Portugal coaches use new video data analysis of 'mice and monkeys' to track Ronaldo & co.

Ever since the Portuguese national team has clinched the Euro 2016 title with a victory against France, Cristiano Ronaldo and co. have emerged a fierce side in the continent. Their efforts were further rewarded when they won the first UEFA Nations League title in 2019. Now, a startling report suggests that the team's coaches used a different approach to keep a tab on the players' performances. 

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Portugal video data analysis use: Cristiano Ronaldo and co. benefit from new technology 

Ruben Saavedra, the Spanish CEO of Metrica Sports, during an interaction with AFP, has made startling revelations. He revealed that the video and data analysis usually deployed to track the movements of mice and monkey was used to keep a tab on the performance of the Portugal national team. 

He claimed it wasn't difficult to apply the technology on the players, as demanded by Portugal coach Fernando Santos. Saavedra, along with two other co-founders, developed a system which integrates data with video analysis. Earlier the technology was deployed manually, but a combination of video and data led to the creation of "workflow of football analysts."

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Santos, Melbourne Victory among major clients 

The CEO revealed that the Portugal coach demanded the deployment of the technology for the senior team, alongside Paraguay. Besides, A-League side Melbourne Victory and Brazilian outfit Santos have also benefitted from the video-data analysis, with top clubs paying as much as $122,000 annually. 

With the high revenue yield, Metrica has succeeded in producing a free plan, named Play Basic, which is available for download for everybody. The technology has seen its ambit widen from academics in Africa to amateur teams in rugby, cricket as well as ice hockey. 

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New technology is time-saving 

Saavedra sheds light on how the new technology has proved to be a boon for the people involved in the game analysis. He cites the fact that video analysts would sit and pause every incident of the match, with one game analysis rounding up to four or five hours at least. But the new analysis makes it easy for the analysts with just a few clicks to put out data within two to three minutes, adds Saavedra. 

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Image courtesy: Cristiano Ronaldo Instagram