AUTHOR=Wilke Carolina Franco , Coimbra Cândido Celso , Drummond Filipe R. , Drummond Lucas Rios , Campos Helton Oliveira , Kanope Tane , Ramos Guilherme Passos TITLE=Differences between 48 and 72-hour intervals on match load and subsequent recovery: a report from the Brazilian under-20 national football team JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2023 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1164454 DOI=10.3389/fspor.2023.1164454 ISSN=2624-9367 ABSTRACT=Purpose: To compare football players' external and internal load and subsequent recovery from international tournament matches interspersed by 48h vs 72h. Methods: 18 male soccer players from the Brazilian National Team competing in the 2019 South American Uunder-20Championship participated in the study. Match load was quantified using GPS variables and rating of perceived exertion (1). Additionally, before and after 13-15h from each match, players answered to number of hours and quality of sleep, recovery state and muscle soreness (0-10) and provided a blood sample for CK creatine kinase and reactive C-protein PCR analysis.Values from all variables were compared between matches played with 48h interval (matches 1 -4) and 72h interval (matches 5 -8). Results: No significant differences were observed on performance or perceptual parameters amongst matches (p = 0.136 to 0.953). However, CK