Physical and Functional Performance in Soccer Players During Preseason.

Objectives: To examine the profile and correlations among physical and functional performance in professional soccer athletes. Design: This cross-sectional study. Setting: Athlete assessment during the pre-season. Participants: Were included 36 professional soccer athletes during the pre-season. Main Outcome Measures: Muscular strength and aerobic capacity (VO2max). Functional performance was evaluated using the Single Hop Test (SHT), Triple Hop Test (THT), Crossover Hop Test (CHT), Side Hop Test (SideHT) and Countermovement Jump Test (CMJT). Results: No significant differences were observed in knee extensor or flexor peak torque. The non-dominant lower limb demonstrated superior performance on the SHT (P<0.01) and THT (P=0.04). In the dominant lower limb, moderate correlations were observed between quadriceps strength and VO2max (r=−0.40; P=0.01), and between hamstring strength and performance on THT (r=0.45; P<0.01) and CHT (r=0.46; P<0.01). In the non-dominant lower limb, a moderate correlation was observed between quadriceps strength and VO2max (r=−0.41; P=0.01). Non-dominant hamstring strength explained 20% and 21% of the variance in THT and CHT, respectively. Conclusion: Professional soccer athletes demonstrated good physical and functional performance. Quadriceps strength was inversely correlated with VO2max, and hamstring strength shared variance with THT and CHT.