For Manuel Llorens, it’s mind over matter

Modern football can be cruel. Fathom this: Lionel Messi featured in Barcelona’s European Super Cup match in Monaco last Friday, turned out for the club in their Spanish La Liga opener at Camp Nou on Monday and then wore the captain’s armband in Argentina’s friendly against Venezuela at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday. He’s not done, mind you.

The South American giants will now fly to nearby Dhaka where they meet Nigeria on Tuesday. And once he returns to Spain, Messi will, sometime during that weekend, don his Barca jersey for another league fixture unless, of course, manager Pep Guardiola sympathises with him.

One wonders whether these jetlagged footballers sleep at all! The physicality may be a given but you can’t ignore the psychological aspect of the sport. And it certainly doesn’t help if you are one of those weaker sides. You are aware you don’t stand a chance of winning, but the papers, experts, fans and critics keep reminding you the same.

Well, spare a thought for the Venezuelans, who are ranked 40 in the world. Ever since they landed here on Tuesday, the ‘Cinderella of Latin America’ has been an ignored lot. While the coach and a few senior players don’t mind the lack of attention, quite a few youngsters in the team seem disturbed.

“This is new for them. And the last three days here have been about Messi, Messi and only Messi. Everyone is talking about the star-studded Argentine line-up and how we don’t stand a chance. The youngsters in our squad still don’t know how to cope with such situations,” says Manuel Llorens, Venezuela’s psychologist.

For the record, Argentina do not have a shrink in their squad, but they have their own ways of preparing for a game. Team officials say Messi meditates before and after a match in order to keep his mind fresh.

Llorens, on the other hand, has a one-on-one with the players every day after breakfast. His job this week hasn’t been easy. Venezuela have been victims of a series of goof-ups — their kits landed in Madrid and reached here on Thursday; hoardings across the City of Joy forced us to believe that Argentina would lock horns with Paraguay — and to add to it, the hype and hoopla surrounding Messi & Co has made their players look like nonentities. “These little things can have a lot of impact on the way the players approach a match. Some get over-aggressive in order to prove everyone wrong, while a few others get bogged down,” Llorens says.

“The idea is to prepare them mentally. The talks range from their personal life to their game and opponents. They should be calm and confident while on the pitch. They play so much football these days and there is so much stress. It’s important that they switch off from football for some time,” Llorens adds.