Activity profile in elite Italian soccer team.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the activity profi le of players in a top-class team in the Italian national football league over the course of a season (n = 388). The eff ect of play- ing position and the two halves on the number and duration of short, intense bursts of eff ort and recovery phases was studied. The main results show that midfi elders cover signifi cantly more distance than players in other positions (p < 0.001). For midfi elders, the number of dis- placements of 2 - 40 m and the number of sprints covering between 2 and 9 m and between 30 and 40 m are considerably greater than for other positions (p < 0.05). The distances covered in the second half compared to the fi rst half are signifi - cantly lower for all categories of run (p < 0.05). In the second half, the distance covered at very high intensity is signifi cantly lower (p < 0.01), whilst the number of recovery times greater than 120 s increases signifi cantly compared to the fi rst half (p < 0.01). This study provides data which could be used as a basis for the work of scientists as well as football professionals.