Physical responses of international female footballers with cerebral palsy: an analysis by periods and intervals at world cup matches.
7 affiliations
- 1Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
- 2Valoración del Rendimiento Deportivo, Actividad Física y Salud, y Lesiones Deportivas (REDAFLED), Faculty of Education, University of Valladolid, Soria, Spain. [email protected].
- 3C/ Universidad, sn, Soria, 42005, Spain. [email protected].
- 4Sports Research Centre, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain.
- 5Escuela de Kinesiología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Santo Tomás, Santiago, Chile.
- 6Society, Sports and Physical Exercise Research Group (GIKAFIT), Physical Education and Sport Department, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
- 7AKTIBOki: Research group in physical activity, physical exercise and sport, Physical Education and Sport Department, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
Abstract
Background
Although previous studies have described the physical responses of female footballers with cerebral palsy, little is known about the temporal changes in their physical responses during match play. This study aimed to analyze the progression of physical responses between the first and second halves, the first and last 15 min, and across 5 min intervals of the matches played by international female football players with cerebral palsy (CP) during a Worldwide competition and considering their sport class (FT1, FT2, and FT3).Methods
Thirty-five international-level female footballers with CP participated in this study. The physical responses were recorded using global positioning devices (WIMU PRO devices).Results
Players with severe impairments (i.e., FT1) decreased their performance in almost all analyzed variables (p < 0.02, ES = 0.71 to 2.03), footballers with mild impairments (i.e., FT2) decreased their performance in total and walking distances (p < 0.05, ES = 0.63 and 0.62, respectively), and players with minimal limitations (i.e., FT3) only decreased values in jogging distance (p = 0.03, ES = 3.08) in the second half compared to the first. However, FT1 footballers did not decrease their performance in the last 15 min of the match compared to the first 15 min in any variable; whereas FT2 players presented a lower performance in total, explosive, medium speed running distances and maximum speed (p < 0.05, ES = 0.35 to 0.57), and FT3 players also decreased their performance in total, explosive and jogging distances (p < 0.05, ES = 0.79 to 1.17). When the match was analyzed in 5 min intervals, FT1 footballers showed higher performance in the first and last 5 min of the matches; meanwhile, FT2 and FT3 players exhibited progressive decline in physical performance towards the end of the match.Conclusions
The evolution of physical responses during international matches highlighted the influence of both match period and sport class, revealing distinct temporal patterns among female footballers with cerebral palsy. These findings may help technical staff optimize training prescription and coaching strategies, while also providing valuable information to support evidence-informed classification processes.
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BibTeX
@article{berasategui2026physical,
title = {{Physical responses of international female footballers with cerebral palsy: an analysis by periods and intervals at world cup matches.}},
author = {Oier Berasategui and Daniel Castillo and Raúl Reina and Matías Henríquez and Aitor Iturricastillo and Josu Ascondo and Javier Yanci},
journal = {BMC sports science, medicine \& rehabilitation},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s13102-026-01927-y},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972571},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Physical responses of international female footballers with cerebral palsy: an analysis by periods and intervals at world cup matches.
AU - Oier Berasategui
AU - Daniel Castillo
AU - Raúl Reina
AU - Matías Henríquez
AU - Aitor Iturricastillo
AU - Josu Ascondo
AU - Javier Yanci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/04
JO - BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation
DO - 10.1186/s13102-026-01927-y
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972571
AB - Background Although previous studies have described the physical responses of female footballers with cerebral palsy, little is known about the temporal changes in their physical responses during match play. This study aimed to analyze the progression of physical responses between the first and second halves, the first and last 15 min, and across 5 min intervals of the matches played by international female football players with cerebral palsy (CP) during a Worldwide competition and considering their sport class (FT1, FT2, and FT3).Methods Thirty-five international-level female footballers with CP participated in this study. The physical responses were recorded using global positioning devices (WIMU PRO devices).Results Players with severe impairments (i.e., FT1) decreased their performance in almost all analyzed variables (p < 0.02, ES = 0.71 to 2.03), footballers with mild impairments (i.e., FT2) decreased their performance in total and walking distances (p < 0.05, ES = 0.63 and 0.62, respectively), and players with minimal limitations (i.e., FT3) only decreased values in jogging distance (p = 0.03, ES = 3.08) in the second half compared to the first. However, FT1 footballers did not decrease their performance in the last 15 min of the match compared to the first 15 min in any variable; whereas FT2 players presented a lower performance in total, explosive, medium speed running distances and maximum speed (p < 0.05, ES = 0.35 to 0.57), and FT3 players also decreased their performance in total, explosive and jogging distances (p < 0.05, ES = 0.79 to 1.17). When the match was analyzed in 5 min intervals, FT1 footballers showed higher performance in the first and last 5 min of the matches; meanwhile, FT2 and FT3 players exhibited progressive decline in physical performance towards the end of the match.Conclusions The evolution of physical responses during international matches highlighted the influence of both match period and sport class, revealing distinct temporal patterns among female footballers with cerebral palsy. These findings may help technical staff optimize training prescription and coaching strategies, while also providing valuable information to support evidence-informed classification processes.
SN - 2052-1847
ER -