Who can best stand the heat will sort the winners from losers at the World Cup

G raeme Souness is one of the toughest footballers of all time, a midfield titan for Liverpool and Scotland in the 1970s and 1980s. He was occasionally outwitted by subtler players such as the Brazilian genius Zico, but no opponent ever got the better of him physically. No human opponent, anyway. During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Souness lost a stone in weight (6.35kg) against West Germany at Querétaro in stifling heat and at high altitude. “I can remember going down on my haunches and thinking: ‘God, do I not feel good,’” he said. “It was the worst I ever felt on a football pitch. I couldn’t breathe.” Souness was left out of the decisive final game against Uruguay because the Scotland manager, Alex Ferguson, knew he couldn’t go the distance. To omit Souness from such a huge game was unthinkable, but extreme heat also forces change to the cultural climate. Unwelcome compromise will be an unspoken theme of next month’s men’s World Cup where temperature and humidity will determine teams’ ability to perform on the field. Some of the large fans, including the Portacool evaporative cooler, which will be used to combat the extreme heat at the Los Angeles Stadium during the World Cup. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images It might also be the key to victory. Chelsea’s adaptability was central to their win in last year’s Club World Cup in the United States, a tournament that acted as a trailer for this summer’s main event. …