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Effectiveness of Sliding Tackles in the First Round of the FIFA World Cup 2006 [Received September 3, 2007 ; Accepted March 14, 2008] Soccer is a competitive sport in which teams aim to score as much as possible and concede as few goals as possible. Soccer players are therefore expected to have skill in intercepting their opponent's shots by making aggressive sliding tackles. In this study, the effectiveness of sliding tackles on defense and their influence on game results were clarified through an analysis of the games played by the top teams of the respective groups of the first round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. To be more specific, the frequencies, areas, and success ratios of the sliding tackles made by the teams and their opponents were analyzed. Based on the analysis data, the effectiveness of these sliding tackles and their influence on the game results were evaluated. This study has revealed that the top teams of the respective groups of the first round of the 2006 World Cup utilized sliding tackles more effectively than their opponent teams did. Keywords: Sliding Tackle, Game Analysis, Defense, FIFA World Cup 2006, 1stRound |