Analysis of the level of accuracy of the first kicks of the ball made by goalkeepers in soccer game

Keywords: Soccer game analysis, goalkeeper, pass, success of the kick. The aim of this study is to determine statistically how kicks of the ball made by goalkeepers in soccer game are affected by the techniques they use and the points in the game field they aim to. The main goal is to determine the persentage of kicks which are successfull out of all attempted and how these percentages are affected by the importance of the game. For this purpose 10 games played in UEFA Champions League between years 2003 and 2004 are recorded, then replayed and analysed manually. All the kicks performed by the goalkeepers in these games were evaluated according to predetermined parameters. These parameters were; the point where the ball was aimed before the kick, if the kick was performed by hand or foot, if the kick was a back pass to the goalkeeper by another player, or if the kick was performed freely from the penalty point against the opponent's side. The data gathered by this method were analysed in SPSS 10.0 package program. In order to determine the affect of the technique used by goalkeepers to kick the ball and the point in the game field they aim to, to the persentage of the sucessfull kicks out of all attempted, cross anallysis double square method was used. Using the same method the differences between first games in the tournaments and semifinal games were determined. According to the results, the meaningfull differences in the affects of the techniques used to the persentage of successfull kicks were less than 0,01 (P<0,01). In the affects of the points the kick were aimed to, to the percentage of successfull kicks meaningfull differences were again less than 0,01 (P<0,01). In the parameters showing the differences in percentages of successfull lacks between first games and semifinal games the meaningfull differences were less than 0,05 (P<0,05). As a result the point in the game field wher the kick is aimed to appears to be the main factor to determine the success of the kick itself compared to the technique used. vu