The Identification of Talent in Soccer - a Brief Review

In this review, we aim to identify and provide the most important research results in talent identification in soccer and highlight information for those who are interested in future research in this field. Some peer-reviewed empirical articles were collected and analyzed. The literature reveals considerable evidence demonstrating that 8 indicators must be taken into consideration in talent assessment: maturity, physiological abilities, technical skills, tactical skills, psycho-social attributes, deliberate practice, genetic factors and the context. It seems that the traditional trend of selecting young players based on physical, technical, psychological, cognitive and sociological attributes must be completed with other several factors: perceptual and tactical skills and abilities, genetics.