If you have watched several soccer matches before, then you have definitely seen the soccer players head towards their locker rooms during the halftime of the match. But the real question is what do they do inside these locker rooms during halftime?
The halftime of a soccer match is only 15 minutes long, so in general, there isn’t much time to do a lot of different things during halftime, but here’s what the players usually do during these minutes.
At halftime, soccer players take some personal time for themselves, then they listen to their coach’s instructions for the second half of the match. Soccer players also use the halftime to change their equipment if needed, keep their bodies warm, and seek medical attention to reduce the risks of injury.
So there it is, this is what soccer players usually do during halftime, but in case you’re interested in more details, here are some for you.
The following is a detailed timeline of what soccer players do during the halftime of a soccer match
1- Players head to their locker room and take some personal time for themselves
After the referee of the match blows their whistle indicating the end of the first half, the players immediately head towards their locker room and take a few minutes to cool down a little bit and catch their breath.
Usually, players are given only a few minutes of time for themselves because there isn’t a lot of time to waste.
If any of the players believes that they need medical attention after the first half, then the club’s medical team will be ready to check the player and give them the medical care that they need.
For example, if a player was slightly hit during the first half, and they decided that they can continue playing, then the medical team during halftime will check the player and make sure that they can continue playing the rest of the match without having a high risk of serious injury.
2- The coach of the team joins the players.
After the players get their few minutes of personal time, the coach arrives in their locker room to motivate them and to give them instructions for the second half.
The coach does not have a lot of time obviously so they try to address the most important observations that they had about the first half of the game.
Usually, the soccer coach will analyze the strategies that their opponents were using during the first half, and then he/she will give some instructions to their players to counter their opponent’s strategies.
Coaches also use the halftime to give instructions to specific players if these players weren’t performing the way they were expected to perform in the first half.
3- Players change their equipment if needed.
As mentioned in a previous article on this blog, the players may decide to change their jerseys during halftime in case the jerseys are extremely dirty and sweaty.
Players can also change any other equipment that they have including their cleats or their shin guards if they believe that the equipment isn’t in good condition anymore.
Usually, players will change their equipment while the coach is giving them instructions in order to not waste any minute of the halftime.
4- Players eat some quick snacks during halftime
Soccer is an extremely physically demanding sport. In other words, soccer players lose a lot of energy during the first half of any match because of the physical activities that they engage in during that half.
In order to compensate for the energy loss, and in order to make sure that they have enough energy for the second half of the game, some soccer players eat quick snacks that can help boost their energy.
The type of snacks that they pick is usually the ones that give them enough energy as fast as possible without having any drawbacks on them during the second half of the match.
The players will usually find the snacks prepared for them and ready to be consumed as soon as they head towards their locker rooms.
5- Players try to keep themselves warm during halftime
If you have done any kind of physical exercise before, then I’m sure you know about the importance of keeping your body warm in between any exercises that you’re doing.
The same thing goes for soccer players doing the halftime of any game. The players are supposed to not let their body temperature cool down a lot or else their performance might decline during the second half of the game.
In order to do this, the players either keep moving in order to keep their body warm or they rely on the locker room’s temperature.
So, the players have to find a balance between letting their body cool down a little bit if they need any medical attention during the halftime of the game, and keeping their body warm enough to be able to perform well during the second half of the game.
That’s it. This is what soccer players most commonly do during the halftime of any game, but I’d like to add a few more things before I end this article
6- Players check the scores of other games during halftime
It’s very common that you find multiple soccer matches being played at the same time during soccer leagues.
Sometimes, the results of the matches that are being played at the same time can affect the teams playing these matches.
For example, let’s say that the top 2 soccer clubs in a soccer league have the same amount of points, and there’s only one match left for each team before the end of the season.
Let’s also suppose that these team’s last matches are going to take place at the same time. In this case, each team will desperately want to know the results of the other team’s game and the only time they get to know that is during the halftime of their own game.
It’s true that this scenario is rare, but it happens. There have been many times when a soccer league’s winner was determined in the last game of the top 2 clubs of the season.
Soccer players might also want to know the results of the soccer matches of the teams that are in the same group stage with them.
They also might want to know the result of the match that decides who’s going to be against them in the next stage of the competition in case they win and so on.
So, there are many scenarios in which the soccer players might want to take some time to check other match results during the halftime of their game.
7- Soccer players may listen to some music during halftime
This is the final point that I want to discuss in this article and I’ll make it quick.
Music has been proven to be effective on soccer players according to this Guardian article. The article claimed that when the soccer players listen to some music as a preparation for the game, they’ll perform better statistically.
So, it doesn’t hurt if soccer players decide to listen to some motivational music during halftime if this music can push them to perform better during the second half of the game.
With that said, I’ll end my article here. Here’s a quick summary of what you have just read.
SUMMARY
During halftime, the players first get a few minutes to catch their breath and think about the game, then they’ll take some instructions from their coach about what to do in the next half. Players then change their equipment if necessary and might eat some quick snacks to restore some energy for the second half of the game.
During halftime, some players may listen to some music to motivate themselves and they might check the scores of other soccer matches that are taking place at the same time.