Explaining the difference between men's and women's football.
Women's football is gaining supporters and practitioners worldwide, raising questions about what the differences are with men's football. While the two sports are often compared based on the players' physical attributes, we analyze the spatio-temporal events during matches in the last...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255407 |
| _version_ | 1797820446977032192 |
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| author | Luca Pappalardo Alessio Rossi Michela Natilli Paolo Cintia |
| author_facet | Luca Pappalardo Alessio Rossi Michela Natilli Paolo Cintia |
| author_sort | Luca Pappalardo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Women's football is gaining supporters and practitioners worldwide, raising questions about what the differences are with men's football. While the two sports are often compared based on the players' physical attributes, we analyze the spatio-temporal events during matches in the last World Cups to compare male and female teams based on their technical performance. We train an artificial intelligence model to recognize if a team is male or female based on variables that describe a match's playing intensity, accuracy, and performance quality. Our model accurately distinguishes between men's and women's football, revealing crucial technical differences, which we investigate through the extraction of explanations from the classifier's decisions. The differences between men's and women's football are rooted in play accuracy, the recovery time of ball possession, and the players' performance quality. Our methodology may help journalists and fans understand what makes women's football a distinct sport and coaches design tactics tailored to female teams. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:38:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fc1c6c563604499ab4effd0a3eb97ce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:38:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fc1c6c563604499ab4effd0a3eb97ce2023-05-25T05:31:38ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01168e025540710.1371/journal.pone.0255407Explaining the difference between men's and women's football.Luca PappalardoAlessio RossiMichela NatilliPaolo CintiaWomen's football is gaining supporters and practitioners worldwide, raising questions about what the differences are with men's football. While the two sports are often compared based on the players' physical attributes, we analyze the spatio-temporal events during matches in the last World Cups to compare male and female teams based on their technical performance. We train an artificial intelligence model to recognize if a team is male or female based on variables that describe a match's playing intensity, accuracy, and performance quality. Our model accurately distinguishes between men's and women's football, revealing crucial technical differences, which we investigate through the extraction of explanations from the classifier's decisions. The differences between men's and women's football are rooted in play accuracy, the recovery time of ball possession, and the players' performance quality. Our methodology may help journalists and fans understand what makes women's football a distinct sport and coaches design tactics tailored to female teams.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255407 |
| spellingShingle | Luca Pappalardo Alessio Rossi Michela Natilli Paolo Cintia Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. PLoS ONE |
| title | Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. |
| title_full | Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. |
| title_fullStr | Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. |
| title_short | Explaining the difference between men's and women's football. |
| title_sort | explaining the difference between men s and women s football |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255407 |
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