The World Cup will open in a few days now, and coaches across the planet are seeing all the problems they will face in this very special season. Inevitably, undergoing a cut of a month and a half at this time of the year does not please anyone. Jorge Sampaoli, the coach of Sevilla FC, summed up the general feeling on Tuesday:
“Fifa has determined that (this World Cup) should be played in a place where we should not play, on dates where we should not play. And they did everything for money, for business, attacked the Argentine. Now, no one has the right to complain, because it should have been settled long before. So we’re going to accept this deal and we’re all going to move on. There can be no complaints, they should have come before. As it’s a big business, and we leave aside everything else, afterwards, the consequences are other people who pay them, those from below. »
The former OM coach, who was Argentina coach at the previous World Cup in 2018, also pointed out that a World Cup in the middle of the season could affect players’ performance.
“Some footballers will be watched, not out of the corner of the eye, but with both eyes by the whole world. It’s inevitable. We are in the middle of a very difficult task on a mental level, he warned. This proximity generates deconcentration, and this complicates our work. Not just for Sevilla, but for many teams. »
Worried about the situation of his team, only 17th in La Liga, Sampaoli hopes to know that the last matches before flying to Qatar at the start of next week promise to be difficult to manage. “In the condition we are in, for us, Wednesday’s match is a World Cup final. It is a mistake to think that it is a match to say goodbye to the players who will play the World Cup. We risk a lot, ”he recalled.