The aim of this work is to perform a comprehensive study of morphological characteristics of Algerian soccer players’ aged 15-16 years to improve the detection process of the national elite. To do this, this thesis is based on two studies that allow one hand to trace the typical profile of young Algerians soccer players and secondly to assess the influence of early and late maturation on selection for of national team.The objective of the first study is to determine the morphological profile of young Algerian soccer players aged 15-16 years where we took a sample of 146 players with an average age (15.61 years ± 0.49), 25 of which are part of the national team (U-17) and 121 stocks in the four regions (Eastern, Western, Central and South). We relied on anthropometric method in order to determine the morphological differences existing between players depending on the level of practice and compartments. The comparison between selections by region and data from the national team, tells us about existing differences in level of morphological development, except for East regional selection. Depending on the position of play, we find that outcomes for young Algerian soccer players less than 17 years shall comply with the requirements of the post football game, set by several authors. This study, compared to international data used, highlights significant differences in the indices of physical development, which confirms the weakness of our young players. Principal component analysis allowed the selection of 20 parameters, estimated as the most representative of the morphological development of our young players. With this selection of parameters we have identified a typical profile of young Algerian soccer players.The second part of our study focuses on the influence of age, body dimensions and stage of maturation on the selection of young Algerian soccer players aged Under-17 national team, by comparing their results to those of regional teams. Ninety-one young Algerian soccer players (28 international and 63 regional) were studied (mean age = 16.6 years). The age of peak height velocity (PHV) was determined by the equation of Mirwald et al. (2002). The two groups are similar chronological age but the players belonging to the national team are significantly more mature than the regional one (P <0.01). [...] These results show that in football, developing advanced physics is an advantage to access the best teams, [...] that the early morphological development is an important feature that coaches detect more or less conscious in their search for "young talent".From a general point of view, this work highlights the importance of the assessment of the morphological profile of young Algerian soccer players aged 15-16 to serve as a baseline for coaches and scientists. The influence of growth and maturation performance is a fact, one of the main conditions for the effectiveness of the detection system and preparing our young players would be a strict monitoring of biological age. A rational classification, taking into account the stages of maturation and harmonious development of physical qualities, would properly resolve the loss of talent and injuries. A perspective of this work is to investigate the physiological causes of morphological gaps of the young Algerian soccer players who impede the smooth functioning of its training process.
