Aged 39 and about to play in a record-extending sixth European Championship, Cristiano Ronaldo’s longevity at football’s highest levels almost defies belief.
Luka Modric is 38, still performing for Real Madrid and will be expected to provide the X Factor for Croatia at the Euros in Germany, which start June 14,
The best players are extending their careers for longer, despite the increased pace and intensity of the modern game.
Higher levels of fitness and stamina are being demanded of athletes, but that is being matched by ever-improving expertise in how to maximize performance.
“Sports science has had an impact on how we prepare the modern-day player in terms of diet, nutrition, lifestyle, training programs. We’ve moved out of the 80s and 90s with the increased level of professionalism,” Tony Strudwick, a sports scientist with more than three decades of experience in football, told The Associated Press.
Strudwick has held prominent roles at Manchester United, Arsenal and England and is currently director of medical at West Bromwich Albion.
He worked with Ronaldo at United when the Portugal forward first established himself as one of the best players in the world.
“He just set himself up for success,” Strudwick said. “I said four or five years ago, knowing how professional Ronaldo was, he could play up to the age of 40. That was no problem.”
With his 40th birthday in sight, Ronaldo shows no sign of being ready to quit. And with the advancement of sports science, the longevity that the likes of Ronaldo and Modric are achieving could become the norm.
ATTITUDE
It’s not so much that athletes have changed physically over the years — rather it has been a shift in mentality.
“We have seen a kind of evolution in professionalism as opposed to an evolution in genetics,” Strudwick said. “It wasn’t that players were unprofessional (in the past), they just didn’t know what they didn’t know.
“There’s a lot more scrutiny on players in terms of accountability.”
Improvements in player lifestyle is lengthening careers, with many using the services of fitness and conditioning experts to ensure they remain in prime condition even during the offseason.
Ryan Giggs took on yoga in his later years to help extend his career and allow him to play for United until he was 40.
DIET
Many top players also rely on the services of private chefs who deliver daily meals that are nutritionally balanced, while also being of restaurant quality.
That’s in addition to what’s provided by elite clubs, which have nutrition departments to help players keep food diaries and provide them with diet coaching.
In the past, some players would have pre-match meals of steak. Much has changed, with some managers banning sauces at the table.
Rod Thornley, a masseur who worked with Manchester United and England, can remember when Italian coach Fabio Capello took charge of the Three Lions.
“The first ever pre-match meal was just a massive bowl of pasta. No sauce, just pasta,” Thornley told the AP. “The lads were looking round going ‘What is this? We can’t eat this.’ And that’s all he offered. That was it.”
INJURY PREVENTION
Massage plays a role in avoiding soft tissue injury. Contemporary players will have several massages throughout the week at the training ground or at home.
“With the more exercise you do, the more tight your muscles become,” Thornley said. “You are affecting muscles, you’re affecting muscle mass, you’re affecting your buildup of tightness, your lack of elasticity in the muscle.
“It’s a huge part of keeping a player fit, keeping a player healthy, keeping them on the pitch.”
Ice baths are also used to help recovery.
MONEY
For all the ambition of players to continue as long as they can, there is also a clear financial incentive at a time when the rewards have never been higher.
It only makes sense for a player to want to extend their earning potential. Ronaldo, for instance, is reportedly paid $200 million a year playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi League. He is the CEO of the money-making machine that is his playing career. It is something Strudwick calls the “rise of the entrepreneur” football player.
And it can apply to players much lower down the food chain than Ronaldo.
“There is a big incentive to keep your career going,” Strudwick said. “An extra five years at the back end of your career sets up the modern footballer for a very, very comfortable future.”
DRIVE
In the case of Ronaldo, a remarkable career that has seen him win five Ballon d’Or awards for the best player in the world is no accident, according to Thornley.
They worked together at United, where Ronaldo won the first of his five Champions League titles.
“Ronaldo just had that mentality where he was just wanting to be the best at everything,” Thornley said. “He wanted to be the best player in the world from the second he turned up there. He was just one of those lads that you knew he would do whatever it took to be that person, and he did and he proved it.”
Cristiano Ronaldo and Modric go to Euro 2024 showing age is no boundary for football’s modern stars
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Cristiano Ronaldo and Modric go to Euro 2024 showing age is no boundary for football’s modern stars
- The best players are extending their careers for longer, despite the increased pace and intensity of the modern game
Postecoglou plays dangerous game with gestures to Tottenham’s disgruntled fans
“We’d just scored a cracking goal,” he said. “I wanted them to cheer because they hadn’t had a lot to cheer about”
LONDON: By cupping his ear and waving sarcastically, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou went head-first into a confrontation with his critics.
Unfortunately, those critics were the club’s hard-core fans.
Postecoglou, whose future at Tottenham has been looking increasingly uncertain in a tough season for the underperforming London team, might have gone a step too far Thursday when he appeared to goad his own supporters during the 1-0 loss at Chelsea — even though he later denied having that intention.
Tottenham’s away contingent had serenaded Postecoglou with a chant of “You don’t know what you’re doing” after the combative Australian coach made two substitutions in the 64th minute at Stamford Bridge, including bringing on Pape Sarr to replace fellow midfielder Lucas Bergvall.
Within five minutes, Sarr scored a goal from long range and Postecoglou reacted by facing the end containing Tottenham’s fans, cupping his hand to his ear and then waving.
Unfortunately for Tottenham and Postecoglou, the goal was disallowed and Chelsea went on to secure a 1-0 win that consigned Spurs to a 16th loss in 30 Premier League games this season.
Postecoglou was asked about his actions after Sarr’s “goal” and, in his unique style, said “I wanted them to be happy, mate.”
“We’d just scored a cracking goal,” he said. “I wanted them to cheer because they hadn’t had a lot to cheer about.”
Tottenham fans sure will attest to that this season.
And his explanation might not wash with many fans who appear to have turned against their manager, maybe because of the team’s results, maybe because of his style of play, and maybe because of increasingly unhappy demeanor.
It was only a couple of months ago, after a 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Leicester, that he attempted to confront a fan who had directed criticism the Tottenham manager’s way as he walked down the tunnel.
That is one thing, however. Appearing to taunt supporters — though he denied doing so again in a news conference on Friday, maintaining his actions did been misinterpreted — is another.
“I’d heard the supporters weren’t happy with my decision, which is fine,” he said, “and my response was to celebrate and get them to make some noise and get them behind the team.”
Postecoglou, who is coming to the end of his second season at Tottenham after joining from Celtic, said he wasn’t affected by fan criticism.
“I have been fighting my whole career,” he continued, “and I’ll continue to fight until I’m told to stop by someone.”
Given the growing disconnect between Postecoglou and the fans, winning the Europa League — and thereby ending Tottenham’s 17-year wait for a major trophy and securing a place in next season’s Champions League — might be the only thing that keeps him in his job.
Tottenham play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarterfinals, with the first leg on Thursday.
Lose and Tottenham just have Premier League games left to play. The team are in 14th place in the 20-team league, making it a woeful campaign for a team among the so-called “Big Six” in England and which were one of the clubs pushing to join a breakaway Super League four years ago.
Postecoglou, who has previously blamed injuries for his team’s poor results this season, said Friday he understood the criticism heading his way and didn’t want to “say something that somehow will change the mood of the fans.”
“I still believe we’ve got a massive opportunity for ourselves this year,” he said, “and I’m not going to let that slip away — whether that’s from external or internal pressure.”
Ariya Jutanugarn maintains group lead over Nelly Korda at T-Mobile Match Play
- Jutanugarn, of Thailand, won 2 and 1 against Altomare to continue to lead Group 1, though she will face Korda in the final leg of the round robin Friday
- Angel Yin (1-0-1) leads Group 10, and Russia’s Nataliya Guseva (1-0-1) is on top in Group 15
LAS VEGAS: World No. 1 Nelly Korda avoided a second straight collapse, but Ariya Jutanugarn maintained her advantage in Group 1 play Thursday at the T-Mobile Match Play in North Las Vegas, Nevada
Korda built a lead and held on to finish 1 up on Jennifer Kupcho, who fell to 0-2 in the event. That marked an improvement from Wednesday for Korda, when the defending champion settled for halving her match after losing a late lead to Brittany Altomare.
“Golf doesn’t necessarily bring out (head-to-head competitiveness) unless you’re in a playoff or whatnot,” Korda said. “(It) just makes you a little bit more aggressive of a player.”
Jutanugarn, of Thailand, won 2 and 1 against Altomare to continue to lead Group 1, though she will face Korda in the final leg of the round robin Friday. A win there would give either player the group.
The 64-player field is divided into 16 four-player groups competing in three days of round-robin matches. A win earns one point, a tie earns a half-point and a loss is zero points. The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning Saturday. In the event of a tie for first place in a group, a playoff will determine which player advances. The quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, with the semifinals and final on Sunday.
Overall, 12 golfers are 2-0 through two days of play at Shadow Creek Golf Course, putting each in a strong position to win her group and advance to the 16-person field Saturday.
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul defeated Mexico’s Gaby Lopes 2 and 1 to get to 2-0 in Group 2. South Korea’s Sei Young Kim upended Japan’s Yuna Nishimura 4 and 2 to advance to 2-0 in Group 4.
Group 5 features Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou leading the way at 2-0 after her 4-and-2 victory over Japan’s Ayaka Furue.
The only group with a pair of 2-0 golfers is Group 9, as South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim and Sweden’s Maja Stark are still perfect and face off Friday.
Other 2-0 golfers after two days include Japan’s Mao Saigo in Group 7 (the only debut golfer at 2-0), Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson in Group 8 (having played only playing 27 holes — the fewest in the field), France’s Celine Boutier in Group 11, South Korea’s A Lim Kim in Group 12, Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom in Group 14 and South Korea’s Narin An in Group 16.
Group 3 and 13 each have a four-way tie for first place at 1-1-0, while England’s Charley Hull and South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai co-lead in Group 6 at 1-0-1.
“I love this format and it’s been a lot of fun,” New Zealand’s Lydia Ko said after winning her Thursday match 6 and 5 over Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels to get into that four-way tie in Group 3. “Yesterday I came off the day not feeling like defeated. I still had a great time.”
Angel Yin (1-0-1) leads Group 10, and Russia’s Nataliya Guseva (1-0-1) is on top in Group 15.
Stephen Curry scores 37 points as Warriors beat Lakers in potential first-round playoff preview
- The Golden State Warriors score their fourth win in a row
- Curry was coming off a 52-point effort, including 12 3-pointers, at Memphis on Tuesday
LOS ANGELES: Stephen Curry scored 37 points, Brandin Podziemski added 28 and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 123-116 on Thursday night for their fourth win in a row in a potential first-round playoff preview.
Podziemski had a career-high eight 3-pointers on a night when Curry was 4 of 11 from long range. Curry was coming off a 52-point effort, including 12 3-pointers, at Memphis on Tuesday.
LeBron James had 33 points and nine assists to lead the Lakers. Austin Reaves added 31 points, including nine 3-pointers, Rui Hachimura had 24 points and Luke Doncic had 19 points, missing all six of his 3-point attempts.
Doncic’s basket got the Lakers to 105-99 in the closing minutes. Curry and Podziemski hit back-to-back 3-pointers and James and Reaves answered with ones of their own, leaving the Lakers down by seven.
James and Curry traded scoring runs in the third, when the Lakers closed within eight after trailing by 16 in the second quarter. James had 12 of 14 points for his team early on. Curry ran off 13 in a row and then made three free throws to send the Warriors into the fourth leading 88-77.
Jonathan Kuminga added 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which beat the Lakers for the first time in four games this season. The Warriors’ last win in LA came a year ago.
Takeaways
Warriors: They closed a six-game trip — tied for longest of the season — with a 4-2 mark. They remain in a tight battle to hold onto a top-six seed and avoid the play-in tournament with six games left.
Lakers: James went over 11,000 points as a Laker on a 3-pointer in the second quarter, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to do so.
Key moment
Reaves made a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to leave the Lakers trailing 121-116 in the closing seconds. But Doncic fouled Curry, who made both.
Key stat
The Warriors won without needing Jimmy Butler, who had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He’d been averaging 17.3 and had 27 against Memphis.
Up next
Both teams complete back-to-backs on Saturday. The Warriors host Denver and the Lakers host New Orleans.
Trump hopeful of ‘great’ PGA-LIV golf merger
- Trump: You’ve got the PGA Tour, you’ve got the LIV tour. And I think having them merge would be a great thing
- PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this month that Trump’s intervention in ongoing negotiations had “significantly bolstered” hopes of reunifying the sport
MIAMI: President Donald Trump said Thursday he is optimistic of an eventual merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf following a new report of a stalemate in negotiations to reunify the game.
Speaking on Air Force One as he traveled to Florida ahead of this weekend’s LIV Golf Miami event at Trump National Doral, the US leader said he believed a merger was inevitable.
“Ultimately, hopefully the two tours are going to merge,” Trump told reporters. “That’ll be good. I’m involved in that, too, but hopefully we’re going to get the two tours to merge.
“You’ve got the PGA Tour, you’ve got the LIV tour. And I think having them merge would be a great thing.”
Trump, a keen golfer, has hosted two rounds of recent talks at the White House between leaders of the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-financed LIV as the sport attempts to move on after LIV’s entry in 2021.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this month that Trump’s intervention in ongoing negotiations had “significantly bolstered” hopes of reunifying the sport.
However, a report in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper on Thursday said negotiations had reached an impasse after the PGA Tour failed to deliver “serious concessions” in exchange for a $1.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund which bankrolls LIV.
The Guardian report citing unidentified sources said PIF had sought assurances from the PGA Tour that the LIV circuit would continue following any deal, and that the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, would be appointed as co-chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.
However, the PGA Tour rejected both of those requests in a response to LIV sent on Monday, according to The Guardian.
News of the deadlock comes ahead of the first major of the year at next week’s Masters at Augusta National, where 12 players from LIV Golf will tee off against top rivals from the PGA Tour.
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, one of the highest-profile players to defect to LIV Golf, admitted this week that he was disappointed that the Saudi-funded circuit had not progressed further in its four seasons.
“I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,” he said. “But they’re making progress and it seems to be going in the right direction.”
Enzo Fernandez grabs winner as Chelsea beats Tottenham to climb to 4th in Premier League
- Chelsea climbed above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League
Enzo Fernandez sent Chelsea back into the Champions League qualification positions with a second-half header that secured a 1-0 win over Tottenham in a typically feisty Premier League derby between the London rivals on Thursday.
The Argentina midfielder got in between defenders to nod home Cole Palmer’s cross in the 50th minute at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea climbed above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League, which should have five spots in next season’s Champions League. There are eight rounds left in the league.
This fixture has been wild and chaotic in recent years and while the latest edition was hardly a classic, there were 10 yellow cards and a melee to go with two goals disallowed after video review — one for each side.
Moises Caicedo thought he had put Chelsea 2-0 ahead in the 56th when he volleyed home sweetly after a free kick was only partially cleared, but the goal was ruled out for offside against Levi Colwill in the buildup after long VAR check that frustrated fans.
Tottenham substitute Pape Sarr then had a long-range strike scrubbed off because he fouled Caicedo before surging forward to take his shot. In the end, Sarr lost his goal and was booked for his challenge.
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min had a chance saved by Robert Sanchez before 12 minutes of stoppage time.
“If we want to become an important team, we need to win in a dirty way, ugly way,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said, “and (I’m) quite happy.”
Tottenham stayed in 14th place, with its priority now clearly the Europa League after reaching the quarterfinals. This was another below-par league performance that will pile the pressure on its under-fire manager, Ange Postecoglou, who was unhappy at Sarr’s goal being disallowed and faced some criticism from fans for his substitutions during the second half.
“My subs have been booed, it’s not the first time,” Postecoglou said. “They are allowed to boo.”
The match saw the return from injury of Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson after two months out.
