"Once we understand how hard their bodies are working and responding, we need to recover them quickly to get ready for the next day." That's Joshua Hagen, director of Ohio State's Human Performance Collaborative — and right now, his team is embedded with the USMNT at the FIFA World Cup.
It's an unusual partnership, but not a new one. Hagen's group first worked with US Soccer at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, after a colleague asked him to help set up a recovery facility in the team's hotel. That one-off ask has grown into a long-term collaboration that's now operating at the highest stage in international football.
What Ohio State is actually doing for the squad
This isn't sports science buzzwords on a slide deck. The collaborative monitors players through GPS tracking, heart-rate monitors, and session ratings of perceived exertion, while also tracking physiological markers like heart-rate variability. From that data, recovery protocols are built around each player's workload.
The modalities range from the familiar — cold and hot therapy, sleep, nutrition — to newer methods like red-light therapy and flotation tanks. The goal is straightforward: limit injury risk, improve performance, and extend careers. Whether it's making the difference at a tournament this compressed and physical is harder to prove, but the intent is serious.
The partnership has also had a longer tail than most sporting collabs. US Soccer and Ohio State jointly funded the Ph.D. studies of former Buckeye player Emaly Vatne in exercise science and kinesiology. She's now with Denver Summit FC in the NWSL while continuing her research — a real outcome, not just a press release talking point.
USMNT need to back it up against Australia
The science matters more right now because the schedule is unforgiving. The USMNT opened with a 4-1 win over Paraguay — Folarin Balogun with two, Giovanni Reyna adding one, and an own goal from Damian Bobadilla doing the rest. Paraguay pulled one back when the Americans were already 3-0 up, a minor blemish on an otherwise controlled performance.
Friday's match against Australia is a different proposition. The Socceroos beat Turkiye 2-0 in their opener and arrive level on points with the US. Win this, and you control the group. Drop points, and the final round of games becomes a nervy calculation.
USMNT's attacking odds look appetising given the Paraguay performance, but Australia's defensive discipline against Turkiye suggests this won't be as open. Recovery from a high-intensity opener — exactly what Ohio State's team is managing — could be the difference in a tight second half.
Hagen put it plainly: "This is one of my favorite projects. When you pair controlled studies and real-world context — actually talking with athletes about what works — you get the most meaningful impact." The next 90 minutes will be a decent test of that theory.
