01About This Special Issue
Soccer (football) is the world's most popular sport, performed by children and adults, and both genders. A common aspect of this sport is the necessity of teamwork to complement individual skills. Soccer performance depends upon technical/biomechanical, tactical, psychological, and physiological factors. In order to adapt to technical evolution within the game, players have to meet the physical demands required. To achieve the best possible performance, scientific training is required. Soccer involves numerous explosive bursts of activity including kicking, jumping, trapping, tackling, turning, sprinting, changing pace, throwing, catching etc. Thus a high level of physical demand is required for playing soccer. Since soccer players have to cover a big area in the ground during attacks and defenses, the game demands for aerobic fitness as well as anaerobic one. A high number of accelerations and decelerations associated with a large number of changes in direction of play create an additional load to the muscles involved. So, those players who are suited to cope with these demands reach elite levels. The intermittent high intensity pattern of activity during matches requires a high function of both aerobic and anaerobic energy delivery pathways. Moreover, power and strength have great impacts over the game which is required during sprinting and in execution of various skills with the ball. The best teams continue to increase the player’s physical capacities to maintain their rank. Science may help improve performance. Efforts to improve soccer performance often focus on technique and tactics at the expense of physical fitness. This special issue of the American Journal of Sports Science calls on authors to submit original research and/or specific reviews that enrich the current understanding of “Science & Soccer”.The topics of this special issue include, but are not limited to:
1. Physical Demands of Soccer
2. Physiological Profile of Soccer
3. Biomechanics of Soccer
4. Application of Psychology in Soccer
5. Nutritional Requirement of Soccer
6. Coaching and Training in Soccer
7. Evaluation of Performance in Soccer
8. Injury, prevention and rehabilitation in Soccer
9. Match analysis in Soccer
10. Soccer Referees
11. Review on FIFA World Cup Soccer 2014
02Meet the Guest Editors
Our distinguished editors bring deep subject-matter expertise to curate high-quality research and ensure a rigorous peer-review process.
Lead Guest Editor
Indranil Manna
Department of Physiology, Midnapore College (Autonomous), Midnapore, India
Guest Editor
Daniel Berdejo-del-Fresno
S&C Coach for the England National Futsal Team, the Football Association, Manchester, United Kingdom
Guest Editor
Ivan Sosa
University of Rijeka Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine and Criminalistics, Rijeka, Croatia
Guest Editor
MCR Barbu
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Craiova, University of Craiova, Romania
Guest Editor
Seyed Mohamad Mehdi Daneshpoor
Orthopaedic Department, Orthopaedic Trauma Center, Mazandaran Universiy of Medical Science, Sari, Iran
03Published Articles
The following articles have been published in this special issue.
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Sports Injuries with Special Reference to Soccer: Causes, Consequences and Prevention Strategies
Issue: Volume 2, Issue 6-1, December 2014Pages: 24-30Received: 6 February 2015Accepted: 8 February 2015Published: 5 March 2015DOI: 10.11648/j.ajss.s.2014020601.15Downloads:Views:Abstract: Sports injury occurs during a sporting activity caused by overuse, direct impact, or the application of force that is greater than the body part can structurally withstand. Soccer is usually defined as a body contact outdoor game and therefore there is a chance of being injured by the opponents or due to not following proper playing rule or not usi... Show More -
Issue: Volume 2, Issue 6-1, December 2014Pages: 19-23Received: 6 February 2015Accepted: 8 February 2015Published: 5 March 2015DOI: 10.11648/j.ajss.s.2014020601.14Downloads:Views:Abstract: Physical characteristics and body composition have been known to be fundamental to excellence in athletic performance. Specific athletic events require different body types and weights for maximal performance. Therefore determination of body constitution and fitness status of an athlete is very important for producing maximal performance. With grow... Show More
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Anthropometric Characteristic, Body Composition and Somatotype of Canadian Female Soccer Players
Issue: Volume 2, Issue 6-1, December 2014Pages: 14-18Received: 2 December 2014Accepted: 12 December 2014Published: 27 January 2015DOI: 10.11648/j.ajss.s.2014020601.13Downloads:Views:Abstract: Canadian female junior soccer players were evaluated for their anthropometrical characteristics including somatotype and body composition with a aim to evaluate with their international counterparts. 18 female soccer players with an average age of 16(±0.5) of a local club were assessed during their peak season time . Somatotype was assessed using H... Show More -
Issue: Volume 2, Issue 6-1, December 2014Pages: 8-13Received: 29 November 2014Accepted: 2 December 2014Published: 27 December 2014DOI: 10.11648/j.ajss.s.2014020601.12Downloads:Views:Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare performance in sprint, change of direction speed, vertical jump and jump squat tests between elite soccer players from two different age categories (i.e., under-20 and senior players) from the same soccer club. Players performed sprints (average velocity at 5, 10 and 20 m), zig-zag change of direction speed (COD... Show More
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Issue: Volume 2, Issue 6-1, December 2014Pages: 1-7Received: 5 November 2014Accepted: 17 November 2014Published: 22 November 2014DOI: 10.11648/j.ajss.s.2014020601.11Downloads:Views:Abstract: For track, field and team sports, many authors advise sport-specific strength training with half and quarter squats instead of parallel squats. Due to the sport-specific argument, higher correlations with sprint performance could be expected for half and quarter squats. Hence, correlations between sprint performance (30 m linear sprint) and both On... Show More
