Accuracy of passing the ball by footballers of the national teams of ukraine and romania in the european championship 2024

Abstract

A characteristic feature of the technical and tactical skills of the strongest footballers is the ability to pass the ball accurately and timely when time and space are limited, when facing opposition from opponents, and when physically and emotionally exhausted. The playing activity of football players at the 2024 European Championship is characterized by: various technical and tactical actions of increased coordination complexity, a great variability of technical and tactical means of playing the game, which differ in their structure and nature. Players perform technical actions with the ball while competing with an opponent, which requires the ability to make decisions under limited time and space. Under such conditions, the speed of decision-making is the basis of playing activity. Decision-making speed is a unique systemic property of the player’s psyche, which significantly influences his activity within the playing space and determines the effectiveness of technical and tactical actions in the defensive, attacking, and middle zones of the field. The analysis of playing activity in these zones will help to define the correct direction for improving individual actions of players, as well as group and team interactions in the training process of football players.
Purpose: on the basis of pedagogical observations to determine the quantitative team indicators of accurate passes in different zones of the field during the game between the national teams of Ukraine and Romania at the 2024 European Football Championship.
Material and methods. Research methods: theoretical analysis and generalization of data from scientific and methodological literature, methods of pedagogical observations, methods of mathematical statistics. During the study, the number of accurate passes in different zones of the field (defensive, middle, and attacking) was recorded. The number of passes was studied in 15-minute segments of the match. A comparative analysis of the indicators of accurate passes was conducted in the game of the 2024 European Football Championship between the national teams of Ukraine and Romania.
Research results. The national team of Ukraine in the match of the 2024 European Championship against the national team of Romania had an advantage in the number of passes performed in the middle zone of the field (351) and in the attacking zone (79). The Romanian national team had a smaller number of passes in the same zones (126 and 45, respectively). This match ended with a score of 3:0 in favor of the Romanian team.
Conclusions. Pedagogical observations showed the advantage of the Ukrainian national team over the Romanian team in the indicators of accurate passes in the defensive zone by 22.8%, in the middle zone of the field by 64.1%, and in the attacking zone by 43.1%. A high percentage of accurate passes in football indicates long-term ball control and high quality of team play. This means that the players of the Ukrainian national team confidently controlled the ball, accurately delivered it to their partners, which indicates coordinated team work.