The UEFA Super Cup clash tomorrow night, between Manchester United and Real Madrid, “will include water breaks if soaring temperatures in Macedonia continue, sources have told ESPN FC.”
The ESPN article adds that “Temperatures in the Balkans have been as high 40 degrees Celsius in the build-up to the game.” When you convert 40 degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit, you get 104! Wow! That’s hot, and we don’t mean that in any Paris Hilton kind of way.
The forecast, according to Google’s weather application, calls for a high temperature of 101 tomorrow in Skopje, although the temperature will “dip” into the low 90s or high 80s by kickoff time. That should provide some relief, but hydration breaks are increasing in frequency in global football these days, and it’s likely that these stoppages to go and take water will only become more frequent in the future. Climate change is a serious issue, and the health dangers that accompany the increasing numbers of heat waves, which now occur with more severity, are very real.
It’s fitting that Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power came out this past weekend, because it focuses on the topic of global warming.
The UEFA sanctioned water breaks will occur at 30′ and 60′ should the temperature exceed 32 degrees Celsius at kick-off time in the Philip II Arena. In Fahrenheit, it’s 89.6 degrees, which is right in accordance with what the forecast calls for. Real Madrid and Manchester United will plan accordingly.
Go here for the Super Cup match preview and prediction. Go here for the Super Cup Man United starting XI prediction.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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