Last Wednesday (25), the Palm trees got one heroic 3-2 comeback victory over Independiente del Valleafter losing 2-0 to the Ecuadorian team, in the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
In addition to a qualified rival, Verdão faced another “opponent”: the altitude of 2,850m from the great Quito, which is always a complicating factor in games for the South American competition.
To minimize the effects of the rarefied air, Alviverde began planning for the match well in advance, carrying out special preparation through the club’s NSP (Health and Performance Center).
One of the measures was to carry out biochemical and hematological monitoring of the athletes’ blood, to check if they had the appropriate measurements for a game at altitude or if they needed corrections, mainly in the oxygen transport system.
“We carried out this previous analysis, because this is an issue that, through red blood cells and iron, we can make the necessary adjustments to this issue”, he explains. Daniel Gonçalvescoordinator at NSP.
Then, the team identified the players who were most fatigued from the draw with the Flamengolast weekend, at Brazilian championshipin order to help the committee Abel Ferreira when planning the team.
Afterwards, the team planned to travel to Ecuador two days before the match, which allowed them to carry out two training sessions in Quito, within the structure of the LDU.
For Gonçalves, this was essential for the athletes’ adaptation both to oxygen deprivation conditions and when dealing with the ball.
“We carried out two activities, training and activation, precisely so that the athletes could perceive the condition of the rarefied air and hyperventilate. There, they began to have more adequate self-knowledge, adapting mentally and in field training”, highlighted.
“During the activation itself, actions were also taken so that the players could adapt to the weather conditions, dynamics, body speed, ball hits, etc.”, he added.
In the Ecuadorian capital, the NSP continued to monitor the athletes who suffer most from the Sorojchithe famous “altitude sickness”, which causes discomfort such as headache and nausea in high altitude places.
“Medication-based corrections were made, in addition to identifying those that adapt most negatively through oximetry. At game time, we still use vasodilator resources”, he highlighted.
As a result, veteran athletes in the squad, such as full-back Marcos Rocha and the defender Gustavo Gómezmanaged to remain on the field for the 90 minutes.
In addition to them, the steering wheels Richard Rios It is Aníbal Morenowho were two of the athletes who ran the most on the field, finished the match “in one piece”, without feeling the effects of height so much.
This, combined with the “battalion” of young people that Abel launched in the final part (Luis Guilherme, Stephen, Vanderlan, Lazarus It is Flaco López) were seen at the club as preponderant factors in allowing the search for a turnaround until the stoppage time of the 2nd half.
