Football
Brief introduction of Football
- Football is a game loved by many and these include people who have the ability to play and people who just love the sport and have passion for the sport. Football is also known as soccer and it is a game that involves two teams systematically kicking a ball which is usually spherical till they can get it into a goal post. This sport is the world's most popular sport and this can be said because this singular sport is played in over 200 countries and played by over 250 million people. Many people usually change the rules of the game to suit their needs but some set of rules still apply and they never change.
- Football as a sport can be played professionally and this occurs in a placed called a pitch. The pitch is rectangular in shape. The pitch starts and ends with a goal post thus a pitch has two goal posts, each for each team. As earlier stated the aim of this sport is to move and kick the ball using different skills and techniques until you can get it in a goal post across the goal line. When this action is successfully carried out, it is called a goal. The team with the highest number of goals wins the game.
Things required to play Football game
The following are some of the major requirements:
- Two Teams Of An Equal Number Of Players
To play this game, you must have two teams and they must have an equal number of players. If it is a standard football match, the standard numbers of players in one team is 11 and these include a goalkeeper and 10players. If it is a game played just for fun, then we can have any number depending on the size of the pitch the individuals wish to use.
- A Pitch
The football match has to be played in a pitch. A standard pitch is a rectangle and the pitch has a goalpost that has its size specifications. Professional pitch sizes differ but there is a minimum size of the pitch before it is qualified to be called a standard pitch and before professional matches can be played on such pitch.
- A Ball
This is very important. This is the heart of the game. This is a spherical object containing air.
- A Referee
This is the moderator of the game. The referee controls the game and makes sure the game is played fair and also keeping the players in check. He starts the game, he ends the game and he make the final decisions in the game.
- A Pair Of Boots
This is only very important when it is a professional or serious match. If it is a match played for fun you can play without your boot. However professional football must be played with a boot as a matter of fact teams like India national team has been disqualified in the past for wanting to play a game of football without boots.
- Jersey
This is the distinguishing factor of the teams. Each team must have its players put on the same type and pattern of jersey with the name written on the jersey if possible. These jerseys are made in such ways that there is no way a player from the opposing team will mistake an opponent for a teammate. Each team is allowed two jersey types. One for when they play at home and the other when they play away from home. Both jerseys must not be similar so that if another team has a similar jersey color to theirs, the away team jersey would contrast.
- Hand Gloves
This is mainly for the goalkeeper. He has to wear these to make sure he doesn't injure his hand and stress any bones or muscles causing pain as the ball can be very heavy sometimes especially during a rainy match. However, Hand gloves are only very important in professional and serious games. When football is played for fun, having a hand glove is not really a necessity.
- Goalpost
This is one of the most important aspects of football. If there are no goal post players will just run and run and play the ball around with no real aim. A goalpost must be present because it determines who wins and who loses. It determines what direction to play and somewhere to aim.
Required skills to play Football
There are certain skills you need to have in mind and master before you enter the game of football. It is important that you know that the aim of the game is shooting the ball into the goal post. It takes certain skills to do this effectively and not depending on luck. The skills requires includes:
- Passing The Ball
Passing the ball is a skill where you play the ball to another teammate. It is not always possible for one person to run with the ball all by themselves past 11 players and score a goal, the ball must be passed around to players who are in better positions to pass the ball to other players who are in a better position or to shoot the ball into the goal post. There are different kind of passes one needs to master, they are, long passes, short passes, through passes, back passes, etc.
- Shooting The Ball
This is another important skill to learn. There is a popular saying that if you don't shoot, you don't score, and if scoring is the aim of the game, this should tell how important this skill is. This is the act of kicking the ball with a good amount of force with the aim to put it in the back of the net.
- Crossing
This is the act of playing the ball across the goal from beside the part of the pitch called the 18-yard box.
- Heading Or Nodding
This is the act of using one head to hit the ball. This action can be aimed at passing, shooting, or defending one's goal.
- Dribbling
This is a process where one player gets past or round another player or sets of players using a certain skill set. Some of these skills include, the nutmeg, shot feint, etc.
How to play Football?
To play the game of football, you must make sure you have the above requirements and the set of players have the right skills listed above.
These are the steps you need to enjoy a game of soccer.
- Get your pitch ready. It must be a conducive pitch.
- Get your players ready. Put them in two teams, each team having the same number of players. A standard team is made of 11 players.
- Get your goal post ready. Both goalposts of each team must be of the same size.
- Get your ball ready. It must have enough air in it.
- Bet a referee to moderate the game.
Some important rules of Football
Just like any life endeavor. There are rules that govern the football game. This include but not limited to the following:
- The team with the highest goal wins the game
- You must not pick the ball with your hand, or move your hand in a motion that will disrupt the ball movement. Don't keep your hand in a position in which it can touch the ball
- You must not tackle a player roughly
- Yellow card is awarded for bad play and two yellow cards makes a red card thus the player has to leave the pitch.
- An opposing player cannot be the last player to the goalkeeper while the ball is passes to such player as this is called offside
- Two balls must not be on the pitch at the same time.
- More than 11 players must not be on the pitch at the same time in a standard football match.
On the final note, the above requirements, rules and skill sets are what is required to be an efficient football player.
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