Virgil van Dijk has criticised the introduction of hydration breaks at this summer’s World Cup.
Speaking after the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Japan on Sunday — a match which was played at the air-conditioned AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — the Dutch captain was asked what he thought of the presence of breaks when conditions are not overly hot.
The 34-year-old laughed, before saying: “Hydration breaks are a bit interesting, because I was obviously watching almost all the games up until today, and every time going to commercial is a bit … Not really that I like it.
“I think for the neutral watchers on TV it’s also not great. If it’s really hot, obviously it would be good to put them in. But I think you have to look at it in every game, separately, in my opinion.
“But I think I’ve said enough already for that.”
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FIFA introduced the three-minute breaks in each half of every game at the tournament following periods of extreme heat in last summer’s revamped Club World Cup.
But the move has faced criticism from some, who argue that the initiative has commercial motivations as well as ones based around player welfare.
Some broadcasters have chosen to show commercials during the breaks after FIFA gave them the green light to do so in March.
The effect of the breaks on the flow of the game also came under scrutiny during Sunday night’s fixtures, with Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann indicating that the three-minute period helped his team sort themselves out tactically after conceding a first-half equaliser in their 7-1 win over Curaçao.
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“Curacao played with a diamond today, and we adjusted how we attacked before the hydration break,” Nagelsmann said.
“But even so, there were still two or three moments where it took a little while because, at the end of the day, you actually very rarely play against a diamond-shaped team these days. It’s practically unheard of.
“Very few teams do that anymore, and we needed a bit of time. The water break was actually good to simply reiterate what we had already adjusted on the board.”
