Anthropometric and Motor Fitness Characteristics of Adolescent Male Soccer Players Playing in Different Position

The aim of this study was to evaluate the selected anthropometric and motor fitness variables of adolescent elite male soccer players, as well as verifying the differences among field positions: goalkeepers (n = 33), defenders (n = 73), midfielders (n = 89), and strikers (n = 45) in the studied variables. The sample was composed by 240 members of the Iranian premier league (15.70 ± 1.12 years) of the adolescent elite male students in the academic year 2011–12. All the evaluations were accomplished during the competitive period. Body composition was determined through 7 skin folds measurement and both of the fitness and anthropometric tests data obtained through usual daily practice of soccer teams. The goalkeepers were the tallest and heaviest (184.33 ±7.47 cm; 71.24 ± 8.93 kg) and had significantly larger amounts of the total of selected anthropometric measurements with the same age. Moreover, among the motor fitness tests, in the leg power and flexibility were shown significantly better than other position. Defenders were shown second in the larger size of selected anthropometric measurements and nearly were similar the goalkeepers. On the other hand, the strikers and midfielders were similar in the selected anthropometric measurements. In addition, the strikers in the 50-yard dash test, and the midfielders in the Burpee and 1-mile run tests were shown the best results among the other positions. All these data were observed as a statistical significant (P<0.05). Thus, it is concluded that there are anthropometric and motor fitness differences among the players and their tactical positions.