Gareth BaleWales. José Cifuentes, Jason Mendez and Diego PalaciosEcuador. Kelly’s Acosta, USA. In addition, the goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau would likely be in Canada’s World Cup squad had he not been seriously injured in the MLS Finals.
Finnish physical training specialist Anton Matinlauri coached the aforementioned soccer World Cup players this season. Among those being coached were also my defenders Giorgio Chielliniwhen Matinlauri’s employer Los Angeles FC won the first Major League Soccer championship in its short club history.
Bale, who moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013 for a record sum of one hundred million euros, is known for his tremendous athleticism. He won, among other things, five Champions League titles in Madrid, but in recent years the responsibility decreased dramatically.
In the summer of 2022, Bale moved to Los, as did the 38-year-old Chiellini, who had represented Juventus since 2004. Chiellini won nine Italian league titles and led his national team to European Championship gold in 2021.
– They are iron professionals. They are the first to arrive, take care of their body care and activation in the gym day after day after day. Both spend a really considerable amount of time on this every day, says Matinlauri.
– It has even come as a bit of a surprise to me how humble and down-to-earth guys they are, Matinlauri continues.
Italy did not make it to the World Cup. Chiellini ended his national team career in the spring when European champion Italy and South American champion Argentina met in the Finalissima match, which Argentina won 3–0.
Matinlauri says that working with Chiellini is partly based on the body knowledge of an experienced top performer.
– It has been important to understand what he has done in the past and what works and what doesn’t. On that side, I have also been able to learn a lot from him, for example, how he moves from a business-savvy point of view in different game situations. It also helps to understand individual coaching.
Wales will play in Qatar for the second time in their history in the World Cup tournament. The first was 1958 in Sweden.
The World Cup tournament has been the big dream of Bale’s career, which the club transfer to Los Angeles was also meant to serve.
Suffering from injuries, Bale played in 13 matches after his MLS transfer, but none of the full 90 minutes.
When Wales’ World Cup squad was announced, the head coach Rob Page gave skeptical comments about his captain’s fitness.
Matinlauri cannot give more detailed information about the status of his team’s player.
Bale played his first full 90 minutes in more than a year for the national team in September’s League of Nations. Since then, he has only played a total of half an hour, so the concerns are understandable.
Bale commented With Sky Sports (you switch to another service), that he has had a “little injury” and was not yet “100 percent fit” for the MLS final on Nov. 5. Now he swore he was under attack.
– I am completely fit and ready. If I have to play three of the 90 minutes, I can play, Bale promised, referring to the World Cup opening group matches against the USA, Iran and England.
To become a physical trainer of world stars
The 33-year-old Matinlauri is responsible for Los Angeles FC’s strength training and is involved in the players’ final stage rehabilitation on the field and in the penalty room. In addition, he helps in physical training on the field. The title is Head Of Strength & Conditioning – in short, you can talk about a physical trainer.
Matinlauri has completed the Uefa A coaching license. In addition, he is a NATA-certified athletic trainer and an NSCA-certified physical training specialist (strength and conditioning specialist). Titles and certificates awarded by international organizations are difficult, and there is not necessarily a direct compensation for them in Finnish.
Los Angeles FC has a head coach, three assistant coaches, a video analyst and a couple of data analysts. According to Matinlaur, this corresponds very closely to his last year at HJK.
The biggest differences come in terms of performance and medicine. LAFC has a Head of Performance, Head Of Strength & Conditioning (Matinlauri), a data analyst responsible for performance data, a psychologist, a nutritional therapist and doctors. In addition, the Head of Rehabilitation, Head of Athletic Training and other Athletic training personnel are on site at all times.
The boring and charming drama of the final match
LAFC, which played its first match in the 2018 MLS series, now belongs to Los Angeles’ City of Champions hegemony.
The Lakers have won the NBA championship 17 times, the Dodgers seven times the MLB, the Rams twice the Super Bowl and the Kings twice the Stanley Cup.
Los Angeles FC’s local rival Galaxy has won the MLS championship the most times, five times, the most recent of which was in 2014.
After their championship, LAFC’s players have been presenting their trophies at the games of the reigning Super Bowl winner Rams and the NBA club Clippers.
Los Angeles FC knocked off the Philadelphia Union in the MLS final match. It was, as cliche as it sounds, a dramatic thriller.
– Even the next morning, it was an unbelievable feeling that we really won and even after such an event. The body was in a euphoric state, Matinlauri updates.
In regular time, Philadelphia had leveled twice from special situations.
There were ten minutes left in the overtime when Philadelphia’s Jamaican striker Cory Burke ran into the drive through. LAFC goalkeeper Crépeau came across outside the penalty area and brought down Burke, worthy of a red card. In the same situation, Crépeau’s leg was broken.
– Extra time was painful. Especially when there was a red card and the goalkeeper was seriously injured, it was pretty quiet. However, it seemed that the situation would be taken care of and we would inevitably go to the commas.
When there were 123 minutes on the clock, i.e. the third extra minute of the overtime match was played, the defender Jack Elliott rushed Philadelphia into the lead with his second hit of the final.
Then Bale emerged, who had come from a substitute for the follow-on match. It was already the eighth minute of extra time, when Bale showed his mentioned ferocious physique. The 185-centimeter Welshman beat the almost two-meter Elliott in an aerial battle and pushed the ball into the net. Now the toughs were a fact.
You can see the nine-minute compilation of the MLS final on YouTube from this link (you will go to another service). The Tweets shown below are from Bale’s 3-3 tie in time 120+8.
First of all, LAFC’s fans Cristian Tello failed, but so did Philadelphia Daniel Gazdagwhich slipped.
After that changed to the goal John McCarthy blocked two consecutive moves, while LAFC’s next three moves were successful. That’s how the Los Angeles party started in guaranteed Yankee style.
Champagne showered in the dressing room. The next day, the championship parade was organized.
Bale only played extra time, but scored his first goal since August to save LAFC in the top flight. Chiellini did not play in the final.
The first name in the party parade was the captain Carlos Velawho would probably be part of Mexico’s World Cup team if he hadn’t ended his national team career.
The 33-year-old Vela, remembered in Europe for Arsenal and Real Sociedad, was LAFC’s first acquisition, a cornerstone piece. In the 2019 season, Vela and Galaxy Zlatan Ibrahimovic ravaged the opponents’ defenses. Vela won the goal exchange with 34 hits, Ibrahimovic was satisfied with 30 goals.
This season, the MLS goal exchange was won by the German from Nashville Hany Mukhtar with 23 hits. LAFC’s number one striker was Colombian Cristian Arango 16 with his goals.
– Vela was the club’s first big name. Now that he was able to bring the championship trophy, it was both a great honor for him as captain and to some extent probably a relief. He established himself as a club legend, believes Matinlauri.
Next season’s new challenges
Matinlauri will continue at LAFC for at least next season. A new challenge for the club is the clear increase in the number of games.
LAFC gets to play in the Champions League of Concacaf, the North American, Central American and Caribbean football confederation. In addition, the Leagues Cup of the Mexican league and MLS teams will start in its new form next summer.
Below you can listen to more about how Matinlauri described the preparation for the upcoming season.