Author(s): FUKUSHI, N., TAMURA, T.2, HASEGAWA, D.3, SUDA, Y.1, Institution: KEIO UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1821

INTRODUCTION:
Cerebral palsy football (CP football) is a sport created for individuals with relatively mild cerebral palsy and was adopted as an official event at the Paralympic Games since 1984 in New York. Unfortunately, after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, it was dropped as an official sport. However, attempts are being made to popularize it worldwide to make it an official Paralympic sport. Fifteen countries participated in the 2024 CP Football World Cup, including the Japanese national team. Japan played all six matches but failed to secure a single victory, finishing last. Furthermore, at the 2025 Asia-Oceania Cup, they placed fifth out of seven teams, failing to advance to the upper brackets. Consequently, a reevaluation of future strengthening strategies for the national team's development and reinforcement is essential.
However, within Japan's CP football community, data such as technical and tactical analysis of the Japanese national team's performances in various tournaments, along with tournament trends and statistics, remains unanalyzed. There is currently no ongoing effort to implement mid- to long-term plans for strengthening the team. Therefore, this study aims to conduct game analysis focusing on the Japanese national team's matches in international tournaments, with the goal of contributing to the improvement of CP football players' competitive abilities.
METHODS:
In conducting the analysis for this study, footage distributed by the International Federation of CP Football (IFCPF) was utilized. The tournaments examined were the 2024 IFCPF Men's World Cup and the 2025 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Cup. This presentation specifically focuses on scoring and conceding situations, recording the locations of shots that resulted in goals or conceded goals from the footage. In doing so, we referenced the analysis method of Higuchi et al. (2013), employing visual plotting and field segmentation techniques to plot the locations of these shots.
RESULTS:
The Japan national team scored a total of 1 goal and conceded a total of 13 goals at the 2024 IFCPF Men's World Cup. The Japan national team scored 14 goals and conceded 2 goals at the 2025 IFCPF Asia-Oceania Cup. Regarding the scoring locations, 10 of the 15 goals (66%) were scored from the center lane in the attacking third. Regarding the conceded shot locations, 12 of the 15 goals conceded (80%) resulted from shots taken from the center lane in the defensive third.
CONCLUSION:
This study revealed the shooting locations for goals scored by the Japanese national team and the locations of shots conceded during goals against in international competitions. In CP soccer, the absence of offside rules makes it easier for attacking players to penetrate the opponent's half but more difficult for defenders to cover space. It is hoped that these inherent characteristics of CP football, combined with the findings of this study, will be utilized in future team development and player training.