South Korea’s World Cup squad has been using a specially built “thin-air” lounge to acclimatise for South Africa while Japan has given each team member an oxygen tank.
Asian teams are taking seriously the need to get a head for heights before beginning their campaign in a country where altitude will be a key factor. The South Korean room, which is at the national football training centre at Paju north of Seoul, looks like a regular lounge equipped with couches, bookshelves and DVD players. But a rectangular metal box in the wall, which might pass for an air conditioner, is what makes the room special. Low-oxygen air is funneled through the duct by a huge machine worth $1,30,000 imported from The Netherlands.
“It looks like an air conditioner but it can adjust oxygen levels at a simple touch,” Korea Football Association spokesman Lee Won-Jae said. “While reading books or watching football video footage, players can acclimatise to a low-oxygen environment.”
High altitude is likely to play a crucial role in South Africa where five of the nine host cities are more than 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above sea level.
Balls can also fly faster and further because of the thin air, a potential nightmare for goalkeepers and defenders. “We wanted to acclimatise a bit even before we got to South Africa,” Lee added. Team doctor Song Joon-Seop said the device could create thin-air conditions similar to heights of up to 5,000 meters.
“By spending just one hour a day, the players can quickly adjust to altitude,” Song said.
Japan is equally concerned about getting ready for the World Cup conditions, with coach Takeshi Okada ordering all 23 Blue Samurai be given “low-oxygen tanks”.
He has told them to get used to inhaling thin air from them. — AFP