\n<\/p>\n
So who are the losers, besides fans who have forked out high prices for tickets to see free-flowing, entertaining football – only for the game to be stopped in each half?<\/p>\n
Well, World Cup debutants Curacao were in dreamland after equalising to make it 1-1 against Germany shortly before a first-half drinks break in Houston on Sunday.<\/p>\n
However, the smallest nation ever to play at the World Cup, by size and population, were not the same when play resumed and lost 7-1<\/a> after the drinks break allowed the Germans to regroup.<\/p>\n The Czech Republic were on top during the first half against South Korea<\/a>, but the hydration break abruptly ended that spell of pressure, and when play resumed, they lost momentum.<\/p>\n Despite taking the lead, they ended up losing the game 2-1.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Netherlands led Japan 2-1 going into the second-half hydration break in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday. They failed to hold on and drew 2-2.<\/a><\/p>\n Hydration breaks are not always the cause of these momentum shifts, of course.<\/p>\n But the further we go into the tournament, the more it should become clear whether the interruptions are becoming a major factor.<\/p>\n Former Arsenal and England forward Ian Wright made it clear where he stood on the breaks.<\/p>\n “I just think it’s another way of getting adverts into it from an American point of view,” he said.<\/p>\n