Dynamics of team control of the ball in the match Ukraine-Slovakia of the European Football Championship 2024

Abstract

Introduction. General statistics of indicators of technical and tactical actions of highly qualified teams show that teams that give more accurate passes make fewer mistakes in different areas of the playing field, and as a result, concede fewer goals into their own goal. Therefore, for timely changes in the process of technical and tactical training of football players, the use of an appropriate method of registering the dynamics of the level of team control of the ball in official matches becomes important. The purpose of the study is to analyze the dynamics of accurate ball passes of the national team of Ukraine at the 2024 European Football Championship in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the ball possession strategy, identify the team's strengths and weaknesses in this aspect, and also determine how ball control affects the game as a whole and helps to achieve game goals. Research methods: theoretical analysis and generalization of data from scientific and methodological literature, methods of pedagogical observations, methods of mathematical statistics. On the basis of the video recording of the matches of the national team of Ukraine in the group round games at the 2024 European Football Championship, technical and tactical actions (passing the ball) were recorded in the first and second halves. Research results. The study paid special attention to the playing time during which the national teams of Ukraine and Slovakia carried out their collective tactical actions. Thus, the players of the Slovak national team during the first, second, third, fifth and sixth 15-minute periods were ahead of the Ukrainian national team by (19%), (18%), (18.7%), (15.6%), (11.1%) of the playing time used for collective interactions, respectively. Only in the fourth 15-minute period did the Ukrainian national team manage to control the ball for (17.6%) more playing time than the Slovak national team. Conclusions. Analysis of the group round match of the 2024 European Football Championship between Ukraine and Slovakia showed that the overall percentage of team ball control was not in favor of the Ukrainian national team. The players of the Slovak national team were able to control the ball for most of the playing time (56.6%). However, in our opinion, not only statistical indicators are important, but coordinated, fast and effective interactions that contribute to the frequent creation of acute situations and the taking of the opponent's goal. The more such situations are created, the higher the chances of a positive result.