the staff or the players.

“We want to hit the first game at the highest level and hit the ground running, but we also don’t want to fall off a cliff straight off the first game. So how do you keep going that way? I’m trying to learn as much as I can.”

What about a coffee with Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox about how he handles quarter-time and three-quarter-time huddles?

“Nothing like that is out of the question,” Popovic said.

“They have strategies of after a quarter, what do they do in the first three or four minutes, how do they get on top ... how do they get back into the rhythm of the game? It’s not a silly question. It’s a great question. We are looking at all of that to see where we can get an advantage over the opponent.”