Euro Cup Research Articles

Pupillometry as a new window to player fatigue? A glimpse inside the eyes of a Euro Cup Women's Basketball team.

A rapidly emerging area of interest in high-pressure environments is that of pupillometry, where handheld quantitative infrared pupillometers (HQIPs) are able to track psycho-physiological fatigue in a fast, objective, valid, reliable, and non-invasive manner. However, the application of HQIPs in the context of athlete monitoring is yet to be determined. Therefore, the main aim of this pilot study was to examine the potential usefulness of a HQIP to monitor game-induced fatigue inside a professional female basketball setting by determining its (1) test-retest repeatability, (2) relationship with other biomarkers of game-induced fatigue, and (3) time-course from rested to fatigued states. A non-ophthalmologic practitioner performed a standardized Pupil Light Reflex (PLR) test using a medically graded HQIP among 9 professional female basketball players (2020-2021 Euro Cup) at baseline, 24-h pre-game (GD-1), 24-h post-game (GD+1) and 48-h post-game (GD+2). This was repeated over four subsequent games, equalling a total of 351 observations per eye. Two out of seven pupillometrics displayed good ICCs (0.95-0.99) (MinD and MaxD). Strong significant relationships were found between MaxD, MinD, and all registered biomarkers of game-induced fatigue (r = 0.69-0.82, p < 0.05), as well as between CV, MCV, and cognitive, lower-extremity muscle, and physiological fatigue markers (r = 0.74-0.76, p < 0.05). Three pupillometrics were able to detect a significant difference between rested and fatigued states. In particular, PC (right) (F = 5.173, η2 = 0.115 p = 0.028) and MCV (right) (F = 3.976, η2 = 0.090 p = 0.049) significantly decreased from baseline to GD+2, and LAT (left) (F = 4.023, η2 = 0.109 p = 0.009) significantly increased from GD-1 to GD+2. HQIPs have opened a new window of opportunity for monitoring game-induced fatigue in professional female basketball players. However, future research initiatives across larger and heterogenous samples, and longer investigation periods, are required to expand upon these preliminary findings.

Determinant Football Elements for Euro16 Match Results

Purpose: The current article aimed to verify patterns that could explain match results of the Euro Cup 2016, using as references the following match performance indicators: finishing, ball possession, passing, crosses and defensive actions. Methodology/approach: The necessary information about the matches was collected from the Dailymail’s website. The Weka (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) program was adopted to help in the analyses of these data. Originality/Relevance: Football matches components have been analysed in order to understand the behavior of the teams in the competitive scenario of this sport. Key findings: The results show that the more accurate shots a national squad takes in their games, the more chances they got to win, instead of using a game plan based on crossing movements. Ball possession, on its turn, can be a good indicator or a bad one to win matches, when associated to a high number of crosses. Moreover, the alternative of long passes seems to be relevant only when the opponent makes more shots from outside the area or get more blocked shots. Complementarily, defensive actions focused on successful tackles and more interceptions appear as a positive aspect for getting the triumph, considering only the total number of tackles. The accuracy of kicks and defensive actions were relevant to the success of the teams in the competition, suggesting that the improvement of actions related to these two indicators should help national teams to improve their own strengths, in order to maximize their chances of winning matches. Theoretical/methodological contributions: Collecting a large volume of football data from a website and using the Weka program have helped not only to speed up and facilitate the analyses but also should have been important in order not to lose any relation that could be relevant inside the studied scenario.

Determinant Football Elements for Euro16 Match Results

Purpose: The current article aimed to verify patterns that could explain match results of the Euro Cup 2016, using as references the following match performance indicators: finishing, ball possession, passing, crosses and defensive actions. Methodology/approach: The necessary information about the matches was collected from the Dailymail’s website. The Weka (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) program was adopted to help in the analyses of these data. Originality/Relevance: Football matches components have been analysed in order to understand the behavior of the teams in the competitive scenario of this sport. Key findings: The results show that the more accurate shots a national squad takes in their games, the more chances they got to win, instead of using a game plan based on crossing movements. Ball possession, on its turn, can be a good indicator or a bad one to win matches, when associated to a high number of crosses. Moreover, the alternative of long passes seems to be relevant only when the opponent makes more shots from outside the area or get more blocked shots. Complementarily, defensive actions focused on successful tackles and more interceptions appear as a positive aspect for getting the triumph, considering only the total number of tackles. The accuracy of kicks and defensive actions were relevant to the success of the teams in the competition, suggesting that the improvement of actions related to these two indicators should help national teams to improve their own strengths, in order to maximize their chances of winning matches. Theoretical/methodological contributions: Collecting a large volume of football data from a website and using the Weka program have helped not only to speed up and facilitate the analyses but also should have been important in order not to lose any relation that could be relevant inside the studied scenario.

Memory footprint: Predictors of flashbulb and event memories of the 2016 Euro Cup final.

Two years after Portugal won the UEFA European Championship, we examined what the Portuguese remember of this momentous occasion. We investigated if flashbulb memories (FBMs) and event memories (EMs) were determined by distinct factors, and whether EM was a predictor of FBM. Participants responded to an online questionnaire about their FBM, EM and set of predictors. Structural equation modeling revealed that FBM and EM were associated with different pathways. Interest in football predicted importance which triggered emotional intensity which predicted personal rehearsal, a direct determinant of FBMs. On the other pathway, interest determined knowledge about football, the main predictor of EMs. Importantly, EM was a causal determinant of FBM which shows that the memory trace for the original event enhances memory for the reception context. The findings suggests that even though the two types of memories are determined by independent factors, they interact very closely.

Was UEFA’S Goal of an Environmentally Friendly Euro 2020/21 a Success?

The football Euro 2020/21 has been said to be more environmentally friendly, as it was spread all over Europe, thus no new stadiums needed to be built. On the other hand, more traveling became necessary. How does these effects behave with each other? Was the attempt to reduce emissions successful? This paper seeks to compare the goals for UEFA 2020/21 for environmental friendliness and its success. A mixed research strategy was adopted in this paper where qualitative analysis was done on existing literature review and also quantitative approach where assumptions were drawn from literature review to estimate the environmental impact. This paper found that UEFA's initial estimate of 425,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in traveling for the Euro Cup 2020 was a bit higher than the actual amount of carbon emissions from our calculation of 143,531 tons. What stands out is that its findings agree with UEFA's estimate that Euro Cup 2020 emissions were lower than that of 2016 which emitted 517,000 tons of carbon dioxide for traveling. This gives a greater reason to conclude that UEFA met its goal of reducing carbon emissions. The overall carbon dioxide emissions in traveling and constructing stages were 1,275,988 tons in Euro Cup 2020 and 2,803,000 tons in Euro Cup 2016. This further affirms the overall carbon dioxide emission reduction by half in Euro Cup 2020 as compared to Euro 2016. From our findings, we can conclude that the Euro Cup 2020 indeed succeeded in reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions by half. Despite the success, this paper views that the carbon emissions are still high for a single event and hence there is room for reduction of carbon emissions to lower levels as possible. we can conclude that the Euro Cup 2020 indeed succeeded in reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions by half. Despite the success, this paper views that the carbon emissions are still high for a single event and hence there is room for reduction of carbon emissions to lower levels as possible. we can conclude that the Euro Cup 2020 indeed succeeded in reducing overall carbon dioxide emissions by half. Despite the success, this paper views that the carbon emissions are still high for a single event and hence there is room for reduction of carbon emissions to lower levels as possible.&#x0D;

Euro Cup against Copa America: A Cross-Regional Tournament Comparison

Euro Cup against Copa America: A Cross-Regional Tournament Comparison

CREAM MERINGUES VS A DIVINE T-SHIRT: CATALAN IDENTITY IN THE SPANISH SPORTS DISCOURSE

This paper aims to make a sketch in the investigation of the representation of the Catalan identity that is inextricably linked to FC Barcelona in the contemporary Spanish sports discourse from its linguistic perspective within the sociocultural premises. The corpus of the data we have analyzed is translated from the most important Spanish sports newspapers As, Marca, Mundo Deportivo and Sport in the range of 2012-2015, as well as from the books of publicist style, with a particular attention paid to some headlines of the articles to the Champions League Final, World Cup and UEFA Euro Cup. The methods we used are critical discourse analysis, linguisitic description with elements of sociolinguistic research. It was revealed that both newspapers and books of journalistic and artistic styles are filled with lexical units from Catalan language: from slogans up to toponyms, anthroponyms, or cultural realia. The lexical item lo catalán (“Catalan” and “Catalonia”) is incorporated into the broad range of speeches and written texts. The official status of this language is regularized in the Statute of FC Barcelona. The incorporation of the Catalan language is manifested in the discourse of players and coaches, Statutes of FC Barcelona, slogans, toponyms, anthroponyms and cultural realia. We also analyzed the role of deictic markers as an expressive dominant of the texts that constitute the fan-position of the above-mentioned sports newspapers. It was exposed the clear presence of two units of discourse madridismo and barcelonismo that have sociocultural meaning to define the tendency of the rivalry between two sports clubs that goes beyond the mere sport. Sarcasm, irony, and humor are the main communicative strategies of their construction in the contemporary Spanish sports discourse.

The ‘Greater Hungary’ and the EURO 2020. Sports diplomacy of an illiberal state

ABSTRACT Sports Mega-Events have been part of the modernization of the West and its Macro-Social Changes since the mid-19th century. These are part of both the initial proposal dedicated to strengthening a national identity based on ethnocentrism, monoculturalism and xenophobia and the one from the 70s, centered on cosmopolitanism, human rights and individualism. Therefore, the question must be raised as of the effects of holding a sports event such as the Euro Cup in countries with a policy defying UEFA and European Union values, as in the case of modern Hungary, a sensitive case because of the controversial Home Financing Law; in addition, the public sports diplomacy enhances anirredentist vision of the “Great Hungary'', which is troublesome in the current European Union framework. This work pretends to research and clarify the Hungarian association structure in order to put into perspective the suitability to develop SME in countries proclaiming illiberal values.

Players of African descent representing European national football teams: a double-edged sword

ABSTRACT As Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) plans to host the Euro Cup 2020 (now deferred to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) in 12 cities of 12 countries around Europe, one feature that will stand out is the conspicuous presence of players of African descent. As UEFA celebrates the 60th anniversary of the tournament, it is worthwhile to reflect over the composition of the European national football teams in the twenty-first century and specifically analyse the history and dynamics that this opportunity presents to the players of African descent and the resultant national identity implications. Going by the composition of European teams at the 2018 World Cup, the presence of African players is a growing phenomenon. Initially, such phenomenon was confined to once colonizing and colonized nations such as Portugal and Mozambique; France and Morocco, Senegal and Algeria, among others. However, recent developments show that players of African descent are turning out for countries that had no colonial links.

Characteristics of Potential Concussive Events in Three Elite Soccer Tournaments

To determine the characteristics of potential concussive events (PCEs) in professional soccer. Soccer players are at risk of sustaining sport-related concussions. The acute and chronic effects of concussive and sub-concussive impacts to the head are potentially detrimental to both players and healthcare systems worldwide. Identifying patterns in the nature and characteristics of these injuries may help sporting organizations understand how to reduce the burden of sport-related brain injuries. The present study analyzed the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups (WC), and the 2016 Euro Cup (EC). Between the three tournaments, a total of 179 professional international matches were played. The researchers collected data pertaining to PCEs including mechanism of injury, location on the head, and number of concussion symptoms. A total of 237 PCEs were identified over 179 matches (1.32 per match, 40.12 per 1,000 hours of exposure). The most common mechanism of injury was elbow-to-head (n = 68, 28.7%), followed by head-to-head (n = 55, 23.2%) and hand/fist-to-head (n = 36, 15.2%). The impact locations most frequently affected were the frontal region (n = 54, 22.8%), followed by the parietal and occipital regions (n = 47, 19.8%), temporal region (n = 46, 19.4%), anterior surface of the mandible (n = 43, 18.1%), and nasal/maxilla region (n = 39, 16.5%). Most players (n = 210, 88.6%) showed two or more signs of concussion. Our study intended to investigate the prevalence, identification and nature of PCEs in professional soccer tournaments. Our findings indicate that different contexts and mechanisms of head contact and contact to different regions of the head can be associated with varying signs of concussion. Ultimately, promoting and enforcing enhanced concussion prevention initiatives in elite soccer can have an impact at all levels of the game. These findings may assist physicians, athletes, soccer organizations and other stakeholders worldwide with the care of injured players and the implementation of new rules and regulations to better protect their players.

Investigation on identification and loyalty features of Euro Cup basketball fans

Investigation on identification and loyalty features of Euro Cup basketball fans

Professional assessment of potential concussions in elite football tournaments

BackgroundPotential concussive events (PCEs) are a major health concern in football. Though there are protocols set in place for assessments of PCEs, there has been no evidence of adherence in...

Examining the key performance indicators of all-star players and winning teams in elite futsal

ABSTRACTPurpose: to identify the key performance indicators that discriminate all-star from non-all-star players; and to differentiate winning from drawing/losing teams during the Euro Cup 2018 Futsal (Slovenia). Methods: the sample consisted of all matches (n = 20) played by 12 teams (87 players). Differences between both players and teams were calculated using the Mann–Whitney U and student-t tests and the binary logistic regression (assessing the relationship between all-star players or winning teams and several match- and contextually based variables). Results: minutes per match, goals, assists, ball recoveries, % shots on target, % key pass accuracy, and % challenges won discriminated all-star from non-all-star players. However, only minutes per match (OR: 1.329), goals (OR: 13.547), and ball recoveries (OR: 2.136) per time played were determined to differentiate all-star players. Regarding the team analysis, the following variables discriminated winning from losing/drawing teams: goals, assists, % counterattack success, and % set pieces success. However, only goals (OR: 2.035) and % set piece success (OR: 1.076) predicted the match outcome. Conclusions: the current findings can help coaches to a better understanding of which key performance indicators are important out of all data available, contributing to defining priorities when training and managing competition in elite futsal.

Encounters on the Field: Observations of the Football-3-Halves Festival at the Euro Cup 2016

This article seeks to contribute to debate about sport for social development. The purpose is to analyze the Football3 methodology and the de-structuring of delegations at a festival of Streetfootballworld during the Euro 2016 in France. Different to other scenarios where girls and boys participate separately and where delegations take part as national squads, this festival introduced a random system. Ethnographic work inspired by the sociology of Erving Goffman focused on encounters and interactions to observe how participants behaved in defining the rules with unknown colleagues, implementing and evaluating them. The attention paid to theseframesreflected different reactions. Whilst a general attitude of cooperation was perceived, different meanings of girls’ participation and competitive aspects were identified. We argue that the recognition of perceptions of recipients may allow more inclusive schemes for festivals and programs.

DIFFERENCES IN GOAL SCORING AND MINUTES OF SCORING BETWEEN TWO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ONE AMONG 16 TEAMS (EURO 2012) AND THE OTHER AMONG 24 TEAMS (EURO 2016)

The purpose of this study was to record and compare the goal scoring patterns and the minutes of the game that goals were scored between two Euro Cups (2012 and 2016). All matches (n=82) of both the Euro Cups were video taped and analyzed using the sport software Sportscout. Chi-square methods were used for the data analysis and the level of significance was set at p&lt;0.05. The team that scored the first goal in a match was the winner of that match 70.97% of the time in Euro 2012 and 72% in Euro 2016. In open play, the highs of all the actions were more frequent prior to a goal which involved a cross or a through pass. The 15-min analysis showed that the most goals (20%) were scored between the 46th-60th min of the game in the Euro Cup 2012. Furthermore, in the Euro Cup 2016 the most goals were scored between the 31st-45th minute (19%), 46th–60th minute (19%) and between the 76th-90th minute (18%). No differences between the Euro Cups observed. The results indicated that coaches have to make sure their teams score first, press in the offensive third and prepare their players well in set plays to be more effective.

The influence of socio-cultural features in the contents of delusions, football delusion – Two Clinical cases

We describe the clinical cases of two 17 year-old patients presenting a first psychotic episode in which football was central to their delusional beliefs. These two patients were admitted with a five-month’s gap in an inpatient clinic after the intervention of the authorities who conducted them to the emergency room. Football has become the main global mass entertainment phenomenon of the contemporary European society. Therefore, it’s not surprising that in the year that Portuguese football had its most glorious moment with the Euro Cup victory, the game took part in the delusional beliefs of two young people presenting their first psychotic episode. With the description of these two clinical cases we intend to emphasise on the relation between socio-cultural features and the content of the delusional beliefs.

Relationship between Upper Body Strength and Performance at Canoe Freestyle

Summary Performance in all canoe disciplines is based on the physical condition of the paddler and his technique and mental ability to adapt to the racing condition. The strength belongs to the most important physical factors in canoe sprint and canoe slalom disciplines. We believed that in canoe freestyle the strength has an important role in relation to the performance in comparison to other canoe disciplines. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between upper body strength and special canoe freestyle performance. The study group consisted of 16 senior kayak freestyle paddlers in the age group 26 ± 3 years old. Fitro Dyne Premium was device used to obtain data for analysis of the level of general upper body strength abilities. To determine special upper body strength we used tests on paddle machine and freestyle kayaking flat water tests. Freestyle performance was measured during ECA Euro Cup 2013 competition in Slovakia, Čunovo by official ICF judges. The data obtained were measured by the Spearman Correlation (r) correlation test. The results of the study show significant relations between kayak freestyle performance and test of general strength endurance (p &lt; 0.05), special strength endurance, special dynamic strength (p &lt; 0.01). There were no statistically significant correlations between kayak freestyle performance and general maximal power, dynamic strength, special maximal power.

Multiciteria evaluation of football clubs: the Greek Superleague

Football in Greece, as well as in whole world, exceeds the limits of simply the most commercial and widespread sport, becoming additionally a major issue in the political agenda. This can easily become understood, observing the impact of crucial football events (Mundial, Euro Cup, Champion’s League etc.) in world level. Besides the above events, each football league attracts the interest of people, media and politicians. Many studies have been done in this field, focusing mostly on the efficiency of football clubs, especially in countries such as England, Spain and Germany. The aim of this paper is to examine the performance of Greek football clubs competing in the Superleague for the period 2012–2014, regarding three different aspects (financial, commercial and sport). Our study differentiates from similar studies in the following points: (a) three different dimensions are examined in order to obtain a global view of football clubs, (b) the sample regards Greek Superleague teams, a regional and not so wealthy championship compared to other Europeans, and (c) the aim is to rank the teams, accordance to these aspects and not identify the efficient and not efficient teams. A well-known and established multiple-criteria decision making method (PROMETHEE II) is used, which has been found appropriate in several topics regarding ranking problems. In order our results to be meaningful, a decision maker assisted in the selection of the most influential factors in football clubs evaluation. The results partly verify earlier studies, since football clubs, with a few exceptions and surprises, were found financially imbalanced, with strong profitability, solvency and liquidity problems. The dependence of Greek Superleague on television rights and the basic sponsorship of OPAP (state betting company) is highly conspicuous amid the wider and much discussed European economic crisis in the field of football. Development trends via proposals of specific economic and social activities are listed, in response to the state and administrative mismanagement throughout the years.

Career Prospects and Effort Incentives: Evidence from Professional Soccer

It is difficult to test the prediction that future career prospects create implicit effort incentives because researchers cannot randomly “assign” career prospects to economic agents. To overcome this challenge, we use data from professional soccer, where employees of the same club face different external career opportunities depending on their nationality. We test whether the career prospect of being selected to a Euro Cup national team affects players’ pre-cup performances, using nationals of countries that did not participate in the Euro Cup as a control group. We find that the Euro Cup career prospect has positive effects on the performances of players with intermediate chances of being selected to their national team, but negative effects on the performances of players whose selection is very probable. Our findings have implications for the incentive effects of within-firm promotions and of external career opportunities. This paper was accepted by John List, behavioral economics.

Análise sequencial de comportamentos ofensivos desempenhados por seleções nacionais de futebol de alto rendimento

The present study aimed to evaluate the offensive behaviors performed by the six national soccer teams participating of the finals on 2006 World Cup and 2004 and 2008 Euro Cup, using the sequential analysis by the Lag Method, in order to verify the different offensive game patterns. There were evaluated 647 offensive game sequences. It was used the Observational Methodology that allows us to understand the realized actions. The instrument used was the software SIDS & GSEQ. The data analysis was performed by the Lag Method, which allows us to establish the model sequences used by the teams. For the statistical analysis it was used the Chi‐squared (χ2) test. The results showed that the six teams analyzed presented distinct offensive game sequences.