Swedes apply the science

Few footballing nations have a better reputation for maximising their resources than Sweden. The Scandinavians are competing at their 11th FIFA World Cup and once again their qualities of good organisation and team work have helped take their largely unsung squad into the knockout stage.

As the Swedes prepare to face hosts Germany in the Round of 16, FIFAworldcup.com spoke to the team's physiologist Paul Balsom to learn about the science behind their success. An Englishman, Balsom is a sports scientist who describes his role as a combination of "fitness, match analysis and coaching".

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Here he gives an insight into the methods the Swedes employ to try and gain an edge on their rivals:

"I've worked with the Sweden manager Lars Lagerback for eight years and we use technology to reinforce the way we train and play football. It's not always easy for scientists to apply science to the day-in day-out of football but I'm not coming in and trying to radically change things, I just try to support what the coach is doing.

Analysis

For the first time at a major tournament, I've been able to film our games from high up in the television gantry and when I film it goes straight into the computer. Afterwards I sit down with the coaches, get feedback and then line up video footage to reinforce what they want to say to the players in the next meeting.

It is the same with reports on the opposition - we match everything in the scouting report with examples from the game. We make this information available to the players on DVDs so they can watch a particular player or a game the opposition were playing. Some players won't touch a DVD, some will want to before every game but it doesn't mean one is better than the other. They get this information already on the training ground, in team meetings ¡V the technology is just used to reinforce some key points.

We have on average two team meetings every three days, which last between 30 and 40 minutes. One thing we talked about before the England game was set-pieces. That is something that came up in my analysis - during the Paraguay game these were not as productive as we'd have liked - so we spent time on the field and during the team meetings and it is nice when something we work on pays dividends.

Fitness

I use the technology we have to monitor the players in training and help the coaches get the intensity of each session right. I sit down with the coach and see how intense he wants a session to be and we'll refine the tactical drills accordingly. The players wear heart-rate belts in every session ¡V it is very difficult to monitor the intensity of one player during a session, let alone 23, but with the belts their heart-rate data is beamed across into my computer as they train.

Taking it one step further we also use the Global Positioning System ¡V we have the possibility to attach a GPS unit to a player's back and we can monitor every step he takes, the distance he covers in training, all the different speeds ¡V his walking, his running, his jogging, his sprinting. You don't want a player running at a constant pace throughout training, you want short sustained bursts of high intensity exercise.

If I see one player who is doing something drastically different from what we want him to do, then I will speak to that player. If it is several players then it is more than likely a problem with the training session and I mention that to the coach.

Tactics

The fact we scored late against Paraguay and England suggests we are getting our preparations right. Finishing a game strongly is a combination of tactics and fitness ¡V it is about dividing high intensity work between the team as much as we can. For example when defending, if a player makes a short 10-15 metre run to put pressure on an opponent with the ball, once the ball has been passed he should then drop back and the next player makes the next high-speed run to pressure the ball and so on.

Of course, you don't stop a run halfway because your fitness coach has told you to save energy but if the players can get an understanding what is going on with their bodies, you can make them aware of the relationship between fitness and tactics. It is easy with Scandinavian players because they are very interested in things like this.

The basics

At a major tournament, you have to make sure you get the basics right before anything else ¡V recovery between matches, sleeping, eating right. Players can lose up to four or five litres of fluids during a game in extreme circumstances and we make sure we get our drinking right not just during but before and between games. The players drink a minimum amount in water and two different sports drinks to get their energy levels back. We allow them to drink coffee but make sure it is supplemented by a glass of water.

We weigh them every day and keep a check on the colour of their urine. We use ice baths and massage and cold towels in the changing rooms. We learned a lot about the heat in Japan four years ago. We were unhappy with the temperature of the changing room in Berlin, for example, which was 30 degrees during the game against Paraguay.

On paper we may not be seen as an especially strong side - the Swedish league is ranked 23rd in Europe and we had four Swedish-based players in the England game - but we do have a fantastic team spirit and the ability to get it right in our preparations and to work hard as a team."