It’s not a hot take to say that international breaks are dull and boring for most of us. Most people in the futbol/football/soccer community all across the world hold this view. Still, falling asleep during an international match, especially one that sees your country qualify for the World Cup, is really an extreme case of being disinterested.
Argentinian and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino conveyed some next level disregard for international break tedium here.
In his defense, Argentina measures itself by how deep and far they go in the World Cup, not by qualifying. Just making it is par for the course and nothing to get excited about. Then again, the Albiceleste were in a do-or-die, there’s no tomorrow kind of situation regarding Russia 2018, and they still needed a Lionel Messi hat trick to even qualify; which they did by the skin of their teeth.
“If I’m honest, I fell asleep,” the former member of the Argentinian national team told radio station Cadena Cope.
“My wife was angry because my children were watching the game in the room next door, shouting and waking me up. I then put the radio on. I didn’t know anything about the first goal [for Ecuador] but did hear about the equalizer.”
Mauricio Pochettino explained that his reason for dozing off was due to sleep deprivation, and overwork.
“I watched the highlights the next day I’m a minimum of 12 hours a day in the training centre,” Pochettino said.
“I usually get there around 7am and I leave at 7pm or 8pm depending on the day. It’s a long day.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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