The former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool player responded with an impressive rant
As you’ve probably seen or heard, the FIFA 2026 World Cup is well and truly underway.
On Wednesday England face the Democratic Republic of Congo in their Round of 32 match, having won their group in the tournament, which is taking place across the USA, Canada and Mexico.
While the decision to expand football’s most prestigious tournament from 32 teams to 48 has proved controversial, perhaps the most notable change to play for this edition of the World Cup has been the inclusion of hydration breaks – effectively turning the game of two halves into a game of four quarters.
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This has not gone down well with many fans, who have taken to booing the hydration breaks, which many view as a chance to cram more adverts into the games.
And it is not just fans who are unhappy with the change. Former footballer Stan Collymore has taken to social media to express his annoyance with the change, which he said he viewed as unnecessary.
While Mr Collymore – who played for teams including Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace – may be a well known name to anyone who watched English football in the 1990s, his fame does not appear to be international.
Responding to his comments, one American user on X, formerly Twitter, decided to question his credentials on the subject.
He wrote: “Have you ever played a sport for more than 45 minutes straight? Would your performance had been better with a short break to hydrate and rest? Do you think fans want to see athletes perform at their best?”
This may have been a mistake, as Collymore – with 287 appearances and 110 goals in his professional career and three England appearances – responded on Tuesday night. And the result was impressive.
He wrote: “Yes, I’ve played elite level sport where my particular job was running with a ball at feet at around 30kph+ multiple times a half. 6 ft 4, 95kg. The tactical information given to me through a 7 day, not 3 minute period sufficed, as did the occasional squirt of electrolyte water per half.
“My performance would not have been improved at all by a hydration or tactical break. Pretty much like 99% of players over a 150 year period playing the most popular and most played sport on the planet by far. So maybe you can tell me.
“When was the last time you put your f****g Doritos, big gulp and chicken wings down long enough to know what professional sportsmen need rather than advertising executives or couch potatoes who need to be told 6 times in 20 minutes to buy a Jeep Cherokee, Whopper or diabetes medication instead of just enjoying the sport?”
No need for a penalty shoot out to determine the winner in that exchange.
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