Living in Europe for the last two years has dispelled any misconceptions I had or had heard about European professional soccer players not engage in weight training and strength and conditioning. They definitely do and even use some Olympic weight-lifting. However, depending on the trainer, it can go from circus acts using bosu balls, heavy emphasis on back squats and deadlifting (rare as soccer players do not typically like heavy loads on their spine), to things in between. I used to be a big proponent of heavy ass-to-grass back squats and deadlifts, but I have learned the hard way that the cost (back injury) is high and there are smarter and better ways to load the legs.