Analysis of Scored Goals in Cerebral PalsyFootball Spanish League

Abstract: This study aimed to report the goal patterns in cerebral palsy (CP) footballaccording to the time in which goals were scored, the importance of the first goal of the match and the sport class of players who scored the goals,to improve the knowledge of performance in this para-sport. The goals scoredby the seven teamsof the Spanish National League, during the 21 matches of the 2021/2022 season,were analyzed. Thedata was collected from the official match reports of the Spanish Federation of CP sports. Theresults showed a total of 142 goals and an average of 6.8 goals per match. A Pearson’s correlation analysis showed moderate correlations between the scored goals by teams, the received goals and the final position in the team ranking(r = 0.71 to 0.81; p = 0.02 to 0.07). The distribution of the goals scored was not biased by halves (53.5% vs 46.5%; χ2 = 0.5; p = 0.50) nor by 15-min periods (31.0% vs 22.5% vs 26.8% vs 19.7%; χ2= 2.9; p= 0.40). In the 72.7% of the matches, the team which scored the first goal finally won the match (χ2 = 26.4; p < 0.01). FT3 players scored more goals by player (χ2 = 9.7; p = 0.05). The results from this study improve the knowledge of the goal patterns in CP football and they could be interesting for coaches and CP football professionals to plan their game strategiesconsidering the importance of scoring the first goal of the match and the higher scoring rate of FT3 players.