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Whose bright idea was this?

April 19th, 2006 | By: John | 11 Comments »

One would think that when a team prepares for a world cup, they would do it with a complete absence of unwelcome distractions. The Mexican National Team’s coaching staff has planned a very thorough 2 month training regimen which includes sea level and high altitude training. Sounds like a novel idea, doesn’t it? Then why on earth did they pick Acapulco during its busiest time of the year?

The extensive training schedule that Physical Fitness Director, Milton Graniolatti has devised has had to be revised. The team has to fight through an ocean of fans to get to their next station. Security is almost non existent. Around 500 people broke through the “security” during one of the training sessions. In other words, it’s a mess. There is talk of cutting the Acapulco sessions short and heading back to the National Training Center, but as of late last night, the team is going to stay at the beach.

As far as the players, they enjoy mingling with the crowd, and always try to give them some attention. But this isn’t Spring Break, they are getting ready for a world cup. As always, the endlessly charismatic Kikin Fonseca said it best. “If it was up to us, we would stay with the fans until 11 pm, but our priority is to get ready for the upcoming tournament.”

They will stay in Acapulco for at least one more day, but the decision to go back to the training center rests ultimately with Graniolatti.

Tags: Acapulco, Chaos, Mexico, training

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Comments

By The Blog Goes On 04.19 - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | April 19th, 2006 at 11:06 am

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By Rene | April 19th, 2006 at 11:48 am

I don’t think the problem is being in Acapulco. Any beach resort would have the same problem. The main problem is the lack of coordination with hotel and local authorities to secure the premises.

Doing sea level and altitude training is nothing new. Most teams in mexico do that, and they always have to start with the sea level training for two reasons: doing some aerobic excecise in the beach allows players to strengthen ankle and legs while being soft on the knees, and it also provides the players with a better intake of oxygen, which in turn increases the level of red cells. Once they go into altitude training, the red cells are prepared to have a much better usage of the oxygen present, since the level of oxygen in high altitudes is lesser than that at sea level. The combination of a higher number of red cells and better use of oxygen by them is a great combination which will allow players to keep their endurance level for a longer time during a match.

It would really suck if they had to cut their beach training short. Hopefully things will be resolved today.

By John | April 19th, 2006 at 11:59 am

Have you ever been to Acapulco during the easter holidays? It is by far it’s busiest time of the year. The city, a the minumum, doubles in size, and the city has a pop. of 1 MM. I completely agree that sea level and altitude training are essential. I just think they could have picked a more secluded place to do their beach training. Acapulco is a wonderful place, I have been there many times. I honeymooned there. The one thing it is not is secluded.

Posted from United States

By Rene | April 19th, 2006 at 12:36 pm

I lived there for 8 years. I do know what it is like, since it was part of the experience of living there. Still, that hotel area (Pierre Marques) tends to be a bit more secluded than the bay area since you need $$$ to stay there.

By John | April 19th, 2006 at 12:50 pm

8 years, eh? My family has a have a house on La Mira. You may need $$$ to stay at Pierre Marques, but you certainly don’t need it to go hang out & watch the Tri.
So with your experience of living ther, wouldn’t you agree, then, that Acapulco is not the best choice to conduct a training camp? Especially during the peak tourist season?

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By Rene | April 19th, 2006 at 1:59 pm

ok… mention places close to Mexico city with the typo of sand and infraestructure Acapulco has.

If there were nany, teams would use them all the time.

By John | April 19th, 2006 at 3:03 pm

It appears that the biggest problem was security. Their was a much higher sense of order this morning. They actually had checkpoints. Hopefully this issue has been quelled, and we can go back to our usual duties of spreading rumors and opining about senseless things.

I do see your point about Aca, but things could have been planned a little better. They probably would have run into the same problems at PV,Nuevo Vallarta, Ixtapa, Manzanillo, Nuevo Vallarta, Mazatlan, Los Cabos, Huatulco,Puerto Escondido, Cancun….

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By Luis Carlos | April 19th, 2006 at 5:27 pm

they could’ve gone up north. Mazatlan,Cabos, Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexicali, San Carlos, Puerto Peñasco, Culiacán, Hermosillo.

A lot of sun, very high temperatures, good infrastructure, beaches, diferent climates near by.

There are a lot of places they could’ve chosen, any trip from Mexico city to any part of Mexico on plane is less than 4 hours away.

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By Big-Baller-Shot-Caller | April 19th, 2006 at 5:50 pm

This seems much ado about nothing. The fact that training got interupted is not good but security guards are now in place to prevent this.

Teams like Brazil are used to training in a fan-friendly atmosphere. They rarely close the doors to training sessions even during the world cup!

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By Rene | April 19th, 2006 at 8:59 pm

Luis Carlos:

The whole point of doing it near Mexico City is because trying to find a plane for 30+ people in Semana Santa is both very difficult and very expensive.

By The other’s week - FIFA World Cup 2006 - Portugal World Cup Team Blog | April 23rd, 2006 at 10:07 am

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