Position-specific physical and technical demands during the 2019 COPA América Football tournament

Despite a substantial body of literature on the physical and technical performance characteristics of football players in Asian and European tournaments, research on South American football players is scarce.

The purpose of the study was to examine the physical and technical characteristics of football players according to specific playing positions at the 2019 COPA América tournament.

A total of 180 match observations from 13 games were monitored using the InStat tracking system. Players were grouped into the following five playing positions: central defenders (n = 45), wide defenders (n = 46), central midfielders (n = 50), wide midfielders (n = 17), and forwards (n = 22).

Descriptive statistics (means ± standard deviations) and the one-way analysis of variance were used to analyse the data. Findings showed that the total distance covered by central midfielders (10 553 ± 763 m) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of central defenders (9226 ± 720 m; effect size (d) = 1.79), wide defenders (9929 ± 633 m; d = 0.89) and forwards (9383 ± 820 m; d = 1.45). Wide midfielders (214 ± 170 m), wide defenders (152 ± 199 m) and forwards (138 ± 94 m) covered greater distances sprinting than central defenders (67 ± 42 m; d = 1.19) and central midfielders (91 ± 66 m; d = 0.95). Concerning technical variables, central midfielders played significantly more passes compared to players in other playing positions (p < 0.05). In relation to crossing, wide defenders completed significantly more crosses than players in other positions (p < 0.05).

These findings have direct implications for tailoring tactics so players can meet the physical and technical demands of the game.