A challenge for health & mentality

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A CHALLENGE FOR HEALTH & MENTALITY The 2022 FIFA World Cup is approaching and will be in November. This will be held in the middle of the football season for the first time. Hence, we have to listen to the player’s voice about this and gather their thoughts about holding international competitions mid season.

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football medicine & performance

Ahmed Hegazy, is an Egyptian international with over 100 caps for the national team, who has also played at the top level in the Egyptian league, Serie A Italian league, English Premier League and Championship.

Ahmed now plays in the Saudi Super League and is enjoying good form with his team.

Ahmed has valuable experience at international level. He played at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup, twice at the U21 World Cup and the FIFA Arab Cup, which was held last year at the same time in the football season as the 2022 World Cup. So, Ahmed will be able to tell us about his experience playing a FIFA tournament during the season...

FEATURE / MOHAMED ABOU ELELA INTERVIEWS AHMED HEGAZY goals and aspirations. It is a big challenge, very very big challenge, especially ahead of a big competition like the World Cup.

Ahmad, we are very happy to have you.

Please talk us through your general experience with the national team?

The most important achievement for any player is to go to the national team and play under the name of the country. Whatever level it is, this will be on the mind of every player. Putting on the national team’s shirt is an achievement for any player, especially at one of the best competitions, such as the World Cup.

In terms of the timing, perhaps the performance and form of players is better during the season (compared to the summer). During the season, players are mentally and physically better, but at the end of the season, it will be harder to play with the same performance and sharpness, as players are programmed mentally to rest at this time and recover. However, for me it is different.

I would prefer to play tournaments during the summer as I like a little bit of rest after the tournament is over and players wouldn’t have fixtures to go back to, so I see it as my last achievement and I would want to push myself to finish the season well. I am not afraid to be injured but if I do get injured at this time, I would have time to recover and would not miss too many club matches.

I am one of the players who has played in all competitions at international level with Egypt.

I played twice at the Olympics 2012 and 2022, three times at the African Cup of Nations and for in the Russia 2018 World Cup. Of those 3 African cup tournaments, two were in January and one in the summer.

You mentioned playing the African cup in January during the football season, how did you find going from club football to international football? Was it different?

Going into the national team during the season for me is not too different from playing for the club, you have to be on your top form and try to concentrate more. The only challenge perhaps is trying to adapt under a new system if the coach is trying a new system or if there are new players that you haven’t played with, as opposed to club football where you play with the same players week in and out.

In my opinion these are the main challenges, however, with more concentration and hard work, you can quickly adapt to the new system and this is a crucial skill for international players and not many can achieve this quickly. This is of course easier if you have international experience from a young age, if you have been in youth teams and going on national team duty every international break, then you are likely to find it easier to adapt and work in different systems.

Finally, of course the other challenge is the long season. You have to sacrifice your days off that you spend in international camps compared to players that do not play international football.

What do you think are the challenges for players in the coming World Cup before joining their international teams having played in international football during the season yourself?

When it’s the year of the World Cup, as everyday brings you closer to the tournament, it becomes more important that players avoid injury, stay fit and have good form with their club.

If a player gets injured, they may miss their only chance of playing for the World Cup as this is a tournament that only comes every 4 years.

There is also a lot of competition for places and everyone would want to be selected, so it’s very important to avoid injury and be in good form, especially if you’re a high performer who have

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Last season we played in the FIFA Arab Cup, which was at the same time in the calendar as the World Cup and the period between matches is also similar. We then played the African Cup of Nations a month later, so, it was quite difficult to manage during that time of the season and most of the players of the national team of Egypt, I will not say only me, about seven or eight players who played these tournaments struggled to finish the season without injuries.

These injuries ranged from small injuries to big and serious injuries. I was one of them, I played three tournaments; the Olympics first then started the season well with my club, then played the Arab Cup with Egypt (which was very good) and rejoined the club for another four games before going back to the national team to play the African Cup of Nations. We played every 2-3 days and I suffered an injury as a result. My season was finished with a serious injury. I stopped for like three months and I feel big part of this injury was overload with the amount of games I played during the season and the congestion of matches. Most players

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football medicine & performance

Everyone needs to prepare very well for this competition and also be ready for care after the competition. found it very very hard to finish the season fully fit or in good form like before.

What do you think about the collaboration between medical departments and having a shared plan between the club and the national team during these tournaments?

A lot of the players will play seven or eight games in a very short period and then go back to a busy season with their club. So the players will have to try and stay fit and manage their body.

This World Cup will not be at the end of the season, so players should be more fresh and sharp compared to playing it at the end of the long season. However, some players may suffer and struggle to finish their season and stay fit as well as playing at the same intensity and give a high performance. It will be a challenge for players to stay fit and give same performance when they finish the competitions. Many will have higher risk of injury. So everyone needs to prepare very well for this competition and also be ready for care after the competition.

You mentioned travel in Africa, which often means very long trips. How do you feel about this and how do you plan before travel?

What challenges do you face with having competitions in different climates and timezones?

The long trips and the long travel is always difficult, especially, if you don’t have good rest and if the climate is too different or if you can’t sleep at the same time you are used to. You would have to be very strong mentally and have to prepare well and take plenty of time to rest.

We would often travel across Africa during competitions from a very young age and it can be difficult travelling the long distances and sometimes having indirect flights with long waiting times. This certainly would influence the performance of players. However, if you manage it well and travel in the right moment and if you know the weather of the country before you go, it makes it easier.

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