Brilliant soccer players differ from others in where they focus during the game, according to research by the team of Takeshi Asai and Ryusuke Natsuhara at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. They found that while average-level players look at the space of the soccer field, good players look at other players. The result was accepted by a Japanese journal "Taiikugaku Kenkyu" (Sports Research) on December 26 ,2014 and will be published in June 2015.

This remarkable research was conducted simulating the conditions of an actual game with the cooperation of 30 soccer players at the University of Tsukuba Soccer Club. The researchers measured the eye movements of the players using an eye-tracking device called EMR-8b manufactured by nac.

In addition to focusing on other players rather than open space, good players switched their focus from opposition players to teammates before and after passing the ball. The research also confirmed that good players could control their eye movements smoothly by their immediate good decision-making during the game. This may be useful for teaching soccer more effectively.

The traditional soccer training textbook in Japan tended to stress the importance of looking more at the space of the game field rather than looking at the ball, teammates, or opposition players. Besides, some scholars had pointed out that research into soccer training methods in the past were very limited because they were too theoretical.

So, this research was designed to simulate the real scenes of the soccer game. The players wore the eye-tracking equipment EMR-8b like a vest and played the game in the gymnasium.