▲ They warn of injuries for playing three days in a week. Cristian Calderón (left) and Emilio Rodríguez in the duel between Pachuca and América. Ap Photo
Alberto Aceves
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, April 30, 2024, p. a12
In Mexico more and more is played in less time. A first division soccer player can go from 40 games between national tournaments, the Concacaf Cup on duty and those organized by the MLS, such as the Leagues Cup, in the middle of a season. Although complaints about calendar abuse are not new in elite sport, the problems have worsened in the Liga Mx with the round of the play-inin which Pachuca, seventh best ranked in the regular phase and semi-finalist in the Concachampions, will play each of their games without recovery margin.
The Tuzos will host América today at the Hidalgo stadium in the second leg of the Champions Cup (1-1 overall) and, 48 hours later, they will face Pumas de la UNAM in the reclassification.
If they do not beat the cats, they will return to the fray on Sunday against the winner of Necaxa-Querétaro to seek their place in the league. Four games in one week, including Saturday’s draw (1-1) against Mazatlán, which left them out of the direct pass.
The capacity for astonishment surpasses us, says the coach of the Hidalgo club, Guillermo Almada. We are going to be the laughing stock of everyone in Mexico and international soccer. If we want to grow the League, situations like this are unfortunate. We are putting the health of the footballers at risk. If a misfortune happens, who is going to take charge? The thing is that those in long pants were never on a field. The reality is this and we must face it.
Due to the short recovery time, the Pachuca board asked the already qualified clubs and the League authorities to postpone the date of the play-in to protect the health of its players. Almost everyone supported his request, including Pumas who had more hours of rest; The refusal, according to Almada and the efforts made by the institution, came from another side.
“It wasn’t Pumas… find out who put the stone in the way,” he claims without giving names, but pointing towards one of the six teams confirmed in the league (América, Cruz Azul, Toluca, Monterrey, Tigres and Chivas). I was hoping for common sense, but we’re not reassigning anything.
First the health of the players
While the Tuzos closed ranks yesterday in their stadium prior to the semifinal against América, the Liga Mx made the play-off schedules official. Necaxa and Querétaro will face each other on Thursday at 7 p.m., to give way to the UNAM visit to Hidalgo territory (9:15 p.m.).
It is impossible to play on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, warns the club’s physical trainer, Rubens Valenzuela. As sports professionals and scientists, the health of the players must come first. In addition to saturation, specialists highlight the risk of suffering irreversible consequences such as low back pain, tendonitis and muscle contractures, which are common when bodies are pushed to the limit.
2024-04-30 09:13:17
#Concacaf #League #laughingstock
