The buzz about added time after each match of the National Team in the Olympic Games It is obvious. The interruptions of their rivals have become a constant in the last two matches, against Brazil and Colombia. Last Saturday, after Spain’s agonising victory in the quarter-finals of the tournament, Aitana Bonmatí expressed the team’s discontent: “We dominated the match, we played our game… Although, it was also a difficult match because, like Brazil, there were a lot of interruptions. Honestly, I feel bad that games have to be played like this. It’s not nice for the spectator or for football itself.”
Taking into account Aitana Bonmatí’s words and what was seen on the pitch, Relevo got down to work and pulled out a calculator. The data extracted proves the Ballon d’Or’s complaints right and is revealing. Of the 22 matches that have been played so far – the tournament is just a few hours away from starting its semi-finals – The two meetings in which the most time has been added are, precisely, the two mentioned at the beginning of the text: Brazil – Spain (in first place) and Spain – Colombia (in second place). Surprise.
In the last match of the group stage between the Cariocas and the Spanish – who will meet again at 9:00 p.m. – Espen Eskås, the referee of the match, added 10 minutes at the end of the first half and 20′ in the second half. Half an hour in total… not counting extra time and penalties. In fact, Alexia Putellas’ goal came in the 90′ + 17′. Although it is true that Marta Vieira was sent off, with the consequent loss of time, there were two goals and both teams used up their five substitutions, from the outside it gave the impression that Arthur Elias’ strategy was to interrupt play as often as possible. Judging by what was seen on the pitch, the role of Lorena, his goalkeeper, was especially important when it came to carrying out the plan.
DISCOUNTS ON REGULATION TIME PER MATCH
The data is even more valuable when compared to those of the first two matches of our team in the tournament. In the Spain-Nigeria (1-0) match, only seven minutes were added (2’+5′) and the Spain-Japan (2-1) match ended with 11′ (4’+7′). It was the penultimate and fifth match with the least added time in the tournament.
Cata Coll’s anger
“It is something that we are seeing in this tournament, that, in the end, we would like to see more continuity, because this favors the spectacle, it also favors the game, In our case, we can have less time wasted and more continuity, more concentration”Montse Tomé commented to Relevo about the circumstance. “I think that when things happen that you don’t control, we have to be more focused than ever and try not to give up on the game, which I think we’ve been doing up until now. Likewise, the Brazil game, which was not an easy context in terms of these time losses, and the team has continued to focus on moving forward, scoring goals and attacking,” reflected the national coach.
The match against Colombia also left its mark on our team. In that encounter, the Spanish team faced constant time-wasting by their rivals. In the first half, 10 minutes were added and in the second, 15. Cata Coll, one of the most outstanding players in the match, did not hesitate to express her anger in a recent interview with Relevo: “I didn’t really like the way they play, for me that’s not football. I didn’t like it at all, but oh well, that’s it, it’s okay. So let’s get on with it, keep playing, we know how to do it well and that way we’re sure to win.”
REAL TIME PLAYED BY COUNTRY
In a few hours, Spain will face Brazil again. Using the maths again, Brazil is the team in the tournament that has played the most extra minutes: an average of 22.50 per game. In total, the Cariocas played 450 minutes… and 90 in added time. That is, a whole match.
France is second in this peculiar ranking and Spain is third. The team managed by Montse Tomé has played 433 minutes (73 minutes in added time) and its average added time is 18.25 minutes and is close to the match: 0.82.
