Variables Associated with the Effectiveness of Ball Possession in At-Home Futsal Matches

This study aims to identify contextual situations (score, game time, the interaction between teammates and opponents, start and restart plays) that increase the odds ratio of maintenance of ball possession and scoring a goal. Twenty professional futsal players were evaluated in seven home official matches. The games were filmed to analyze the offensive actions. In total, 828 attacking plays were analyzed. The absence of defensive pressure from the opponent resulted in a greater odds ratio (OR) for loss of ball possession (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.7 to 2.2), but also increased total effectiveness (OR = 6.5; 95%CI = 2.2 to 19.5). The received fouls did not increase the total effectiveness (OR = 0.2; 95%CI = 0.01 to 4.2; p = 0.40). The court regions close to the opponent's goal area and areas where there was less defensive pressure had a higher frequency of goals (p < 0.05). The results demonstrated that shooting close to opponents' areas and having no defensive pressure were the situations with increased odds of goal-scoring. Maintaining ball possession per se did not increase the OR of goal scoring, however situations when shootings were performed with low defensive pressure could increase chances of goal scoring.