We examined repeated sprint ability performance in this study because this physical quality has recently been suggested to be a highly valid measure of soccer
match performance (Rampinini et al., 2007). The decrement in mean repeated sprint performance
observed in both groups in the present study is consistent with previous research showing impairments of sprint performance after match-play in team-sport athletes (Dawson et al., 2005; Reilly & Rigby, 2002; Ronglan et al., 2006).