Table 1
Description and categorisation of the nominal variables used for the study.
| Variable | Description |
| Type of set piece | Action leading to the goal |
| Direct free kicks: free kicks that are taken without the need for contact with the ball by a team-mate before attempting to score a goal. | |
| Indirect free kicks: free kicks that are taken with the need to have contact with the ball from a teammate before attempting to score a goal. | |
| Corner kick: kick from the corner of the field after the ball has cleared the end line after being touched by a defender. | |
| Position (Di Salvo et al., 2007) | Position of the player who scored the goal |
| Central defender | |
| External defender | |
| Central midfielder | |
| External midfielder | |
| Forward | |
| Confederation | Confederation of the club to which the player scoring the goal belonged at the end of the season 2020/2021 |
| UEFA – Union of European Football Associations | |
| CONMEBOL – Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol | |
| CONCACAF – Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football | |
| AFC – Asian Football Confederation | |
| Time | Time frame in which the goal was scored |
| 1-15 | |
| 16-30 | |
| 31-45 | |
| 46-60 | |
| 61-75 | |
| 76-90 | |
| Extra-Time | |
| Relevance | Incidence of the goal action on the outcome of the match |
| Unimportant: the goal has no bearing on the outcome of the match. | |
| Tie: the achievement of the goal implies a draw in the match. | |
| Victory: scoring the goal leads to a victory in the match. | |
| Starting zone, Finishing zone, Goalkeeper position (Adaptaded from Fernández-Hermógenes et al., 2017; Beare & Stone, 2019; Lee & Mills, 2021; Wang & Qin, 2020; Figure 1) | Area in which the play is initiated, depending on the laterality of the set- piece action |
| Space from which finalisation takes place | |
| Area in which the goalkeeper is at the time of the shot | |
| Short Corner Zone (SCZ) | |
| Front Zone (FZ) | |
| Goal Area 1 (GA1) | |
| Goal Area 2 (GA2) | |
| Goal Area 3 (GA3) | |
| Critical Area 1 (CA1) | |
| Critical Area 2 (CA2) | |
| Critical Area 3 (CA3) | |
| Edge (E) | |
| Back Zone (BZ) | |
| Opposite Corner Zone (OCZ) | |
| Medium Lateral Zone (MLZ) | |
| Central Close Zone (CCZ) | |
| Central Away Zone (CAZ) | |
| Opposite Medium Lateral Zone (OMLZ) | |
| Large Lateral Zone (LLZ) | |
| Midfield Close Zone (MCZ) | |
| Midfield Away Zone (MAZ) | |
| Opposite Large Lateral Zone (OLLZ) | |
| Own Half (OH) | |
| Kicker’s foot | Leg with which the thrower executes the set-piece action |
| Right | |
| Left | |
| Fault trajectory (Adaptaded from Kubayi & Larkin, 2019; Maneiro et al., 2021) | The direction the ball takes once it has been put into play for direct and indirect free kicks |
| Open; Ball trajectory away from the goal. | |
| Closed; The trajectory of the ball approaches the goal. | |
| Short; The ball is put into play looking for a close teammate. | |
| Direct; The trajectory of the ball is direct to the goal. | |
| Corner trajectory (Adaptaded from Kubayi & Larkin, 2019; Maneiro et al., 2021) | The direction the ball takes after it has been put into play at corner kicks. |
| Open; Ball trajectory away from the goal. | |
| Closed; The trajectory of the ball approaches the goal. | |
| Short; The ball is put into play looking for a close teammate. | |
| Defence style (Adaptaded from Casal et al., 2015; Maneiro et al., 2021) | Player positioning to defend the action |
| Zone; Each player is responsible for a certain zone of the field or area. | |
| Man-to-man; Every attacker is marked by a defender. | |
| Combined; Mix of Zone marking and Man-to-Man marking. | |
| Mixed; Each player is responsible for a zone, and for the opposing player who stands in that zone. | |
| Opposition (Adaptaded from Casal et al., 2015) | The situation of the player finishing the action about the defenders |
| 9.15 m | |
| High; Active defender in front of the player who is going to finish the action and within his range of action is at a distance of interposing a body part to intercept the ball. | |
| Medium; Active defender in the radius of action, but is laterally or behind the finishing player and allows for some ease of shooting. | |
| Low; There are no defenders within range of the passer and he performs unopposed. | |
| Type of completion (Adaptaded from Casal et al., 2015) | Technical completion action |
| Shooting | |
| Control and shooting | |
| Driving | |
| Dribble | |
| Own goal | |
| Striking surface (Adapted from Sainz de Baranda et al., 2011) | Part of the body with which the player shoots at goal |
| Inside of the foot | |
| Outside of the foot | Foot sole |
| Instep | |
| Heel | |
| Toe | |
| Head | |
| Trunk | |
| Height of the previous pass | The altitude of the pass received by the finisher |
| High – Parabolic; The player receives a ball that has a flight higher than his neck height. | |
| Medium; The player receives a ball with a mid-flight (lower neck to knees). | |
| Low; Player receives a ball low or below knee height. | |
| Finishing leg (Adaptaded from Casal et al., 2015) | Distinguishing between right and left, and whether it is the player’s dominant leg or not, as long as the goal is scored with the foot. |
| Dominant right | |
| Non-dominant right | |
| Dominant left | |
| Non-dominant left | |
| Goal zone (Sainz de Baranda et al., 2005, Figure 2) | The sector of the goal through which the ball enters the net |
| 1 – Lower – right | |
| 2 – Lower – centre | |
| 3 – Lower – left | |
| 4 – Middle – left | |
| 5 – Middle-centre | |
| 6 – Middle – right | |
| 7 – Upper – right | |
| 8 – Upper – centre | |
| 9 – Upper – left |
