As laterality of the lower limbs is regarded as a relevant influence on soccer performance, we assessed whether a bilateral training program for both the preferred leg (PL) and non-preferred leg (NPL) would improve soccer players’ lateral asymmetry, agility, and accuracy. Sixty right-foot-dominant young soccer players were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (EXP) that underwent bilateral training or a control group (CONT) that performed their usual training schedule without bilateral exercise. We assessed the players’ lateral asymmetries before and after training on four soccer skill tasks: a zigzag test with and without a ball, a receiving and direct volley-shooting accuracy test, and a passing accuracy test. Results showed post-test versus pre-test performance improvements for the EXP group on the index of technical skills and agility ( p < .001). A post-hoc analysis further revealed a pre-test to post-test performance improvement on shooting and passing accuracy with both legs only for the EXP group ( p < .001). These results support the role of bilateral practice in improving lateral asymmetries, agility, and accuracy.

We report the case of a 58-year-old male with a history of diabetes who presented with a macroscopic hematuria. On physical examination, he was afebrile. Investigations revealed an anemia. A CT scan showed a tumor of the bladder and upper excretory system with multiple lung, spleen and liver metastases. The patient received blood transfusions and a trans-urethral resection of the tumor was performed. The patient’s condition later deteriorated and skin lesions appeared on the back and the scalp. A biopsy of the lesions confirmed their metastatic nature. The patient’s condition deteriorated and he died 4 weeks later.

Research within sport science disciplines seeks to enhance performance via the combination of factors that influences the team’s periodization. The current study aimed to investigate the variations in training load (TL), and the consequential changes in fitness variables, based on the use of match difficulty prediction model (MDP), level of opposition (LOP), days between matches, and match location during 12 weeks in the competitive period I. Seventeen elite soccer players (age = 17.57 ± 0.49 years; body height 1.79 ± 0.05 m; body weight 72.21 ± 6.96 kg), have completed a Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, a running-based anaerobic sprint test, a soccer-specific repeated sprint ability, and a vertical jump test to identify changes in players fitness. TL was determined by multiplying the RPE of the session by its duration in minutes (s-RPE). Training monotony, strain, and acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) were also assessed. A simple regression model was conducted and the highest variances explained (R2) were used. The LOP score explained most of the variance in ACWR (r= 0.606, R2=0.37). TL declined significantly when compared the match-day by the first three days and the last three days of the week. No significant difference was found in s-RPE between the high and low MDP factor. Strong negative correlations were reported between ACWR and LOP (r=-0.714, p&lt;.01). In addition, we found a significant improvement in repeated sprint ability, aerobic and anaerobic fitness variables between pre- and post-test in fatigue index (d=1.104), best testing time, ideal time, total time and mean-best (d=0.518-0.550), and aerobic and anaerobic fitness variables (p&lt;.05), respectively. The MDP could facilitate the training prescription as well as the distribution of training intensities with high specificity, providing a long-term youth player’s development and allowing teams to maintain optimal fitness leading into more difficult matches.