Dutch player Virgil van Dijk isn’t a fan of the hydration breaks introduced in this World Cup: ‘Every time going into a commercial, it’s a bit…not really that I like it’



    Posted by mcfw31

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    38 Comments

    1. Budget_Beautiful9824 on

      I completely agree with him. It totally ruins the rhythm of the game just for more commercials.

    2. I was so fucking confused what was happening when the first “hydration break” happened this weekend. Absolute crap trying to shove ads at football viewers.

      Tip: if you watch via Telemundo (or Peacock), they don’t do commercial breaks!

    3. They found a way to shove ads into a fluid game just like cricket did with “strategic timeouts”

      When has a player ever been stopped for taking a quick drink on the sidelines. It is such an obvious money grab.

    4. moodybluesock on

      Good for him for speaking up!! The hydration breaks should be a game by game decision according to some criteria and not mandatory for all games. It’s just a way to get more ad revenues in

    5. Media-consumer101 on

      It’s so typically American. The first time I watched the superbowl I was genuinely astonished by how the ads just seemed to be part of the game, I could barely get into the game before bam, another ad. 

      These drink breaks don’t compare to that quite yet, but it’s interesting to see just how bad for the viewing experience it is to be taken completely out of the game three times. Football is already such a slow game to watch majority of the time, slowing it down even more really sucks. At least America made their ‘football’ super quick to get some quick entertainment in between the ads, football just doesn’t fit that.

    6. This is why American Football became a spectacle that’s 2 hours for 12 minutes of play.

    7. Ohh… I don’t normally watch soccer/futbol (football?) so it thought this was normal lol. I was like wow, that’s nice, they really care about their players 😂

    8. Someone doesn’t understand that there is money to be made at everyone’s expense /s

    9. For the amount of time this man has his hair pulled back in a TIGHT bun I see no signs of traction alopecia. I wear mine sleeked back once in a while and I feel like I get a pronounced widows peak!

      What’s the secret Virgil?

    10. Extension-Gift4987 on

      He’s right. We don’t get ads here (even on the channel that has ads), but it does break the flow of the game. The hydration breaks should only be when necessary, not at every single match.

    11. No-Significance5659 on

      I thought it was an unnecessary commercial break shoved down our throats already but when I noticed many of the stadiums are closed and have AC I was floored.

    12. Objective_Tie_7626 on

      Why’s he holding back…should have went full ‘the corporate dogs are taking the piss’

    13. sundayontheluna on

      I’ve not been watching any of the games, so I missed this, but this feels like predictable enshittification. None of the top football leagues in the world have such breaks and yet manage to keep players hydrated.

    14. Charming_Slip8060 on

      I absolutely despise this ridiculous ploy to insert advertising into the World Cup. Futebol is played in two 45 minute halves (plus overtime, when necessary)- NOT “quarters.” Total BS.

    15. International-Top100 on

      Who could have predicted America would turn this into one long commercial marathon???!
      ![gif](giphy|7cTTE2Z1OmrFm)

    16. longlisten527 on

      FIFA is corrupt, go figure. I hate the broadcasting on Fox. I wish other companies would win the bid for it. I hate it so much and tired of seeing Lalas and Lloyd’s faces

    17. Im from Canada and moved to Europe, met an amazing English man and married him! He is obsessed with Football, works in the industry and now we have two children and I guess I have a football crazy family now! Something I at first was confused by, then learned to appreciate, and now absolutely love, is how there aren’t any breaks in the game. How the clock starts and stops literally once during the game. We’ve been married 15 years now, I watched my first football game with him 17 years ago, and honestly, it’s such a wonderful quality of the game- that there are no ads, that the time doesn’t stop. I didn’t get it at first, but it’s something I really like about the game.

      Anyway, that’s a LOOONG ass way of me saying that these ad breaks- sorry I mean „hydration breaks“ suck so bad. It fucks the flow of the game even more than I anticipated. It’s shitty and gross that they can use hydration to make a buck.

    18. BirthdayFull8675 on

      It’s obviously just so they can run more commercials and Americanize the beautiful game

    19. Straightouttaganton on

      No footy fans like it. It’s just corporate greed. Fuck FIFA and Infantino.

    20. Football is not a four-quarter sport, it’s a disgrace. It changes the entire essence of the game.

    21. I’ve always said the reason soccer never took off in the US is that networks need to play ads! TV exists to sell beer and cars. Hydration breaks are the Amerification of soccer.

    22. LanternPilot_82 on

      Yeah, I see that sentiment a lot. I guess it makes sense if youre in the middle of a good game flow.

    23. Maleficent_Phase_698 on

      As an American who doesn’t watch this sport, I completely forgot that there’s no commercials/breaks. I watched the World Cup at a friend’s house like a decade ago and was perplexed at the uninterrupted 90 minutes.

    24. cruelsummer31 on

      It’s wild seeing the captain of my favourite football team on the pop culture sub

    25. It’s just a fucking scam to allow corporations to shove their product down our faces