RESEARCH ARTICLE
The relationship between ambient
temperature and match running performance
of elite soccer players
Ryland MorgansID1,2*, Eduard Bezuglov2, Dave RhodesID1, Jose TeixeiraID3,4,5,
Toni Modric6, Sime Versic6, Rocco Di Michele7, Rafael OliveiraID3,8,9
1 Football Performance Hub, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom, 2 Department of
Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov State Medical University, Moscow, Russia,
3 Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, Vila Real, Portugal,
4 Departamento de Desporto e Educac¸ão Fı´sica, Instituto Polite´cnico de Braganc¸a, Braganc¸a, Portugal,
5 Instituto Polite´cnico da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal, 6 Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split,
Croatia, 7 Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy,
8 Sports Science School of Rio Maior–Polytechnic Institute of Santare´m, Rio Maior, Portugal, 9 Life Quality
Research Centre, Rio Maior, Portugal
* rylandmorgans@me.com
Abstract
The influence of environmental factors on key physical parameters of soccer players during
competitive match-play have been widely investigated in the literature, although little is
known on the effects of sub-zero ambient temperatures on the performance of adult elite
soccer players during competitive matches. The aim of this study was to assess how the
teams’ match running performance indicators are related to low ambient temperature during
competitive matches in the Russian Premier League. A total of 1142 matches played during
the 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 seasons were examined. Linear mixed models were used to
assess the relationships between changes in ambient temperature at the start of the match
and changes in selected team physical performance variables, including total, running (4.0
to 5.5 m/s), high-speed running (5.5 to 7.0 m/s) and sprint (> 7.0 m/s) distances covered.
The total, running and high-speed running distances showed no significant differences
across temperatures up to 10˚C, while these showed small to large decreases at 11 to 20˚C
and especially in the >20˚C ranges. On the contrary, sprint distance was significantly lower
at temperature of -5˚C or less compared to higher temperature ranges. At sub-zero temper-
atures, every 1˚C lower reduced team sprint distance by 19.2 m (about 1.6%). The present
findings show that a low ambient temperature is negatively related to physical match perfor-
mance behavior of elite soccer players, notably associated with a reduced total sprint
distance.
Introduction
Soccer is a worldwide sport that is played in differing environmental conditions varying from
extreme heat to severely cold temperatures. The physical demands that are required on players
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OPEN ACCESS
Citation: Morgans R, Bezuglov E, Rhodes D,
Teixeira J, Modric T, Versic S, et al. (2023) The
relationship between ambient temperature and
match running performance of elite soccer players.
PLoS ONE 18(7): e0288494. https://doi.org/
10.1371/journal.pone.0288494
Editor: Emiliano Cè, Università degli Studi di
Milano: Universita degli Studi di Milano, ITALY
Received: February 6, 2023
Accepted: June 28, 2023
Published: July 11, 2023
Copyright: © 2023 Morgans et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
within the paper.
Funding: This research was funded by the
Portuguese Foundation for Science and
Technology, I.P., Grant/Award Number UIDP/
04748/2020. The funders had no role in study
design, data collection and analysis, decision to
publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
can vary significantly as a result of the environmental conditions in which soccer matches are
played [1–3]. Over the course of a soccer season, environment conditions can change signifi-
cantly from warm summer months to cold winter months within most European soccer lea-
gues. These changes may dictate important considerations for the physical preparation of
players over the course of a soccer season in relation to the specific environmental conditions
experienced locally.
Much of the previous research that has been undertaken into the effects of environmental
conditions on soccer performance has focused on the impact of hot environments and expo-
sure to altitude [4]. While this may be of significant importance in certain areas of the world, it
would appear that it is also important to investigate the impact of extremely cold temperatures
which are more commonly seen during the winter months of many European leagues. There
is scant previous research in this area, however, some studies have assessed the effects of cold
environments on physical performance during soccer match-play [5]. For instance, this study
showed greater distances covered by midfielders at high-intensity running (>19.8 km/h),
between the 30-45-minute period, in temperatures 5˚C versus 21˚C. However, total dis-
tance covered was unaffected in colder conditions, although this finding could not be con-
firmed across all positions as defenders and strikers were not assessed [5].
Assessment of the effects of different temperatures on the physiological response to sub-
maximal exercise in soccer players shows that exercise capacity is reduced in cool environ-
ments when compared with moderate conditions [6]. This was evident by changes in players’
heart rate responses and ventilation rates in cool environments when cycling for 20 minutes at
60% maximum oxygen uptake and until reaching exhaustion in three different environmental
conditions (10, 22, 35˚C) [6]. Furthermore, Armstrong [7] stated that exercising in cold envi-
ronments has various effects on physiological processes such as an increase in muscle glycogen
utilization, a reduction in aerobic capacity, and a reduction in muscular strength and power.
More specifically, Carling et al. [5] investigated the effect of cold temperature on physical
activity profiles in matches over four seasons in the French Ligue 1. The authors reported that
generally physical outputs were unaffected by changes in environmental temperatures in the
matches analyzed. However, the lowest match temperature involved in this study were 5˚C.
This temperature accounts for a large range of temperatures which may significantly affect
physical match performance. Although, further research may be required to assess the differ-
ences in the effect on physical match performance of very cold and freezing temperatures
(<5˚C).
Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between ambient tem-
peratures and physical match activity of elite soccer players during official competitive matches
in the Russian Premier League, where matches are often played in a cold environment, espe-
cially during autumn and winter months. Given the different findings of the previous studies
about the lower capacity of exercising in a cold environment on physical performance [6, 7],
and at the same time that midfielders run higher distances at a speed > 19.8 km/h [5], it was
hypothesized that playing at very low temperatures would impact physical match behavior
when compared with warmer environmental conditions, specially at speeds < 19.8 km/h.
Materials and methods
Experimental design
An observational design to assess the impact of ambient temperature on soccer match physical
performance in official matches played in the Russian Premier League over a period of five
competitive seasons was employed.
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Match sample
The ambient temperature at the start of the match, and a selection of the team’s physical match
performance variables, were assessed for all official matches played in the Russian Premier
League during five consecutive seasons, 2016/2017 to 2020/2021. Due to some missing temper-
ature and physical performance data, and the poor quality of some match data due to environ-
mental or other reasons, a total of 1146 out of 1200 matches were examined. For every match,
data for the home and away team were examined, resulting in a total of 2292 team perfor-
mance data points, from a total of 24 different teams. Ethical approval for the study was
granted by the Ethics Committee of Sechenov University (N06-21 dated 04/07/2021). The
study was performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration principles. All professional
players and the Russian Premier League agreed to the collection of match performance data
and for research purposes.
Data collection
League match data across each season was recorded and analyzed via a two-camera Optical
Tracking System (InStat, Moscow, Russia) to report physical performance data. The matches
were filmed using two full HD, static cameras positioned on the centre line of the field, not less
than 3-metres from the field and 7-metres in height. A consistent 25Hz format was provided.
Data were linearly interpolated to 50Hz, smoothed using a 5-point moving average and then
down-sampled to 10Hz. The reliability and validity of InStat have been demonstrated by
assessing velocity and position data collected during soccer-specific exercises in comparison
with a reference stereophotogrammetric system (Vicon Motion Systems Ltd., Oxford, UK).
These assessments are included in the official FIFA test protocol for Electronic and Perfor-
mance Tracking Systems document, stating that the system has passed [8]. The InStat Analysis
Software System was used to measure and analyze physical performance. InStat provided writ-
ten permission to allow all match data to be used for research purposes.
The following distances, describing the whole team physical match performance, were
assessed: total distance covered by all team players (m); running distance covered by all team
players (m; total distance covered 4.0 to 5.5 m/s); high-speed running (HSR) distance covered
by all team players (m; total distance covered 5.5 to 7.0 m/s); and sprint distance covered by all
team players (m; total distance covered >7.0 m/s). These variables were selected based on pre-
vious studies [9, 10] to facilitate comparisons.
The League Development Department gathered temperature data on all official matches
during the 2015 to 2021 period from the official Hydrometeorological Center. Meteorological
data were retrieved from the meteorological stations located nearest the stadiums, available
from the Russian Weather Service (http://aisori-m.meteo.ru/waisori/) and Ogimet (https://
www.ogimet.com/synops.phtml.en) databases. As far as data from the stadiums were con-
cerned, meteorological data were thus taken per hour during the match-day and one hour
prior to kick-off, measured from the centre of the field, as stated by League requirements. Data
on air temperature during matches were retrieved from the stadiums’ meteorological stations
and reported by the official match delegate. Two experts retrospectively examined and verified
the official Hydrometeorological Center data by comparisons with the League delegate reports.
All matches were classified into six groups depending on the ambient temperature at the start
of the match: <-5˚C; -4 to 0˚C; 1 to 5˚C; 6 to 10˚C; 11 to 20˚C; >20˚C. Ranges for tempera-
tures higher than 5˚C were set according to Carling et al. [5], while two additional ranges (-4
to 0˚C and 1 to 5˚C) were added for temperatures up to 5˚C. The lowest temperature threshold
(<-5˚C) was set according to Link and Weber [11]. All physical match performance and
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match temperature data were analysed by the same experienced investigator to ensure inter-
observer reliability was not a limitation of the study.
Statistical analysis
The statistical analysis was conducted using the software R, version 4.2.0 (R Foundation for
Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Lin-
ear mixed models with random intercept on team IDs were used to compare the examined
physical performance variables across temperature ranges. When there was a significant
(p<0.05) difference between temperature ranges, Tukey’s tests were used to determine which
ranges differed. The estimated differences were standardized by dividing them by the esti-
mated between-team standard deviation to determine the effect size (ES). Absolute ES values
were evaluated as <0.2, trivial; 0.2–0.6, small; 0.6–1.2, moderate; 1.2–2.0, large; 2.0–4.0, very
large; >4.0 extremely large [12].
The effect of low temperature on physical match performance was further explored by tak-
ing temperature as a continuous variable. Linear mixed models with random intercept on
team IDs were used to examine the effect of 1˚C ambient temperature decrease on physical
performance variables. For this analysis, only matches started at ambient temperature < 0˚C
were included. Effect sizes were calculated as Cohen’s d from the coefficients of linear mixed
models coefficient with the lme.dscore function from package EMAtools [13], and interpreted
as very small (<0.2), small (0.2–0.5), medium (0.5–0.8), large (>0.8) [14].
For all models, it was ensured that the assumptions of linearity, homoscedasticity and nor-
mality of residuals were met by visually inspecting histograms of residuals and plots of residu-
als vs. fitted values. For all analyses, statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results
In the examined matches, the mean ambient temperature at the start of the match was
11.7 ± 10.2˚C.
Table 1 presents the mean values for the examined physical performance variables in each
temperature range, while Table 2 displays the standardized differences (ES). The total distance
was similar from the <-5˚C to the 6 to 10˚C ranges, while it decreased in the 11 to 20˚C range
Table 1. Mean ± SD values, with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI), for physical match performance variables across temperature ranges.
<-5˚C
-4 to 0˚C
1 to 5˚C
6 to 10˚C
11 to 20˚C
>20˚C
(n = 134)
(n = 222)
(n = 322)
(n = 372)
(n = 726)
(n = 516)
Total distance (km)
Mean ±SD
114.9de ± 4.8
114.3de ± 5.1
114.5de ± 4.7
114.6de ± 4.6
113.7e ± 4.8
112.3 ± 5.5
95% CI
114.1–115.8
113.6–114.9
114.0–115.0
114.1–115.1
113.4–114.0
112.8–111.9
Running distance (km)
Mean ±SD
20.0de ± 1.8
20.0de ± 2.0
20.1de ± 1.8
20.0de ± 2.0
19.3e ± 1.8
18.3 ± 1.8
95% CI
19.7–20.3
19.7–20.3
19.9–20.3
19.8–20.2
19.2–19.5
18.2–18.5
High-speed distance (km)
Mean ±SD
7.7e ± 0.9
7.9de ± 0.9
7.9de ± 0.9
7.9de ± 1.0
7.7e ± 0.9
7.2 ± 0.9
95% CI
7.5–7.8
7.8–8.0
7.8–8.0
7.8–8.0
7.6–7.7
7.1–7.3
Sprint distance (km)
Mean ±SD
1.1abcd ± 0.4
1.2e ± 0.4
1.2e ± 0.3
1.3e ± 0.4
1.3e ± 0.4
1.1 ± 0.4
95% CI
1.0–1.1
1.2–1.3
1.2–1.3
1.2–1.3
1.2–1.3
1.1–1.2
a denotes a significant difference vs. -4 to 0˚C
b denotes a significant difference vs. 1 to 5˚C
c denotes a significant difference vs. 6 to 10˚C
d denotes a significant difference vs. 11 to 20˚C
e denotes a significant difference vs. >20˚C. Number of data is referred to team performance data points
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with significant small differences vs. all the lower temperature ranges. In the >20˚C range, the
total distance shows a further increase, with significant moderate differences vs. all the lower
temperature ranges. A similar trend was observed for running distance, with no significant dif-
ferences between ranges from <-5˚C to 6 to 10˚C, a decrease in the 11 to 20˚C range, with sig-
nificant moderate differences vs. all the lower temperature ranges and a marked decrease in
the >20˚C range, with significant moderate to large differences vs. all lower temperature
ranges (Tables 1 and 2). The HSR distance was slightly though not significantly lower in the
<-5˚C range when compared to temperature ranges from -4 to 0˚C to 6 to 10˚C. In the 11 to
20˚C range, HSR was significantly lower than in the -4 to 0˚C, 1 to 5˚C, and 6 to 10˚C ranges,
with small differences. In the >20˚C range, HSR distance was significantly lower than all
lower temperature ranges, with moderate to large differences. Sprint distance was similar
across ranges from -4 to 0˚C to 11 to 20˚C, while it was significantly lower in the <-5˚C range
when compared to all higher temperature ranges except >20˚C with moderate differences,
and in the >20˚C range when compared to all lower temperature ranges except <-5˚C, with
differences ranging from small to moderate (Tables 1 and 2).
The linear mixed model analysis performed using ambient temperature as a quantitative
independent variable including matches when temperature was equal to zero or lower, when
examining the estimated fixed effect coefficients, revealed small (d = 0.21–0.23) though non-
significant (p >0.05) increases of total distance and running distance for a 1˚C decrease of
ambient temperature. High-speed running distance showed a very small (d = 0.07) yet non-
significant decrease with decreasing temperature. Conversely, there was a significant (p<0.01)
decrease of 19.2 m (approximately 1.6%) for every 1˚C decrease of ambient temperature
(d = 0.48, small).
Table 2. Standardized differences (ES), with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI), between temperature ranges (values of temperature categories in columns minus values
of temperature categories in rows).
<-5˚C
-4 to 0˚C
1 to 5˚C
6 to 10˚C
11 to 20˚C
Total distance
-4 to 0˚C
0.16 (-0.27 to 0.59)
1 to 5˚C
0.12 (-0.29 to 0.59)
-0.04 (-0.38 to 0.30)
6 to 10˚C
0.08 (-0.31 to 0.48)
-0.07 (-0.41 to 0.27)
-0.03 (-0.33 to 0.27)
11 to 20˚C
0.55* (0.18 to 0.92)
0.39* (0.09 to 0.70)
0.43* (0.17 to 0.70)
0.47* (0.21 to 0.72)
>20˚C
1.18* (0.80 to 1.57)
1.02* (0.70 to 1.35)
1.06* (0.78 to 1.35)
1.10* (0.83 to 1.37)
0.63* (0.40 to 0.86)
Running distance
-4 to 0˚C
0.11 (-0.32 to 0.53)
1 to 5˚C
0.01 (-0.39 to 0.41)
-0.10 (-0.43 to 0.24)
6 to 10˚C
0.10 (-0.29 to 0.49)
-0.01 (-0.34 to 0.32)
0.09 (-0.21 to 0.38)
11 to 20˚C
0.72* (0.35 to 1.08)
0.61* (0.32 to 0.91)
0.71* (0.45 to 0.97)
0.62* (0.37 to 0.87)
>20˚C
1.73* (1.36 to 2.11)
1.63* (1.31 to 1.94)
1.72* (1.45 to 2.00)
1.64* (1.37 to 1.90)
1.01* (0.79 to 1.24)
High-speed distance
-4 to 0˚C
-0.28 (-0.90 to 0.34)
1 to 5˚C
-0.33 (-0.91 to 0.25)
-0.05 (-0.55 to 0.44)
6 to 10˚C
-0.34 (-0.91 to 0.23)
-0.06 (-0.55 to 0.42)
-0.01 (-0.44 to 0.42)
11 to 20˚C
0.21 (-0.33 to 0.74)
0.48* (0.05 to 0.92)
0.54* (0.16 to 0.92)
0.55* (0.18 to 0.91)
>20˚C
1.31* (0.76 to 1.86)
1.59* (1.13 to 2.05)
1.64* (1.24 to 2.05)
1.65* (1.27 to 2.04)
1.11* (0.78 to 1.43)
Sprint distance
-4 to 0˚C
-0.70* (-1.23 to -0.18)
1 to 5˚C
-0.85* (-1.34 to -0.35)
-0.15 (-0.57 to 0.27)
6 to 10˚C
-0.93* (-1.42 to -0.45)
0.23 (-0.63 to 0.18)
-0.08 (-0.45 to 0.29)
11 to 20˚C
-0.84* (-1.29 to -0.39)
-0.13 (-0.50 to 0.24)
0.02 (-0.31 to 0.33)
0.10 (-0.21 to 0.40)
>20˚C
0.18 (-0.29 to 0.65)
0.52* (0.13 to 0.92)
0.67* (0.32 to 1.06)
0.75* (0.42 to 1.08)
0.66* (0.38 to 0.94)
* denotes a significant difference (p<0.05).
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Discussion
The present study assessed the relationships between low ambient temperature and physical
match behavior in elite soccer players. To this aim, competitive matches played across five con-
secutive seasons in the Russian Premier League were examined. Although there is a mid-sea-
son winter break (mid-December to end-February) during the extremely cold months of the
year in this League, there is still a significant number of matches played under cold or very
cold conditions, mainly in the weeks just before or after the winter break. Thus, an evaluation
into how low temperatures may impact the physical match output of soccer players in a real-
world setting is of significant interest to the support staff tasked with maintaining the well-
being of players.
Together, our results show that a very cold (<-5˚C) ambient temperature at the start of the
match has no impact on total distance covered or distance when running up to 5.5 m/s, while
there is a trend suggesting a slight reduction of HSR distance (5.5 to 7.0 m/s), and an evident
decrease in sprint distance (>7.0 m/s). On average, in matches played at a temperature of -5˚C
or less, team sprint distance was approximately 10–15% lower than in matches played at less
cold or warmer temperatures (Table 1). Moreover, with a mixed-effects regression analysis, a
moderate but relevant decrease of approximately 19.2 m (1.6%) of sprint distance covered by
the team for every 1˚C decrease of ambient temperature when the temperature was 0˚C or less
was reported. Thus, players performed less sprinting at low temperatures. Overall, the results
support the study hypothesis that physical match performance is negatively affected by playing
at low temperatures, though the impact of cold environment was evident, among the examined
variables, distances covered at high- to maximal intensity were notable.
To date, a number of previous studies have investigated how environmental conditions,
including ambient temperature, affects physical performance in soccer players [1, 3, 5, 11, 15–
18]. There is some evidence that total distance covered during a soccer match, as well as HSR
distance, are reduced in hot environments compared to neutral temperature conditions [1, 11,
16]. Though the present study mainly focused on the impact of low temperatures, the sample
included all available matches from the examined Russian Premier League seasons, thus allow-
ing a comparison between physical match performance across all temperature conditions.
Consistently with previous studies [1, 11, 17], it was observed that total distance covered, as
well as running and HSR distances, were reduced in the 11 to 20˚C and more evidently in the
>20˚C condition than in conditions where the temperature was between -4 and 20˚C. Sprint
distance also showed a decrease when the temperature at the start of the match was 20˚C or
higher when compared to lower temperature ranges (Table 1).
Currently, scant literature is available examining the impact of low temperatures on physi-
cal match performance in elite soccer. Carling et al. [5], analyzed physical match performance
in players from a French Ligue 1 team, and showed no detrimental effect of low temperature
on distances covered in the 0.0–4.0, 4.0–5.5, and >5.5 m/s speed ranges. However, the authors
employed <5˚C as the lower temperature condition. Our findings showed no substantial effect
of temperature in the 1 to 5˚C range, on physical match outcomes, while the effects of low tem-
perature became more evident at -5˚C or less. Therefore, the present results are consistent
with those of Carling and colleagues [5]. Link and Weber [11] examined the effects of ambient
temperature on total distance covered by players from 38 teams from the top two German lea-
gues, collected across 1211 league matches. Those authors used a lower temperature range of
<-5˚C, as in the present study, and also reported no substantial differences in the total distance
covered between matches starting at a temperature of -5˚C or less and matches played in the
-4˚ to 13˚C and 14 to 27˚C temperature ranges. This observation is also consistent with our
finding that total distance covered is unaffected by low temperatures (Tables 1 and 2).
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A hypothesis that may partly explain why sprint distance may decrease during soccer
matches played in very cold (<-5˚C) temperatures is that of a reduced sprinting capacity, that
may occur due to the negative effects of low temperature on muscle function and power pro-
duction. Indeed, it has been shown that speed, as well as agility and lower-limb power, is
impaired immediately after the application of different cryotherapy modalities [18–20]. To our
knowledge, only the study of Carlson et al. [21] investigated the effects of whole-body exposure
to low temperature on the outcomes of lower-limb power, agility and sprint tests. Reduced ver-
tical jump and agility performance was observed, although unaffected sprinting performance,
in recreational athletes, after a 15-minute cool (6.1˚C) exposure vs. a thermoneutral (17.2˚C)
environment was reported [21]. However, the temperature administered in this study for the
cool environment is higher than the lower ranges of ambient temperature in the present sam-
ple of soccer matches (<-5˚C). A colder temperature (-14˚C) was utilized by Wiggen and col-
leagues [22] to examine the effect of cold exposure on double poles sprint performance in
cross-country skiers. The authors reported lower performance in terms of power output at
14˚C vs. 6˚C temperatures. Such evidence supports the assumption that very cold ambient
temperature can impair sprinting performance in soccer players, however future studies are
warranted to further explore the effect of low ambient temperature on sprinting performance
in training and competitive match-play in players from different leagues.
A further factor that may potentially have an impact on reduced sprint distance at low tem-
peratures is possibly related to playing surface conditions. At sub-zero temperatures, the play-
ing turf may be frozen or partly frozen and slippery, decreasing stability and traction,
increasing the player ground contact and surface interaction, and therefore making it more
difficult for players to execute maximal or near-maximal actions, including sprints, than in
normal conditions. Additionally, the team playing strategy may be altered due to elements
such as unpredictable ball roll, bounce and ball-speed, leading players to execute more shorter
passes and thus reducing the number of longer, forward passes and subsequent physical
actions involving long (>30 m) sprinting. In this respect, in future investigations it would be
practically interesting to assess how the technical and tactical performance is affected when
matches are performed in cold or very cold conditions.
Limitations
Despite the findings, several limitations of this study were identified. Due to data availability, only
ambient temperature at the start of the match was examined as an indicator of environmental
conditions, while other atmospheric conditions such as atmospheric pressure, wind, wind child,
humidity, heat index, wet-bulb globe temperature, precipitation and cloudiness that may also
influence physical performance were not considered. However, depending on other factors such
as kick-off time, ambient temperature could to some extent increase or decrease throughout the
duration of approximately 2-hours of a soccer match, especially if the kick-off time is in the even-
ing hours. A perspective for future studies is therefore to consider the average ambient tempera-
ture during the match. Furthermore, our study lacked data related to other situational variables
such as match location, that may also potentially modulate the impact of low temperatures on
physical match performance, or others such as match result and quality of the teams that could
also cause different running-based results considering the different scenario of the analyzed team.
For such reasons, it is recommended to consider those variables in future studies.
Conclusion
The present study has shown that sub-zero ambient temperatures, especially when equal to or
lower than -5˚C, are related to changes in the match running performance behavior in elite
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soccer players. A novel finding of our study is that low temperatures are associated with
reduced sprint performance. The present results may be of real practical interest to coaching
staff who are responsible for improving and maintaining the health and well-being of soccer
players that regularly play in cold or very cold conditions.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Ryland Morgans, Eduard Bezuglov, Dave Rhodes, Jose Teixeira, Toni
Modric, Sime Versic, Rafael Oliveira.
Formal analysis: Rocco Di Michele.
Investigation: Ryland Morgans, Dave Rhodes, Jose Teixeira, Toni Modric, Sime Versic, Rafael
Oliveira.
Methodology: Ryland Morgans.
Project administration: Ryland Morgans.
Resources: Eduard Bezuglov.
Software: Rocco Di Michele.
Supervision: Ryland Morgans.
Validation: Ryland Morgans, Eduard Bezuglov, Rafael Oliveira.
Visualization: Ryland Morgans, Rocco Di Michele.
Writing – original draft: Ryland Morgans, Rocco Di Michele, Rafael Oliveira.
Writing – review & editing: Ryland Morgans, Eduard Bezuglov, Dave Rhodes, Jose Teixeira,
Toni Modric, Sime Versic, Rafael Oliveira.
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The relationship between ambient temperature and match running performance of elite soccer players.
Morgans, Ryland,Bezuglov, Eduard,Rhodes, Dave,Teixeira, Jose,Modric, Toni,Versic, Sime,Di Michele, Rocco,Oliveira, Rafael