Playing three matches in five days in a high-intensity tournament like the AFC Challenge Cup can take a toll on players, making their recovery an important aspect of team work. Towards this, the medical staff has been hard at work to make sure coach Wim Kovermans has a full squad at his disposal.
“Recovery means getting a player fit for the next training session and for the next match,” Dr Manabendra Bhattacharya, AIFF’s sports medicine consultant, says. “You require adequate food, time and rest to recover fast; and along with that hydration. Players lose a lot of fluids during the 90 minutes of the match and they need to be re-hydrated again,” Bhattacharya says.
The medical team measured the weights of every player prior to the Chinese Taipei match and the same process was repeated the next day morning.
“In a single match, a player may lose 4 to 6 kilos of body weight depending on the workload and the distance run during the match. This has to be replenished the next day,” the doctor adds.
For a team on the move, arranging for ice-baths is perhaps the biggest challenge for their team manager Sriniwas Murthy. It’s not in every country and venue that one gets the facilities. Hence, the national team now travel with inflatable tubs for use in the dressing room or even on the ground.
Ask goalkeeper Subrata Paul and he is all praise for the medical staff. “In our clubs, we don’t get such facilities. In the national team, the medical staff take care of us,” he says.
“It’s not only about ice-baths alone. There’s a constant tab on what we eat, the timings of compulsory rest, massages, etc. Playing three matches in five days is tough, that too in this heat. We need to thank our support staff for keeping us fit,” he says.