ABSTRACT
Soccer is a ‘goals game’ (Hughes and Bartlett, 2002). In World Cups and European Championships—competitions that showcase the best players, coaches, and strategies, country-specific cultures, and the utmost prestige of the victory—goal patterns have been detected by quantitative (Hughes and Franks, 2005) and qualitative (Barreira et al., 2011) analysis methods. World Cup statistics point out that the average number of goals scored per game has been decreasing, with an average reduction of 1.66 goals per game, from Uruguay 1930 to Germany 2006. Because the number of goals per game is too small and the identification of statistical differences remains difficult, most studies consider shots and time of ball possession as key performance indicators (Hughes and Bartlett, 20 02). The observation of game patterns provide relevant information about how the teams manage the different phases and moments of the game (Garganta, 2009). Game patterns vary according to multiple variables including match status (Barreira et al., 2011), type of competition, time gap between tournaments (Castellano et al., 2009), the country's soccer culture, and elapsed playing time. However, there is a lack of research concerning the player's behaviour in each half of the match. In the current study differences in attacking play patterns between the two halves of World Cup (WC) 2010 matches were reported.
