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This study aimed to assess and compare the physical development of elite and non-elite professional soccer players. Seventy-eight male professional football players divided into four competitive levels participated in this study: the elite group (EG), the non-elite group A (NEG-A), the non-elite group B (NEG-B), and the under 23 group (U23). Body composition, static strength, lower-body explosive strength, flexibility, and balance were assessed. No significant statistical differences between elite and non-elite players were seen in body composition parameters. However, the EG performed better in static strength, lower-body explosive strength, flexibility, and balance, even after adjusting for the effects of chronological age. The analysis showed that the competitive level (group) explained 25% to 29% of the variance observed in the lower-body explosive strength tasks. Sports staff and coaches in different age categories or competitive levels should include specific lower-body explosive strength content during soccer training to promote players\u2019 long-term development towards the elite level.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/app12147343","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,21]],"date-time":"2022-07-21T10:36:56Z","timestamp":1658399816000},"page":"7343","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Physical Development Differences between Professional Soccer Players from Different Competitive Levels"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8364-6832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00edntia","family":"Fran\u00e7a","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"},{"name":"LARSyS, Interactive Technologies Institute, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Ihle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland"},{"name":"Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland"},{"name":"Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES\u2014Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9850-7771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adilson","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIPER, Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, 1499-002 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"ISAMB, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1499-002 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8681-0642","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hugo","family":"Sarmento","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Coimbra, Research Unit for Sport and Physical Activity (CIDAF), Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, 3004-504 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4838-4931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"},{"name":"LARSyS, Interactive Technologies Institute, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ricardo","family":"Henriques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mar\u00edtimo da Madeira\u2014Futebol SAD, 9020-208 Funchal, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0927-692X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u00c9lvio R\u00fabio","family":"Gouveia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"},{"name":"LARSyS, Interactive Technologies Institute, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2010.536849","article-title":"The long-term athlete development model: Physiological evidence and application","volume":"29","author":"Ford","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. 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