26/03/07
Eurico Campos

He combines theoretical knowledge and practical objectivity. The professor Eurico Campos is a long time friend of Moraci Santanna and has an extensive experience on injury prevention and recovery. That’s why he was invited to work at Fenerbahçe, whose medical department was packed. Below, check his exclusive talk with Zico.

Zico: How did you end up in the football world?
Eurico: I have a Physical Education degree, and one of my college teachers was a physical coach at São Paulo, a famous Brazilian football team. He was my first contact with the football world. A few years later, he invited me to be his assistant when the Saudi Arabia National Team came to Brazil for the warm up activities to the 1982 World Cup Qualifiers. At that moment, he was introducing a stretching system which aimed to reduce muscular injuries on athletes.

Why and how did you begin to apply the Rolf method in football?
For many years, I worked as physical coach of football and volleyball athletes. One of my main concerns was about non-traumatic injuries which happened with athletes. It made me research other means of physical work, especially for injury prevention. That was when I discovered the Rolf Method, mostly known as Rolfing. I studied the technique in the United States and, after returning to Brazil, used it on the recovery of an athlete which underwent a major knee surgery and was having problems to return to pitches. The result was very positive. After that, I talked with Moraci, who decided to use the method in one of his athletes. That was in 1994. He was pleased with the experience and, whenever possible, invites me to work with him.

How does such technique work?
It uses deep massages to release and organize the tissue which covers the muscles and gives shape to our body. It is like a supermarket bag which takes the shape of everything you put inside. However, as important as the manipulation is the way I see the body of a person stood or in motion. Such reading allows me to understand how a particular structural pattern may be creating a pain or an injury. Thus, the work is the muscular manipulation, based on the understanding of the body organization.

How is the work being developed at Fenerbahçe?
My job is to connect the medical department and the coaching staff. When an athlete gets injured, he works with me for a customized work, respected the limitations imposed by the injury. In addition to speed up the recovery, it reduces the time for the reconditioning and the risk of a new injury when the athlete returns to pitches. We intend to apply the Rolfing technique on all squad members, in order to prevent injuries and speed up the recovery on the interval between practices and games. In addition to the Rolfing, we are using exercises for body correction, flexibility and strengthening.

May we call it an alternative technique for the athletes recovery?
I understand alternative as any option whose purpose is to replace a traditional practice. To me, Rolfing is a complementary treatment method, another way to approach a problem. I believe every resource must be employed at the most appropriate moment.

Which is the best way to use such complementary techniques? At a football club, the physician makes the diagnosis and, if necessary, the surgical intervention depending on the seriousness of the injury. The physical therapist takes care of the recovery, and my job is to do the post-recovery, the readaptation of the athlete to the physical activity. Then, the athlete is sent to the physical coach, who will be in charge of the specific work aiming performance.

Is there any contraindication for the use of these techniques?
I believe any deep or relaxing massage at the game day is contraindicated. Such type of massage lowers the muscular tonus, which causes the loss of the necessary aggressiveness for the competition.

In how much time do the results of such work appear?
The sensation after a Rolfing session is of greater physical perception, thus the result is immediate. However, for the relief of a symptom, the time of the treatment depends on the athlete’s structural organization. We are talking about problems on the body structure of an athlete and its consequences, and not about the cure of a serious injury – what requires another type of treatment.

How do you analyze knee injuries, is there a villain on this story?
I don’t believe that there is only one villain here. It is the sum of several factors. Football is a sport which overcharges this articulation: knee injuries have always been part of the sport. And the better physical conditioning athletes have today increased the space occupation in the game field and led to a greater contact among players – what causes more traumatic lesions. The structural modification of athletes and the exaggerated number of matches within a short period are other factors which cause knee injuries.

To finish, please send a message to our website readers.
Keep on supporting your idol through his website. Zico before is a very simple and open-hearted man. He is the type of person which makes you like him very quickly. I hope we can raise this trophy together – that’s what the whole group wants and we are working hard for it.


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