The publication of this special issue of the International Journal of Sports Psychology has been timed to coincide with the staging of the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals held in Germany. For the 32 participating countries, the World Cup finals mark the culmination of a 4-year journey to compete at the highest level in front of the world’s largest sporting audience. The fact that an estimated one billion people around the world will be watching the World Cup in June and July 2006 highlights the significant and important contribution that the sport of football makes on many levels within today's society.

The first purpose of this study was to examine psychological aspects of the talent development experiences of adolescent youth players who were on the verge of being released by a third division professional soccer club in England. The second purpose was to compare these findings with Holt and Dunn’s (2004) grounded theory of soccer success and other pertinent literature in order to present predictions about the psychological factors that may increase the chances of talented adolescent athletes making it into professional adult soccer. Nine players (M age = 18.5 yrs) and three coaches from an English professional third division club were interviewed and data were subjected to an inductive-deductive analysis procedure as part of the process of qualitative theory generation. The findings suggested that players lacked volitional behavior, delaying gratification, determination to succeed, strategic career planning, coping strategies, and tangible support. We interpreted these findings against previous research and concluded that hope theory (Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002) may be a useful framework for understanding psychological issues that enable some talented adolescent soccer players to make it to professional adult soccer. Accordingly a revised grounded theory of soccer success during adolescence is presented.

Traditionally, sports officials have only received a modicum of attention in sport science research literature. Perhaps more surprisingly, only recently have researchers begun to investigate key aspects of refereeing performance such as making judgments, communication behaviors and decision-making training interventions. With this in mind, we have reviewed the available empirical research into football officiating performance and where necessary drawn upon other research and applied programs of investigation in other sports. This paper is structured around the following key elements of referee performance; (1) judgment of offside; (2) judgment of fouls and misconduct; (3) control of game procedures; (4) management of the game and refereeing style; and (5) training complex high-performance skills that could be applied to the development of football refereeing. We highlight some of the demands of football refereeing, review the important findings and, with increasing interest in this area, provide suggestions to stimulate further research.

This study examined the need for an improvement in the refereeing standard to reduce the incidence of player injuries during football matches. The FIFA refereeing department determined a reference decision for 60 player-to-player contact incidents from the 2002 World Cup. This reference was compared with the decision of the match referee. All incidents were also assessed by 4 expert panels (i.e. players, coaches, medical staff and referees). For each incident they had to express the appropriate sanction (nonfoul, foul, yellow or red card). The FIFA reference decision indicated that the Laws of the Game are adequate for the majority of situations (70%). The match referee’s decision was in agreement with the reference in 57% of the incidents. The level of agreement between the referees’ panel and the reference (60%) was higher than with any other panel. Post-match disciplinary procedures based on video replays are discussed to better deal with foul play endangering the safety of the players.

Research on expert coaching remains relatively scarce in the sport psychology literature, however, some key studies have shed light on the complex processes of coaching at the expert level. Côté, Salmela, Trudel et al. (1995) postulated the Coaching Model that represents the mental model and the knowledge and practice of expert Canadian gymnastics coaches. Since its inception, the model has been validated with research on expert coaches in various other sports, and skill levels (Gilbert & Trudel, 2000 ; Moraes, 1998; Salmela, 1996). One component of the CM is the coaching context, or affordances or limitations in the environment, both at the micro and macro levels. Perceptions of the Brazilian football coaching context were considered based upon the interview reports of four eminent coaches who were preparing the Brazilian side for the 2006 football World Cup. The central components of the CM of organization, training and competition and their views were similar to the literature on expert coaches. The personal characteristics of expert coaches and athletes were clearly different from those found with Canadian university and professional team coaches. These coaches were autocratic, extremely well paid, totally dedicated to success, and the players respected and complied with the coaches’ demands.

This paper gives an overview of the coordination of soccer kicking, emphasizing implications for understanding movement control, learning and development. While research shows that, at a prepubescent/pubescent age, the level of development is the most important consideration for the performance of a soccer kick, a number of factors are related to a more mature kicking coordination pattern acquired over time. Evidence suggests that the limb used for kicking a ball (dominant or nondominant), the accuracy required for a successful kick and the velocity of the kicking leg at ball contact are all major considerations for successful performance. This paper attempts to provide some clarity to specific issues related to the segmental interaction of the kicking leg and the degree to which strength of the lower limb influences kicking performance. Finally, our review of coordination in soccer kicking allows us to propose the utilization of a novel pedagogical framework (nonlinear pedagogy) as a basis for interpreting motor system variability during kicking performance.

In this position paper we examine whether performance and learning of basic motor skills in football can be enhanced by adding noise in the form of random components to target movements during training. To support our argument we examine longitudinal data on the performance of fundamental target skills such as passing and shooting. Evidence emerged from these studies that the addition of random variability during the practice of football skills benefited participants of different skill levels, compared to players engaged in traditional practice programmes emphasizing continuous repetition of target movements. The ubiquitous phenomenon of stochastic resonance is proposed as a potential mechanism for the counterintuitive benefits of adding noise to learning and performance environments. Further research is needed to verify our interpretation of these data from football suggesting that stochastic resonance may form an umbrella explanatory framework on the role of variability in extant theories of motor learning.

This study investigated how motor system degrees of freedom were organized as skilled players performed a soccer chipping task. Using an intra-participant analysis, inter-individual kinematics and performance differences were investigated to determine the features governing coordination of skilled chipping actions. Five skilled participants were studied as they performed 10 soccer chips to one target position and another 15 soccer chips to three positions, all with different specific height and accuracy task constraints. Although a ‘global coordination pattern’ was identified for skilled soccer chipping, subtle inter-individual differences in coordination, displacement of center of mass (COM), selected kinematic variables for the kicking limb and the role of the non-kicking limb were also observed. It was noted that participants were able to adapt foot velocity to different target positions in successfully meeting the task goal. Results highlighted advantages of examining intra-participant data for understanding how skilled performers re-organize motor system degrees of freedom in achieving functional movement behaviors.

The aim in this experiment was to determine whether demonstrations that focus on end-point related information, in this case, ball-trajectory information (BALL), are more effective in teaching motor skills than more traditional demonstrations which focus on movement technique (BODY). Nineteen participants with low-level soccer experience practised a left-footed, soccer-chip shot, which required them to land a ball on a target, while clearing a height barrier. Information concerning how to achieve the task goal was manipulated. Participants either received demonstrations of an expert performing the skill (i.e., BODY, n=10) or they received a demonstration of the expert’s ball flight path (BALL, n=9). The participants were asked to match the criterion flight or form to achieve the task goal. Feedback concerning ball flight and movement form was controlled, although all participants received KR. Trials were videotaped for analyses and feedback and movement kinematics were collected using 3D cameras on a selection of trials. Both groups improved during acquisition although there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of outcome attainment (i.e., height success and radial error). In retention, the BALL group showed more accurate performance relative to the BODY group, when demonstrations and feedback were withheld (p <.05). Only in acquisition were any differences between the two groups noted in terms of movement kinematics. The BODY group showed a closer approximation to the model in terms of how various joint displacement angles were obtained (but not the actual angles) in comparison to the BALL group. These results provide initial evidence to support the use of end-point template matching strategies for teaching complex movement skills, such as those common in sports which require the accurate displacement of some external object (such as a ball or disc).

The present study examined differences in locomotor and visual search behaviours among a group of skilled amateur soccer players. The participants watched film clips of a 4-to-4 position game, presented on a large screen. The task for participants was to take part in the game by choosing the best position for the reception of the ball passed by one of the players in the clip. A temporal occlusion paradigm was used: the clip stopped at 80 ms before foot-ball contact, at foot-ball contact or 80 ms after foot-ball contact by the passing player. Participants’ locomotor and visual search behaviours were collected continuously throughout the presentation of the clip. A within-group comparison, based upon the participants’ interception score, was made. The High-score-group (i.e. participants that moved to the right location at the right time to receive the ball) had a significant advantage (e.g. more correct interceptions) when information was available 80 ms after foot-ball contact. No such effect was found for the Low-score group (i.e. participants that moved to an incorrect location or arrived too late at the correct location). Additionally, the High-score group covered a greater distance than the Low-score group both before and after the player passed the ball. This was independent of occlusion condition. No group differences were found for visual search behaviour. We conclude that the two groups used similar visual search strategies, but exploited the detected information differently to control locomotor behaviour.

The intention to avoid a thought or action may ironically increase the tendency to engage in this thought or action. We show that in penalty shooting in soccer unwanted effects are mediated by changes in gaze behavior. Generally in far aiming, people look at where they aim, and they aim at where they look. With an indoor soccer- penalty task we first confirm this relationship. Next, we show that negatively formulated instructions not to shoot within reach of the keeper or outside the goal often direct the player’s gaze to the area to-be-avoided, resulting in more unsuccessful shots. When visual attention is drawn to the to-be-avoided area there is probably not sufficient time to redirect attention to the proper location necessary for accurate aiming. These findings indicate that unwanted effects following the persistent wish not to miss may increase the probability of missing a decisive penalty.

Kicks from the penalty mark (official term for the “penalty shootout”) are regularly featured in major soccer tournaments to determine the outcome of tied games. Based on the contingency-competence-control (CCC) model (Weisz & Stipek, 1982), this study provides an examination of the control beliefs and anxiety experienced by 10 elite soccer players in the context of a major tournament penalty shootout. Measures included interview questions and CSAI-2R (Cox, Martens, & Russell, 2003) with direction instructions (Jones & Swain, 1992). The results gave some support to the model’s predictions. The quantitative analyses demonstrated that perceived contingency and competence correlated with anxiety. For example, believing that outcome is based on luck was associated with debilitative interpretation of somatic anxiety symptoms. Most findings were supported by the qualitative analyses. The CCC-model can be useful for researchers endeavouring to learn more about perceived control in competitive sport.