Preliminary results on organization on the court, physical and technical performance of Brazilian professional futsal players: comparison between friendly pre-season and official match

The main aim of this study was to verify possible differences between a friendly pre-season match (FM) and an official in-season match (OM) regarding physical, technical, and organizational performances of a professional Brazilian futsal team. Ten professional futsal athletes participated in this study. The matches were monitored with video cameras (30 Hz) and athlete trajectories obtained with automatic tracking. The values obtained for distance covered per minute, percentage of distance covered at moderate intensity, team coverage area, spread, passes, possessions, ball touches and successful passes per minute were greater for the OM than FM. On the contrary, percentage of distance covered, standing and walking was greater for the FM than OM. We concluded that physical, technical, and tactical performances are different between a FM and an OM in futsal and also these parameters mutually influenced each other distinctly. Future studies should verify whether pre-season tournaments reproduce similar demands to a regular season official match

Analysis of the distance covered by Brazilian professional futsal players during official matches.

The purpose of this study was to measure and characterise the distances covered by Brazilian professional futsal players. The trajectories of 93 players during five matches were obtained using an automatic tracking method. The distances covered were analysed for different game conditions: over the entire game and during the times when the ball was out of play and in play separately. When the entire game was considered, the results showed that there was a reduction in the total distance covered per minute from the first [median ± IQR (interquartile range): 97.9 ± 16.2 m/min] to the second half (median = 90.3 m/min; IQR = 12.0), and when only the in-play time was considered (first half: 136.6 ± 17.2 m/min; second half: 129.2 ± 16.7 m/min). The percentage of distance covered in the standing and walking velocity range was higher in the second half than in the first when considering the entire game (30.8% and 28.0%, respectively) and during the in-play time (19.3% and 16.2%, respectively). In conclusion, this study verified that futsal players reduced the physical performance during the second half.

Análise do modelo de avaliação física aplicado aos árbitros de futebol pela FIFA / Analysis of the FIFA's model of physical evaluation applied to the soccer referees

INTRODUÇÃO: A fim de controlar e selecionar os árbitros para atuação no futebol profissional, a Fédération Internacionale de Football Association (FIFA) propôs a realização de testes físicos. Entretanto, a proposta inicial de avaliação sofreu modificações com o passar dos anos, e o modelo atual parece não ser ideal para avaliar os árbitros, de acordo com o perfil de exigência física demonstrada durante os jogos. OBJETIVOS: Assim, os objetivos deste estudo foram: identificar a carga física de árbitros de futebol e determinar as demandas fisiológicas associadas ao esforço físico realizado durante as partidas oficiais e analisar o modelo atual de avaliação física dos árbitros de futebol. CONCLUSÃO: O árbitro percorre em média 10.000m durante uma partida, sendo a maior parte do tempo percorrida com atividades de baixa intensidade. O perfil de movimentação é intermitente e a demanda energética tem predominância do sistema aeróbico, com importante participação do sistema anaeróbico. Os testes aplicados atualmente não são compatíveis com o padrão de exigência física de um árbitro durante uma partida de futebol.

INTRODUCTION: In order to control and select the referees for performance in professional soccer, the Fédération Internacionale de Football Association (FIFA), considered the accomplishment of physical tests. However, the initial proposal of evaluation suffered modifications with the passing of the years, and the current model seems not to be ideal to evaluate the referees, in accordance with the physical profile requirement demonstrated during the games. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, the objectives of this study were: to identify the physical load of soccer referees in official games and to determine the physiological demands associates to the physical effort during the official games; and to analyze the current model of physical evaluation of the soccer referees. CONCLUSION: Referees cover an average of 10,000 meters during a game, being most of the time done with activities of low intensity. The activity profile is intermittent and the energy demand has predominance of the aerobic system, with important participation of the anaerobic system. The current tests applied are not compatible with the standard of physical requirement of a referee during a soccer game.