<![CDATA[This study examined the effect of Rondo exercises and small-sided games on tactical link-up play, shooting, passing accuracy, and ball control in youth football players. A randomized pre-test–post-test experimental design was used with 20 outfield players from Al-Daghara Youth Club, allocated equally to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group completed an eight-week program of three sessions per week (24 sessions), while the control group followed the club’s regular program. Performance was assessed with a tactical link-up play and shooting test, a 15-m passing-accuracy test, and a ball-control test. Paired-samples and independent-samples t-tests were used at p < .05, and Cohen’s d was reported for between-group effects. Both groups improved from pre-test to post-test, but the experimental group achieved higher post-test scores than the control group in tactical link-up play and shooting (11.36 ± 1.23 vs. 8.76 ± 1.04, p < .001, d = 2.28), passing (19.12 ± 1.53 vs. 16.89 ± 1.02, p = .002, d = 1.71), and ball control (8.89 ± 0.37 vs. 7.82 ± 1.39, p = .033, d = 1.05). These results support the use of structured Rondo and small-sided-game tasks to develop technical and tactical performance in youth football, while replication with larger samples and match-based indicators remains necessary.]]>
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