Solving the “back-pass” situation by selected soccer goalkeepers at the 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship

Abstract

The aim of this study was to expand knowledge about the frequency and success rate of solving the game situation called "back-pass" by selected soccer goalkeepers at the 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship. We also tried to determined whether there were significant differences in the success rate of individual solutions for the "back-pass" situation. The research group consisted of goalkeepers (n = 16) of all national teams that participated in all matches (n = 21) at the 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship. The main method of data acquisition has been the method of indirect observation by using video recording. Based on the number rate of successfully and unsuccessfully implemented game activities, we expressed as a percentage the success rate of goalkeepers in solving the "back-pass" situation. We used the Z-test Calculator for 2 Population Proportions to determine the statistical significance of the differences between the success rate of individual solutions for the "back-pass" situation. Goalkeepers solved the "back-pass" situation a total of 618 times (14.7 per match) with the success rate of 85.11%. We found a statistically significant difference in success rate between the passing the ball up to 20 m and the passing the ball over 20 m (p < 0.01), and also between the way the passing the ball up to 20 m and the kick by the first touch (p < 0.01). The results of this study indicate increasing rate and the importance of successful solution of the "back-pass" situation by soccer goalkeepers. The solving of the game situation called "back-pass" by goalkeepers during the match makes up in most cases 1/3 of their entire individual game performance.