Big legs and soccer players?? I have a stumping question?

I have played soccer my whole life and have lifted with my legs sparingly. I know a few professional players lift weights here and their but they majority dont. Soccer players usually have the biggest legs out of all the athletes and my question is with so much endurance training going on how do they keep that muscle. I know endurance training acts as sort of a canibalizing effect to muscle tissue so with all that running how do they still have huge powerful legs. It cant be genetics because their upper bodies are weak. So one could say that maybe they have good genes but I dont see that. I think if they didnt play soccer they would have smaller legs. If you look at marathon runners they are damn near anorexic. Soccer players on average run 8-9 miles a game and practice all week. I would love to know what experienced people think about this.

Many activities in soccer are forceful and explosive (e.g. tackling, jumping, kicking, turning and changing pace). The power output during such activities is related to the strength of the muscles involved in the movements which means these movements contribute to gains in muscle size, strength and power.

Soccer players may run 8-9 miles a game but this is a lot shorter than a marathon (about 26 miles). Look at soccer players to be more like sprinters than marathon runners.

Strength Training for Endurance Athletes