Croatia defeat England to set up final with France in the FIFA World Cup
NZME's award winning* football blog Goalmouth Scramble is back. Our rotating stable of football writers will offer daily hot takes on all the action from the World Cup in Russia. Today, Joel Kulasingham "reports" on the state of fans' sleep during the World Cup.
It was a damp, dreary evening in Brisbane, Australia. Winters don't hit as hard in this part of the world, but on this particular night, chills could be felt throughout Queensland's most populous city.
For Michelle (whose name has been changed upon her request), it was never in doubt what she was going to do that night - even if it meant sacrificing valuable sleep before a big work event.
"I had an official breakfast function I had to go to at 7.30am the next morning," says Michelle, a 35-year-old Queenslander and football fan. "But there was no way I wasn't going to watch the game out at the pub with the rest of the Aussie fans."
The Socceroos were going into their final group game of the World Cup against Peru with their hopes to progress to the next round still alive. The awkward thing for Michelle, and many other Queenslanders that night, was that the match would only start at midnight (local time) - forcing many fans to sacrifice the extremely important eight hours of recommended sleep time.
Michelle is one of thousands - millions even - football fans from around the world who are forced to sacrifice work, relationships, their own mental and physical health, and above all, sleep, just to keep up with the World Cup, the biggest showcase of the sport they love.
This is the untold story of those fans - the real heroes of the World Cup.
"Some nights I think I've been lucky to get 3 hours"
In an exclusive interview with the Herald, Michelle explains how getting up at ungodly hours of the night to watch the World Cup had started to take its toll.
"It's fair to say that the last few weeks have taken their toll," she says. "Some nights I think I've been lucky to get three hours [sleep] because I keep telling myself 'I'm only going to watch the first half of the first match'... OK, maybe the rest of the game... Well, just the start of the second match... then oops, it's almost 7am and I've stayed till the end of the penalty shootout and I need to get dressed and get to work in my lovely government office job."
It is a feeling that many football fans can empathise with, that impossible task of juggling work, family, friends and football, while managing to still get in those valuable hours of rest.
Something many World Cup fans wished they could be doing more of. Photo / Getty
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, sleep is very important for healthy brain function and emotional well-being. Who knew!
"Studies also show that sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain," it warns on their official website. "If you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, controlling your emotions and behavior, and coping with change. Sleep deficiency also has been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking behaviour."
But like many football fans, Michelle didn't have a choice. On that fateful night/morning in Brisbane, Michelle would end up having way below the recommended eight hour sleep time before having to wake up for work - a feeling that no football fan would wish on their worst rival.
"I did the only logical thing I could think of which was hiring a hotel room in the city instead of trying to get home," Michelle says. "I think I got to sleep at 3am, after watching the Aussies crash out of the cup and swigging red wine from a bottle with my newfound French friends in the beer garden of the Brisbane Pig n Whistle.
"I was wrecked the next day and to quote my friend, looked a little 'disheveled'."
Despite the horrific combination of seeing her team crash out of the World Cup and having significantly less than eight hours of sleep, Michelle remained in good spirits.
"You know what though? I'm having a ball! Even though I'm now sick as a dog from burning the candle at both ends, and I'm sure my professional reputation had taken a hit, I don't care - it's been totally worth it."
"My bodyclock is f***ed but the soul is still willing"
There's nothing worse than being an English football fan down under when it comes to sleep.
For Kyle, a 32-year-old Brit living in Sydney, lack of sleep is a familiar occurrence. But at the World Cup, where there can be several games throughout the night, being an Australian fan can even lead to sickness.
"[I'm] feeling run down and I have the sniffles after double late nights over the weekend," Kyle says.
"Currently trying to sleep off this run down, bunged up nose and rest up before the 4am kick off.
"My bodyclock is f***ed but the soul is still willing."
The 4am kick off he was referring to was the World Cup semifinals. Unfortunately for Kyle, he would also experience the no-sleep and team heartbreak double whammy after England lost to Croatia 2-1 this morning.
Kyle did not respond to calls from the Herald after England's loss.
A lack of alternative options
The advent of DVRs and on-demand services has provided much-needed relief for some fans and an alternative way to watch football, especially the World Cup. But it requires an almost superhuman ability to stay away from social media and society in general.
Or for Brandon, a teacher in Colorado, it simply provides a whole new way to lose sleep.
"I would be busy with the family all day, and then start watching the games on the Fox Sports app once everyone else was asleep," Brandon says.
"Those early days with three or four games kept me up all night just to do it again the next day."
Games are played during the day in Washington, where Brandon is living during the World Cup, but - as many fans can attest - life got in the way, forcing him to catch up on the games later, ruining his sleep in the process.
It doesn't matter from what part of the world you come from, the World Cup will always find a way to take your sleep away.
*Goalmouth Scramble's "award" was more of an inter-company acknowledgement in an email from 2012.
