Boston [US], June 23 : England head coach Thomas Tuchel criticised the hydration breaks in the ongoing FIFA World Cup, saying that it "interrupts and changes the identity of a football match".
In the ongoing FIFA World Cup, all 104 matches are stopped once in each half, regardless of the weather or if the stadium is air-conditioned, for a hydration break. An exception was made during the France versus Iraq clash on Monday, when the break was aborted as the match had already faced a two-hour delay following a thunderstorm in Philadelphia.
The breaks have met with boos from the fans at various matches across the group stage, with critics arguing that commercial breaks have been added by stealth for television viewers.
Speaking in a video posted by Sky Sports News, he said, "I think that it interrupts and changes the identity of a football match much more than I thought. Of course, I had hydration breaks before when it was really, really hot and needed, but they were shorter. They were just in a few matches. Now it is a point of fairness to every team. Now it breaks the match almost in four quarters, and it changes the characteristic of the match more than I thought."
On Monday, ahead of Lionel Messi-led Argentina's match against Austria, head coach Lionel Scaloni admitted he is still adjusting to the impact of hydration breaks at the tournament.
Scaloni acknowledged that the stoppages are changing the way coaches approach matches.
"Everything that I have in my mind can change depending on these 22, 23 minutes," Scaloni told reporters on Sunday of the disruption caused by the breaks, according to Reuters.
"We have people analysing the game, and we look for solutions. It is what you do in a normal halftime. It is for those who want to attack because you can amend certain things. It is weird to adapt to that. It is something that, if we do it more, it will become normal. I do not think this is normal to us yet," he said.
"We're trying to analyse things and correct things. Sometimes the match changes in the first period itself, and you can amend certain things. I understand it will change," he added, according to Reuters.