The thermometer pointed 32ºC, the sun punished Javari Street, and the clock scored 15h when the referee began the duel between Juventus and Grêmio Prudente, on Wednesday (19), by the A2 series of the Paulista Championship. The 1-1 draw was accompanied by 463 payers.
Amid the wave of high temperatures in Sao Paulo and in other parts of the country, not the whole world can or makes a point of escaping hot environments. For fans of the traditional Mooca team, passion resists any mood. For athletes, the lack of reflectors at Conde Rodolfo Crespi Stadium – Javari’s official name – prevents the games from being played after sunset.
Who usually frequent the place defends its characteristics. “Here is root football,” shouted friends Pedro Rezende and Gabriel Souza, both 15, who study in the morning at Etec Camargo Aranha, very close to the stadium. “We left class, there was time to play ball and come to the game. Even with the heat, it’s very tasty,” said Pedro.
Upon arrival of the stadium, they and the other fans who took water had to discard the bottles before entering. Inside, each glass sold for $ 5.
Some of the gifts wanted to cool off with an ice cream, but this option was not available. “How do you not sell ice cream in this heat?” Shouted a fan who came in a hurry five minutes before the ball rolled.
The product was no longer marketed in Javari about two years ago. According to a family that sells sweets and water inside the stadium, the last ice cream has stopped working for the advanced age.
” It was the Ice Cream Marcão, “recalled Dona Maria Emilia, Aunt Mila, 80, who 15 years ago took over the space in which her family has worked in Javari.” Marcão “.
Vinicius Gustavo, 33, the nephew of Aunt Mila, said his family would even like to sell ice cream, but at the moment it is not possible. “It needs to have authorization from the club counselors. And Juventus has no agenda all year, so it’s hard to buy a freezer.”
When the ball began to roll, Juventus’ players’ speed and creativity further warmed the fans’ heads. The team is in the qualifying zone of the next phase of Paulista Series A2 (the state elite access division), but could have come out of the field with a better result than a draw.
The frustration was greater because the owners of the house opened the scoring with Adson, but suffered a tie in head of Douglas Santos after a corner kick, 33 minutes into the final stage.
Even with the breaks made by the referee so that the two teams could hydrate, it was visible the tiredness of the players in the final part of the confrontation.
Reginaldo Oliveira, 53, a physiologist of the Mooca team, said that duels under strong heat inevitably have a slower pace, especially in the second stage.
According to the professional, dehydration is the biggest concern of the coaching staff when temperatures are high.
“In a game at any time, it is considered normal if an athlete has a weight loss [por perda de líquido] up to 2%. From 2% to 4%, a yellow signal is already light. Above 4%, they are those athletes who are very dehydrated. On hot days, the guys lose up to 10%, “he said.
“It’s something that worries,” he added. “The main thing is to moisturize a lot during the day and the week. It’s no use doing it only on the day of the game.”
Anyway, of course, on the day of the game, the programming is more rigid, with abundant fluid intake. And the athletes have to dinner an hour after the match. As she ended around 5 pm, the dinner was scheduled for 18h.
“The replacement of energy loss needs to be done as quickly as possible,” said Oliveira.
According to the physiologist, who joined the technical committee of the Juventus professional cast last year, the use of GPS is important to monitor the mileage of each athlete. Data helps calculate wear, avoid injury and manage the workload.
“During training and during the games, we get close to the coach passing this information so that he can make decisions. Today, it was expected that it would be necessary to make all five substitutions. To leave, “he said.
When the match ended, some athletes sat on the lawn itself to recover their breath before leaving the field, still in strong sun.
