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JEPonline

High Performance Training in Soccer Youth Teams and Training to Become Champions

Braulyo Abdala1, Alessandro de Oliveira Ferreira Junior1, Izadora Moreira da Silva1, Daniel Siciliano1, Paulo Nunes Costa Filho2, Alexandre Palma2

1Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, School of Physical Education and Sports, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, School of Physical Education and Sports, Graduate Program in Physical Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Abdala B, Ferreira Júnior AO, Silva IM, Siciliano D, Costa Filho PN, Palma A. High Performance Training in Soccer Youth Teams and Training to Become Champions. JEPonline 2017;20(3):25-38. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the victories achieved by national soccer teams in world championships in the under-17 and under-20 categories are repeated in the adult category. Data on the sporting lives of the soccer players who participated in international competitions in the under-17 and under-20 categories and in the national teams were gathered. The data sources were the official FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association; International Federation of Association Football) website via the internet. The findings indicate that a national team that became the champion in the under-17 category or the under-20 category did not result in the team or the players performing better in the adult soccer category. Hence, it is reasonable to conclude that the development of high-level performance in categories of young soccer players is not an indicator of high-level performance among adults.

Key Words: Early Specialization, Long-Term Planning, Soccer, Youth Teams

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INTRODUCTION

According to Weineck (16) and Platonov (11), excellence in sports performance can only be attained if there is an adequate basic preparation during childhood and youth with a systematic planning of load progression and respect for differences regarding age groups. In particular, prolonged training would need to be undertaken during which a training process relating to the fundamentals of learning and motor development would start at the time when the child was introduced to sports. Sports specialization would then take place by means of talent selection. The process would culminate in maximum performance in adulthood (11,16). It is a “long-term training process” with the objective of gradually acquiring the requisites of training and performance (i.e., a slow and progressive improvement in sporting performance capacity).

Obviously, this process of sports player training will not be successful if no sporting talents are discovered. Bompa (1) emphasized that the primary purpose of the long-term training process is to identify the player’s talent. However, for a player’s talents to be recognized, encouragement is necessary. Also, it is important not to rely on the player’s early results, especially since it is possible that young players’ present development and growth that are out of step with their chronological progression. In other words, some players of a given age may be physically less developed, while others may have greater body advantage through earlier development. This is why sporting performance in youth teams is influenced by biological age. Winners could be led to believe they have the talent it takes to play while the losers are led to believe they do not have the required talent (15,16).

The comparative results from a study by Malina et al. (8) are consistent with the hypothesis that players who are more advanced in terms of their biological maturity are more successful in soccer. These authors suggested that boys with late development are excluded from the sport. Likewise, Sherar et al. (14) observed that the selection of players for a hockey team in Canada was based on the players’ physical development and subsequent body advantages, as well as on their date of birth. On the other hand, FIFA and some national soccer confederations have sponsored and encouraged national and international competitions from soccer players in the youngest age groups.

In Brazil, sports clubs have the most important role within the system for developing future soccer players. Although, in theory, proposals for a process of long-term training for Brazilian soccer already exist (4), it is clear that in practice these clubs demand victorious sporting performance from their youth teams. It is reasonable to conclude that this point of view is due to the official tournaments at state, national, and even international levels. In this regard, it is important to investigate the early results from youth teams. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine to what extent being a winner in youth teams would ensure victory in the adult category.

Specifically, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether victories achieved in world-level competitions by national soccer teams in the under-17 and under-20 categories are repeated in the adult category. The importance of this study is that the findings might suggest the need for different policies in the preparation of soccer players, thereby avoiding preparative stages that destroy or wear out young individuals through a demanding physical performance that is still hard to achieve.

METHODS

Subjects

All national teams with champions or runners-up in the world championships of the under-17 and under-20 categories along with their team members since the first championships took place (respectively, in 1985 and 1977) participated in this study.

Twenty-eight under-17 teams were analyzed of which these teams were involved in 14 competitions (from 1985 to 2011). The total number of players investigated was 486, considering that each team could only present 18 players until 2005 and 21 players until 2011. In addition to these teams, another 38 national teams from the 19 world championships of the under-20 category (from 1977 to 2013) and their respective 708 soccer players were investigated.

The under-17 category was formed by players who, at most, became 17 yrs old during the year of the competition, while the under-20s were formed by players who were up to 20 yrs of age, taking the same criterion. The competitions were promoted by the official bodies for the sport at international (FIFA), continental, and national levels.

Procedures

The data were all gathered from the official website of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association; International Federation of Association Football) via the internet. The FIFA websites present both the results from the international sports competitions promoted by FIFA and the players’ data.

The path followed by a given national team that won an under-17 or under-20 competition over subsequent years was investigated. Thus, a winning under-17 team in 1985 would, because of its soccer players’ age, be eligible to compete in the soccer World Cups between the years of 1990 and 1998. In this way, a basis for comparisons between the results obtained in the under-17 category and the results from the main (adult) category could be established. The same procedure was adopted for the under-20 category.

To analyze the players, the names of the soccer players in the teams that were champion and runners-up in the under-17 and under-20 competitions were researched from the same websites. In this case, the comparison of the players’ performance did not exactly follow the sporting results from the team, but rather the players’ own participation in soccer World Cups in the adult category.

Statistical Analyses

The statistical treatment for the categorical data was performed using the Chi-Square Test. In addition, relative frequencies were calculated for each case.

RESULTS

It is evident from analysis of the data that a national team that became the champion in the under-17 category did not automatically lead the team or its players to better results in the adult category of the sport. For example, there were only two cases in which national team that won the under-17 category became the champion in the adult category when it was eligible to compete (Table 1). Regarding the under-20 category, out of the 19 world champion teams, only seven reached the world title in the main category (Table 2). On the other hand, Tables 3 and 4 present the data on the national teams that achieved second place in the under-17 and under-20 competitions, respectively.

Table 1. Distribution of the National Under-17 Category Teams that Were Champions and Their Results in the Adult Category Since 1985.

Year of Under-17 Competition / National Team that Was Champion / Years in Which the Team Would be Eligible to Compete in the
World Cup / Places in the
World Cup
1985 / Nigeria / 1990 / Did not qualify
1994 / 9th place
1998 / 12th place
1987 / USSR / 1990 / Did not qualify
1994 / 18th place (as Russia)
1998 / Did not qualify
1989 / Saudi Arabia / 1994 / 11th place
1998 / 28th place
2002 / 31st place
1991 / Ghana / 1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / Did not qualify
1993 / Nigeria / 1998 / 12th place
2002 / 26th place
2006 / Did not qualify
1995 / Ghana / 1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / Did not qualify
2006 / 13th place
1997 / Brazil / 2002 / Champion
2006 / 5th place
2010 / 6th place
1999 / Brazil / 2002 / Champion
2006 / 5th place
2010 / 6th place
2001 / France / 2006 / 28th place
2010 / Runner-up
2014 / 7th place
2003 / Brazil / 2006 / 5th place
2010 / 6th place
2014 / 4th place
2005 / Mexico / 2010 / 14th place
2014 / 10th place
2007 / Nigeria / 2010 / 27th place
2014 / 16th place
2009 / Switzerland / 2014 / 11th place
2011 / Mexico / 2014 / 10th place


Table 2. Distribution of the National Under-20 Category Teams that Were Champions and Their Results in the Adult Category Since 1977.

Year of Under-20 Competition / National Team that was Champion / Years in Which the Team Would be Eligible to Compete in the World Cup / Places in the
World Cup
1977 / Soviet Union / 1978 / Did not qualify
1982 / 9th place
1986 / 10th place
1979 / Argentina / 1982 / 11th place
1986 / Champion
1990 / Runner-up
1981 / Germany / 1982 / Runner-up
1986 / Runner-up
1990 / Champion
1983 / Brazil / 1986 / 8th place
1990 / 10th place
1994 / Champion
1985 / Brazil / 1986 / 8th place
1990 / 10th place
1994 / Champion
1987 / Yugoslavia / 1990 / 6th place
1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / 12th place
1989 / Portugal / 1990 / Did not qualify
1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / Did not qualify
1991 / Portugal / 1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / 20th place
1993 / Brazil / 1994 / Champion
1998 / Runner-up
2002 / Champion
1995 / Argentina / 1998 / 8th place
2002 / 22nd place
2006 / 7th place
1997 / Argentina / 1998 / 8th place
2002 / 22nd place
2006 / 6th place
1999 / Spain / 2002 / 8th place
2006 / 9th place
2010 / Champion
2001 / Argentina / 2002 / 22nd place
2006 / 6th place
2010 / 5th place
2003 / Brazil / 2006 / 5th place
2010 / 6th place
2014 / 4th place
2005 / Argentina / 2006 / 7th place
2010 / 5th place
2014 / Runner-up

continued...

Year of Under-20 Competition / National Team that was Champion / Years in Which the Team Would be Eligible to Compete in the
World Cup / Places in the
World Cup
2007 / Argentina / 2010 / 5th place
2014 / Runner-up
2009 / Ghana / 2010 / 7th place
2014 / 25th place
2011 / Brazil / 2014 / 4th place
2013 / France / 2014 / 7th place

Table 3. Distribution of the National Under-17 Category Teams that Were Runners-Up and Their Results in the Adult Category Since 1985.

Year of Under-17 Competition / National Team that was Runner-Up / Years in Which the Team Would be Eligible to Compete in the
World Cup / Places in the
World Cup
1985 / Germany / 1990 / Champion
1994 / 5th place
1998 / 7th place
1987 / Nigeria / 1990 / Did not qualify
1994 / 9th place
1998 / 12th place
1989 / Scotland / 1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / 29th place
2002 / Did not qualify
1991 / Spain / 1994 / 8th place
1998 / 17th place
2002 / 5th place
1993 / Ghana / 1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / Did not qualify
2006 / 13th place
1995 / Brazil / 1998 / Runner-up
2002 / Champion
2006 / 5th place
1997 / Ghana / 2002 / Did not qualify
2006 / 13th place
2010 / 7th place
1999 / Australia / 2002 / Did not qualify
2006 / 16th place
2010 / 21th place
2001 / Nigeria / 2006 / Did not qualify
2010 / 27th place
2014 / 16th place
2003 / Spain / 2006 / 9th place
2010 / Champion
2014 / 23th place
2005 / Brazil / 2010 / 6th place
2014 / 4th place
2007 / Spain / 2010 / Champion
2014 / 23th place
2009 / Nigeria / 2014 / 16th place
2011 / Uruguay / 2014 / 12th place

Table 4. Distribution of the National Under-20 Category Teams that Were Runners-Up and Their Results in the Adult Category Since 1977.

Year of Under-20 Competition / National Team that was Runners-Up / Years in Which the Team Would be Eligible to Compete in the
World Cup / Places in the
World Cup
1977 / Mexico / 1978 / 16th place
1982 / Did not qualify
1986 / 6th place
1979 / Soviet Union / 1982 / 9th place
1986 / 10th place
1990 / 20th place
1981 / Qatar / 1982 / Did not qualify
1986 / Did not qualify
1990 / Did not qualify
1983 / Argentina / 1986 / Champion
1990 / Runner-up
1994 / 15th place
1985 / Spain / 1986 / 8th place
1990 / 13th place
1994 / 8th place
1987 / East Germany / 1990 / Champion
1994 / 8th place
1998 / 7th place
1989 / Nigeria / 1990 / Did not qualify
1994 / 10th place
1998 / 13th place
1991 / Brazil / 1994 / Champion
1998 / Runner-up
2002 / Champion
1993 / Ghana / 1994 / Did not qualify
1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / Did not qualify
1995 / Brazil / 1998 / Runner-up
2002 / Champion
2006 / 5th place
1997 / Uruguay / 1998 / Did not qualify
2002 / 26th place
2006 / Did not qualify
1999 / Japan / 2002 / 11th place
2006 / 29th place
2010 / 9th place
2001 / Ghana / 2002 / Did not qualify
2006 / 13th place
2010 / 7th place
2003 / Spain / 2006 / 10th place
2010 / Champion
2014 / 23th place
2005 / Nigeria / 2006 / Did not qualify
2010 / 27th place
2014 / 16th place

continued...