BHUBANESWAR: The 2017 World League Finals was a bit of a bloodbath as far as Germany and England were concerned. A ‘mystery illness’ had indisposed many players from both teams. While five players from Germany missed the bronze medal playoff because of the said illness, three from England missed parts of the event after picking up an unexplained health issue.
To ensure they don’t suffer from similar problems this time, the above-mentioned European teams have carried out extensive precautions. Florian Fuchs (in pic), one of the only 11 Germans left standing by the time the bronze-medal playoff came around (five of the seven were down with an illness while two sustained injuries during the course of the week), revealed what the two-time world champions have done differently.
“We have taken extra precautions this time,” he said. “We are taking proper care, especially with hygiene. Before coming here, we took extra medication so that we are immune to things here. Last year also we had similar precautions but it did not work.”
What might have spooked the Germans out is they were never able to identify what caused the medical condition. It was so terrible that their reserve team goalkeeper — Mark Appel — played as a center-forward in two matches. He, in fact, scored the opener against India in the 3rd-4th playoff.
Germany team manager Eric Langner said some Europeans suffer more than others when travelling abroad. “Every time we are in India, we try to do our best,” he said. “But it’s not always easy. We have a doctor, physio and a nutritionist travelling with us. We don’t exactly know what it was (the illness last year). We spoke to the hotel guys, but we can’t say it was them... we are trying to take care of every little part.”
They even have their nutrition specialist to frequently interact with the chef to see what goes into their food. “Our nutrition specialist checks the kitchen and interacts with the staff there.”
If Germany have brought with them a nutritionist, England have a chef as part of the support staff. “Yeah, we have brought in a guy with us,” manager Adam Halliday said. “He is kind of an expert in nutrition so he oversees what the players consume.”
The World No 7 have a completely different arrangement in place. The chef was flown in so they could open their own private restaurant near the team hotel. The entire squad and support staff actually travel to the restaurant morning, noon and night. “We have decided to have a kitchen for ourselves so we have set up a restaurant next to the hotel we are staying at,” Halliday added.
Halliday reckons such an arrangement is essential. “It’s true some of our players fell ill (last year) but this arrangement has got to do with what we as a sports team believe in. Bringing in our chef who knows what high performing sportsmen should and should not consume could potentially give that 1% difference (over other teams), something which could matter massively at a competition like this.” The 1% — commonly known as ‘marginal gains’ — is an obsessive catchphrase among most of England’s sporting bodies.
The Netherlands have flown Dutch-based muesli to ensure the players’ breakfast intake with respect to food doesn’t change drastically.
France, making a comeback to the World Cup after 28 years, are another side to have taken an active interest in what the chef prepares. “We oversee what’s been cooked by the chef and how well it’s cooked,” team doctor Christophe Popineau said.