Author of a thesis on athlete stress, psychologist argues that players' emotional state will be decisive in the knockout phase of the World Cup
Under pressure
Manuel Alves Filho
OThe physical and technical-tactical aspects will be decisive for a team to stand out in the World Cup, right? Wrong. The big difference will probably be in the psychological preparation of the players. The statement, which will make the hair of fans of both power and artistic football stand on end, is from a woman. But do not rush to criticize the forecast, using only the elements generated by our ingrained sexist culture. The analysis was carried out by Regina Brandão, a professional who has worked in sports psychology for around 18 years. With a PhD from Unicamp, she has already taught hundreds of athletes, in sports such as tennis, volleyball and, of course, football. As if that weren't enough, she is the “trusted woman” of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, known as Felipão, in this area. Two days before leaving for South Korea, where the Brazilian team played the first phase of the World Cup, the coach was with Regina. Together, they came up with some plans to work on the emotional side of the cast. For example, she suggested that the players be accommodated in individual rooms, a measure that earned praise from the stars.
Regina's logic is simple. In the physical aspect, according to her, the athletes competing in the World Cup are on the same level. With the exception of a few players, the majority play for major clubs in Europe, which means there is no big difference in this segment. The same can be said in relation to the technical-tactical part, since the World Cup brings together the biggest stars from the 32 countries qualified for the competition. What is the difference to be worked on, then? Now, the psychological side of each cast. “The team that manages to better control the emotional state of its players throughout the tournament will certainly have an advantage over the others”, assures the psychologist.
Even away from the routine of the national team, Regina has participated in the preparation of the Brazilian squad in Asia. The psychologist sends messages to Felipão, through his wife. “He is extremely sensitive and knows how to encourage his players,” she says. According to her, the psychological preparation of national team athletes is different from that used in a club. When wearing the yellow shirt, says the researcher, athletes feel the weight of responsibility. In addition to the tradition of a four-time world champion country, they still have to face the natural pressure of a short tournament that is being watched by billions of people. Success, in this case, will depend greatly on the unity of the group. “You have to control your vanities. From what I can see, Felipe is doing a great job, as both the stars and lesser players are showing similar behavior, with a lot of solidarity”, says the psychologist.
This week, the knockout phase of the World Cup begins, better known as the knockout stages. Whoever loses goes home. According to Regina, it is time to reinforce the psychological work developed so far, drawing players' attention to each one's responsibility. “It is necessary to highlight this aspect, including in relation to those who remain on the reserve bench. In addition to being required for difficult times, they are responsible for encouraging those on the field,” she warns. To exemplify the importance of this procedure, the psychologist recalls the case of a volleyball athlete, who competed in the Barcelona Olympic Games. The player, considered a reserve, gained seven kilos due to the prospect of not being used by the coach.
According to Regina, Felipão is not a coach who gets immediate results. He usually needs more time to convey to his team what he wants them to do on the field. According to the psychologist, who began working with the coach in 1998, when he was managing Palmeiras, Felipão always gave great importance to the psychological preparation of athletes. “He writes down everything I say and then gives me feedback. He is always concerned about encouraging his boys. Furthermore, Felipe has a lot of star power in decisive moments. He is the type of professional who likes tension and who can convey all the emotion he is feeling to the players”, says the researcher.
Although she only knows a few athletes who are competing in the World Cup, whose psychological profile she has drawn up, Regina believes that the plans drawn up together with the national team coach will yield good results. “I always say that the best teams are the ones that know how to expect the unexpected. Felipe is a professional who embodies this philosophy like no one else”, adds the researcher. Just wait and hope.
Thesis - The work that Regina develops in the sports area has a solid scientific basis, built over 18 years of activity. In December 2000, the psychologist defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Physical Education at Unicamp (FEF), with professor Pedro Winterstein as her advisor. The title of the work is “Stress factors in professional football players”. To carry out the research, she used the psychological assessment she had carried out on 520 athletes. The objective was to analyze how these professionals perceived stress and to what extent it could harm or help their performance.
According to Regina, 77 stress factors were identified. Some are related to the competition itself, such as playing against an unknown opponent or in a stadium without fans. Others are part of a personal plan: a bad night's sleep or a conflicting relationship with a teammate. There are also physical (excessive training) and traumatic variables (missing a goal at a decisive moment). Based on this data, the psychologist found that the perception of stress by athletes changes depending on the position in which they work and the length of their career.
Thus, the more experienced a player is, the less he perceives stress as negative. “While for a young player to concede a goal at the beginning of the game is desperate, for a veteran it is taken naturally, as he knows he can turn the score around”, explains Regina. According to her, goalkeepers also tend to perceive stress less negatively than attackers. This is due, she says, to the characteristics of each position. “Normally, the goalkeeper is quite cold and calm. Attackers, on the other hand, are more impulsive and explosive”, explains the psychologist.
Regina's thesis yielded some “puppies”, as she defines it. Versions have already been made for Spanish, English and Japanese. Thanks to this work, it was possible to establish differences in behavior between Brazilian and foreign players. “Brazilians are much more passionate. They perceive stress in a much more positive or negative way than others”, says the researcher. As an example, she cites the issue of favoritism against an opponent. “For an Argentine, this is a stimulating factor. Brazilians view this aspect negatively, as they claim that it interferes with concentration.”
