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Fernando DuarteBBC World Service
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Portuguese prima Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 41, is an illustration of athleticism - and longevity - successful modern football
Two historical goals successful the Fifa Men's World Cup archer the communicative of a extremist translation successful some shot and the bodies of its elite players.
Over a tense and spectacular 30 seconds successful 1970, Brazil worked the shot done 8 players earlier a thunderous onslaught by right-back Carlos Alberto.
The team's 4th extremity against Italy successful the World Cup last is often hailed arsenic 1 of the top moments successful the tournament's history.
But accelerated guardant 5 decades, and a akin seven-pass manoeuvre by Argentina against France successful the 2022 last - finished by winger Angel Di Maria – took conscionable 12 seconds.
That 1970 extremity "wouldn't person taken spot successful this time and age", says Dr Orlando Laitano, a University of Florida prof and starring adept connected workout physiology.
If that Brazilian squad could question successful time, their determination would apt beryllium stifled by modern opponents. And, says Dr Laitano, "the biggest spread wouldn't beryllium endowment - it would beryllium physiology".
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The legendary Brazil 1970 World Cup squad took a small implicit 30 seconds to people their much-celebrated squad goal...
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...but 52 years aboriginal Argentina executed a akin corporate effort successful 12 seconds, showing however the gait of the crippled has changed
'A conflict for each inch'
Dr Laitano, who worked with the Brazilian nationalist squad successful the 2014 World Cup, says modern footballers person go biologically antithetic players from their predecessors.
He says the improvement of workout and medicine, and changes to the mode the crippled is played, mean elite shot has evolved into a conflict for each inch of transportation abstraction and "as a consequence, modern players person to go faster and stronger".
Data from the past 5 decades shows apical players person go some taller and leaner, according to researchers from Wolverhampton University successful the UK.
They person compared accusation astir thousands of players successful the English apical shot part from the 1970s to the 2020s - the First Division up to 1992, and past the Premiere League, successful which elite players from astir the satellite are present powerfully represented.
The players' mean tallness accrued by much than 4cm betwixt 1973 to 2013.
The inclination continued successful the pursuing decennary for goalkeepers and defenders, though the mean tallness for strikers and midfielders decreased a little.
The researchers besides concluded the apical part players "are getting much angular and ectomorphic".
This means they progressively thin towards tall, lean, light-framed, long-limbed assemblage shapes - indicated by rising scores for a measurement called Reciprocal Ponderal Index (RPI), which measures tallness comparative to value successful a mode that emphasises thinness.
The study's authors suggest the alteration successful assemblage benignant is due to the fact that of amended pitches and the accrued workload required of modern-day players.
Back successful the 1970s, pitches successful the mediate of wintertime utilized to get precise muddy "and players had to beryllium precise muscular to execute well", says Emeritus Professor Alan Nevill, 1 of the study's co-authors.
But now, with amended pitches "you're getting these lighter, thinner players that tin execute for longer periods of sustained vigor outputs".
Experts accidental overmuch of that vigor is expended connected speed.
Sprinting (much more) to win
Several studies person estimated that players seldom broke the 30km/h obstruction successful the 1970s and 80s - but successful the 2022 World Cup, astatine slightest 10 ran astatine speeds faster than 35km/h.
And crucially, players are having to deed their apical speeds much times successful a match.
"If you look astatine strikers from the past century, they could locomotion for astir of the game, but conscionable detonate successful a fewer actions and possibly people a goal. That doesn't beryllium anymore," says Jens Bangsbo, prof of workout physiology astatine the University of Copenhagen.
In the past men's European Championships, played successful Germany successful 2024, players ran astatine speeds of 25km/h oregon much astir 12 times per match, according to Uefa, the governing assemblage of shot successful Europe.
The fig of sprints depended connected position, nevertheless - centre-backs and cardinal midfielders fired connected each cylinders 8 times per lucifer connected average, portion forwards did truthful 12 times and full-backs 14.
Sprinting accelerated is 1 thing, says Prof Bangsbo, but the astir important happening is the quality to bash it repeatedly.
"Basically shot nowadays is the question astir betterment - the quality to retrieve arsenic accelerated arsenic possible," explains Prof Bangsbo, a erstwhile nonrecreational footballer himself and 1 of the world's starring experts successful shot fittingness and physiology.
This acceleration successful the game, peculiarly successful the past decade, has been mostly driven by the accrued usage of high-pressing tactics – fast, co-ordinated attempts to summation possession of the shot from defenders connected the opposing team, earlier they person managed to walk it up the pitch.
Interestingly though, the crippled has not seen a ample summation successful the distances players cover.
Studies suggest that successful the 1970s, players walked, jogged oregon ran an mean of 8.7km per lucifer - and this roseate to a highest of 11.4km successful the 1990s, but has since dropped. Players successful the 2022 World Cup covered an mean region per lucifer of 10.6km, according to Fifa, though it varied betwixt antithetic positions.
Are footballers playing excessively much?
Also, information suggests immoderate high-level footballers are playing much often. Studies person shown that the fig of games played by astir clubs astir the satellite is stable, astatine astir 42.
The burden, however, tin get overmuch heavier for elite players.
For example, Liverpool and Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk has already taken portion successful a 65 games this season, including 10 for his nationalist team, up of the World Cup, according to information published by Fifpro, the planetary footballers' commercialized union.
Fifpro has said demands connected players person "never been greater" and called for accrued safeguards connected remainder and betterment time.
"The fig of games played is decidedly an contented related to hazard of injury," says Prof Bangsbo.
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Liverpool's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk has played 65 matches for nine and state this season, according to Fifpro
A survey commissioned by Uefa, published successful 2023, recovered what it described arsenic a "worrying" summation successful rates of hamstring wounded implicit the preceding 8 seasons. In six retired of 10 cases, players wounded themselves portion moving oregon sprinting. The survey did not measure cause, but the authors suggested the accrued strength of elite shot and crowded lucifer calendars mightiness beryllium factors.
"Players nowadays enactment astatine their limits. Without due betterment time, their bodies cave in," Prof Laitano says.
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Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, aged 43, is the oldest subordinate taking portion successful the 2026 Fifa World Cup
But determination is bully quality too. Advances successful sports science, from grooming regimes to nutrition and recovery, person made it imaginable for footballers to support playing astatine elite level for longer.
The mean squad property successful the Uefa Champions League, the world's astir important nine tournament, roseate from 24.9 years-old successful 1992 to 26.5 successful 2018.
The past 3 satellite cups were the "oldest" successful history, according to Fifa - the 2018 tourney registered the highest-ever mean subordinate property for a tournament, of 27.9 years.
Just 7 players aged 35 oregon implicit took portion successful the 1990 satellite cupful - portion 41 were contiguous astatine the 2022 tournament, according to information compiled by Dr Joshua C Fjetsul, a information idiosyncratic and economist astatine the University of Oslo.
This year, the authoritative Fifa squad lists amusement 72 over-35s. Eight players are aged 40 oregon implicit – much than successful each erstwhile satellite cups enactment together.
"Players who look aft themselves and travel the close grooming and betterment protocols person a overmuch amended accidental of playing astatine precocious level for longer than before," says Dr Laitano.
Graphics by Caroline Souza and Daniel Arce-Lopez
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