Abstract

Purpose: Compare the pacing strategy used in each global positioning system (GPS) parameter by the context and regulation over the year's championship, disputing with the same opponent. Methods: Forty performances of the same eight professional soccer athletes, disputing with the same opponent during the Carioca (State) Tournament (first and second games winning, and third losing a game) and in the Brazilian National Tournament (4th winning game and 5th losing game). Performance analysis of Professional soccer players was monitored using a portable 5-Hz GPS unit (Catapult; Melbourne; AUS) during games. ANOVA repeated measures analysis with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to compare the external load parameters between the moments. Results: The percentage of sprints with a velocity >18 km/h presented significance, but post hoc did not detect effects (F=47.65, p=0.006, η²p =0.94). A significant effect between the games was detected in the distance of sprints >24 km/h variable (F=20.35, p=0.006, η²p =0.95) and indicated that soccer players sprinted longer distances in the second game than in the first game (187 ±100 vs 166 ±71.3 m). Significant differences between the games in the relative load (F=11.20, p=0.019, η²p =0.92), specifically, the first game had a lower relative load than the third game and higher than the fifth game (9.13 ±1.25 vs 9.80 ±1.48 vs 8.80 ±1.10 scores respectively). Finally, differences in deceleration frequencies (F=6.44, p=0.049, η²p =0.87), where the second game had lower frequencies than the fourth game (29.1 ±9.26 vs 40.8±12.1 frequency). Conclusion: The present research ends by introducing a novel hypothesis inspired by an ecological approach to integrating information in the context of pacing during soccer games. Results supported the self-regulation hypothesis and showed that the distance of sprints with more incredible velocity than 24km/h indicated that soccer players sprinted longer distances in the second winning game than in the first winning game. In addition, the first winning game had a higher relative load than both losing games, while the second winning game had a lower number of decelerations than the fourth winning game. No effects were observed in total distance, number of sprints, maximal velocity, total load, total jumps, or total time. These facts reinforce the concept that professional soccer athletes maintained a submaximal work rate in a similar pattern until determinant actions. This evidence could help soccer professionals more successfully design training programs and prevent injury.