FIFA, the world football governing body, has taken a cue from the Super Bowl and is hosting its first-ever halftime show at the World Cup final outside New York on Sunday night. Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Madonna and Shakira are among the artists performing.
Therefore, the half-time break will be longer than usual, several media outlets report, although Spanish Marca writes that it is "only" about 20 minutes.
Lionel Messi and his teammates are not complaining about the extended half-time break, if Niklas Egnell is to be believed.
"We can probably guess that Spain will have the ball in this final and that Argentina will have to do a little more running. It's clear that they won't feel any worse about getting a longer rest at half-time," he says.
No increased risk of injury
The big topic of conversation leading up to the final has been whether the long break will slow down the pace or, in the worst case, lead to injuries as the players stiffen up. However, Egnell downplays the acute risk of injury.
Normally they have 15 minutes, but that means you have to be out after 12, so it's pretty tight normally. Those 12 minutes can be a tornado of emotions and then you have to go out again. Now I think the players are landing a little more. There won't be an increased risk of injury, I don't think.
The biggest challenge is instead managing the players' mental energy without suffering from what is known in sports terms as a "starting stretch" in the second half, but Egnell does not believe that this is a major concern here either.
"The leaders and players at that level won't stress themselves out because it's a double wait. They'll handle it wisely," he says.
How to handle the break
How do you practically handle a possible 30-minute wait in a locker room? Egnell, who was loaned to the men's national team during the World Cup, knows what's involved during the championship in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
"I think they'll spend this extra time on a mix of recharging, getting treatment, and spending extra time on bikes. I think they'll want to get all the players on the bikes, say between two and four minutes per player, to keep them going without taking too much energy," Egnell says, continuing:
Cycling is preferable to avoid this extra starting distance in the second half, but still keep the overall load down if they are preparing for 90 plus 30 minutes with extra time and penalties, says Egnell.
