OBJECTIVE To evaluate the social, economic and health aspects related to former professional soccer players in Brazil. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study with the participation of 100 male Brazilian former professional soccer players. For characterization of the sample variables such as age, current and past weight, height, BMI (Body Mass Index) and player position were evaluated. In al...

BACKGROUND Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is predominant in young male athletes, but not much is known about gait differences in cases of increased hip alpha angles. In our study, the hip alpha angle of Nötzli of soccer players was quantified on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with axial oblique sequences. The aim of the current study was to compare the rearfoot motion and pla...

Background. Soccer, combat sports and motorcycling have all been classified as mixed in terms of their metabolism predominance thus showing a common multifaceted nature of physical requirements, which include aerobic capacity, strength, endurance, power and agility. Objectives. The aim of the current study was to compare allelic and genotype frequencies of four well-known polymorphisms among a...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to describe professional soccer players' perceptions towards injuries, physical recovery and the effect of surface related factors on injury resulting from soccer participation on 3rd generation artificial turf (FT) compared to natural grass (NG). METHODS Information was collected through a questionnaire that was completed by 99 professional soccer pla...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of static, dynamic, and the combination of static and dynamic stretching within a pre-exercise warm-up on the Illinois agility test (IAT) in soccer players. Nineteen professional soccer players (age = 22.5 ± 2.5 years, height = 1.79 ± 0.003 m, body mass = 74.8 ± 10.9 kg) were tested for agility performance using the IAT after different warm-u...

A recent set of studies has investigated the selective effects of particular physical activities that require full-body rotations, such as gymnastics and wrestling (Moreau, Clerc, Mansy-Dannay, & Guerrien, 2012; Steggemann, Engbert, & Weigelt, 2011), and demonstrated that practicing these activities imparts a clear advantage in in-plane body rotation performance. Other athletes, such as handbal...

The fundamental tactical principles of the game of soccer represent a set of action rules that guide behaviours related to the management of game space. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of fundamental offensive and defensive tactical principles among youth soccer players from 12 to 17 years old. The sample consisted of 3689 tactical actions performed by 48 soccer players in ...

Despite significant progress in the development of virtual soccer games, the affective behavior of virtual soccer players, both in software and hardware applications, is still limited. To improve this situation, this paper presents a generic model for decision making of virtual agents in relation to emotions and trust. The model takes the BDI framework as point of departure, and extends this wi...

BACKGROUND The injury rate in soccer is high, and effective injury prevention methods are needed. PURPOSE To test the effect of a video-based awareness program on the incidence of acute injuries in soccer. STUDY DESIGN Randomized control trial; Level of evidence, 1. METHODS Participants were elite male soccer players from the top 2 divisions in Iceland. Fifteen of 20 teams completed the s...

Plyometric training (PT) is a widely used method to improve muscles' ability to generate explosive power. Plyometric may improved skill performance of soccer players; however it is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PT on skill performance in soccer players. Twenty soccer players participated in this study as the subject. The subjects were randomly assigned to PT ...