Analysis of motor behaviors of professional Costa Rica soccer players in friendly matches in pre-season

Abstract

Objectives: a) to determine, through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the motor behaviors that best explain physical performance in friendly matches during pre-season, and b) to compare these motor behaviors among the matches played.

Methodology: 20 professional male players (age 25.8 ±5.0 years, soccer playing experience: 11.8 ±1.7 years) from a club of the 1st division of the Costa Rican Professional Soccer League participated. A Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to quantify motor activities during five friendly matches during the pre-season prior to the start of the official championship. A PCA and a repeated measures analysis of variance were applied.

 Results: three components were identified that explained 82.4% of the total variance: 1) volume of load (36.7%), 2) high-intensity actions (27.2%) and 3) changes of direction (18.5%). Significant differences were found in total distance (F= 3.45, p= 0.012, ?p²= 0.3) and in total accelerations (F= 18.77, p <0.01, ?p²= 0.76) among the matches played. There were no differences in maximum speed, body load, total impacts, and sprint distance.

Conclusions: body load, total impacts, total distance, distance at sprint speed, maximal speed and accelerations better explained the physical performance of the teams in pre-season games. There were variations between the five matches in total distance and accelerations. Monitoring of matches during pre-season provide information that can help with training planning.