Expert weighs up how missing Club World Cup could hurt João Palhinha | OneFootball

The absence of João Palhinha, a midfielder coveted by Sporting, from the final squad for the 2026 World Cup was one of the main talking points, especially because of the emotional impact these kinds of decisions can have on players. Sports psychologist João Lameiras explained that being left out of a major competition can generate strong feelings of frustration and even injustice.

"It is a particularly hard situation for an athlete to go through. When the final decision arrives and your name is not on the list, the impact is real and can create a feeling of injustice and frustration that is hard to ignore. What makes it even more challenging is when the player feels he had a good season, and often he really did. The thing is, a call-up never depends only on individual performance, but essentially on what the coach believes the team needs at that moment. The most important thing is for the player to be able to acknowledge the disappointment without letting it define his value. Missing out on a World Cup hurts, but not being called up does not erase the season he had, nor does it say anything definitive about the athlete's quality," he told 'Desporto ao Minuto'.

The specialist also addressed the role of comparison between players: "It is natural for a player to look at those who were selected and feel that he deserved to be in their place. The problem is not that comparison arises, but getting stuck in it. If it serves to reflect, to understand where to improve, to come back stronger, it can even be constructive. But when it turns into resentment, rumination, and a permanent sense of injustice, it stops being useful and becomes an obstacle. Comparison is natural, but the risk begins when the player loses sight of what he can control and becomes absorbed by what does not depend on him,".

On the impact that being left out can have on motivation for the following season, João Lameiras said: "It can have an impact, but not necessarily in a negative way. For many players, this kind of exclusion becomes a powerful source of motivation. It works as fuel for the start of a season with a different intensity, with the desire to show that the level is there. But there is a very fine line here. Wanting to prove your worth is healthy, but living obsessed with proving that the coach was wrong is not. When the focus becomes responding to others, the player runs the risk of losing touch with his own process, that is, his game, what underpins his best performance. Disappointment can and should turn into motivation, as long as it does not turn into anger. A player performs better when he wants to improve than when he plays only to prove that someone made a mistake,".

João Lameiras highlighted the connection between mental health and sporting performance: "It is impossible to separate mental health and performance, they are two sides of the same coin. An athlete may be physically prepared, technically and tactically well tuned, and still not be consistent throughout an entire season if he is not emotionally balanced. But there is also something important to emphasize. Paying attention to players' mental health does not mean treating them as fragile. It means equipping them with the skills to deal better with demands, to recover from difficult moments, and to maintain high levels over time. This work is not just about solving problems. We are talking about creating the conditions for athletes to be able to express their full potential, and mental health cannot be seen as an issue separate from performance, but rather as one of its foundations,".

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.