Intellectual and psychological differences create super soccer stars

Research shows that not the power and speed, but the intelligence and the spirit of steel are the important difference between an ordinary player and a soccer superstar.

Wisdom and psychological qualities play a decisive role in the success of football superstars.(Photo: Telegraph)

We often think that football is not an intellectual sport . Big players like Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo or Paul Pogba are famous for their strength, speed, ability to master and their mastery of the ball. However, new research by British scientists shows that all these skills are related to the intelligence of players .

According to New Scientist, Vincent Walsh, a neurologist at the University of London, UK, is working with sports stars to test their limits. In fact, coaches often use psychological pre-game therapies to increase confidence, motivation and teach players to cope with stress. But Walsh and his colleagues focused on exploring the differences in the thinking of star players and ordinary players .

In the study published in Current Biology, Walsh said that playing sports at the top level requires huge intellectual differences. The wise player will learn the skills and tactics more smoothly . When needed, they can make decisions in a snap and plan for dealing with immediate situations.

A strong spirit helps them overcome defeat, feeling of losing and fear of injuries. They did all this while still having to focus on controlling the ball, when they were annoyed by their opponents, even pulling their shirts, pushing, spitting, or the ridicule of the crowd as well as the expectations of Millions of viewers worldwide.

The evidence shows that football superstars are better equipped mentally than most normal players. Prospective young football players are more likely to focus for longer periods of time, and react faster than normal players.

Sports psychologist Mitchell Smith at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, conducts research on the effects that fatigue can have on players' performance. He found that the depleted brain will affect the mind, the ability to judge decisions and the physical activity of the player such as speed of running or catching the ball. In the UK, sports psychologist Christopher Wagstaff at the University of Portsmouth demonstrates, if players watch a video that annoys them and inhibits them, they will be worse off in the next match.

Another good example of the role of psychology is the battle on penalties at Euro 2016 , after 120 minutes of stress and fatigue. Sports psychologist Greg Wood at Liverpool University in Hope, England studied hundreds of shootout matches and affirmed the key to success was primarily psychological.

Most people believe that the shootout result is due to luck . Even many of the best players in the world have such views. "The penalty kick is always like a lottery. You never know what will happen," Cristiano Ronaldo said after scoring in this year's Champions League final for Real Madrid.

But Wood does not agree with this view. He found that in major international tournaments between 1982 and 2015, the German team won all 6 matches in the form of a penalty shootout while England lost 6 out of 7 decisive matches. The German player scored in 92% of their penalties compared to only 67% of the British. The difference in a long period of time is not due to luck.

Most players have the ability to accurately hit the goal within 11 meters. The difference is whether their brain can control the body in stressful situations, and whether their psychology can win the role of luck. On the contrary, good goalkeepers can intimidate the opponent's spirit, or recognize the psychological fear in the opponent's body language, thereby giving accurate judgment.