Diverse types of soccer like competitions have been played as far back as the times of the Romans. However, the U.S. was the 1st British colony to beginning participating in soccer games. As far back as 1609 in the Jamestown colony various forms of soccer were being played. In the U.S. soccer refers to the game where you kick the ball into the opposing team's goal for points. In other countries, soccer is what people in the U.S. would consider football. In mid 2008, several players were inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum in Canada.
These players were; Arthur Arnold, John McGrane, William Flinton, Jack Brand, Jimmy Adam, Bruce Twamley, Constantinos Souplotis, Les Wilson and Walter W. Bowman. It's not only the Americans and Canadians who have a strong soccer history. In fact, much of the world does also. Here is a small list of some of the international soccer competitions that men and women compete in globally; Women's World Cup, Nordic Cup, World Youth Championship, Futsal World Championship, Pan American Games, World Cup, and the Olympic Soccer Tournament.
Player Positions
In the game of soccer, each team normally has eleven positions and eleven players playing in those positions. However since there are many ways to play the game soccer this isn't always the case. Generally you will have backs, defenders, forwards, fullbacks, goalies, goalkeeper, midfielders and striker sweepers. Optional positions include; midfield anchor, midfield general, midfield maestro, attacking midfielder, central midfielder, defensive midfielder, finisher, central defender, central forward, halfback, and stoppers.
Soccer Objective
The object of the game of soccer is to kick the ball into the opposing teams goal. This is done by kicking the soccer ball around to other team mates in order to get them into a scoring position. Similar to the sport of basketball in regards to continuous passing, except the feet are to be used instead of the hand. This game demands a lot of physical endurance and mental capabilities in order to win. Players must be sharp enough to know when and where to pass the ball to without it being taken away by rival teams players. Each soccer game last ninety minutes with one fifteen minute break in between each game.
Highest Paid Players
1. Kak - AC Milan: $14.9 million per year
2. Ronaldinho - FC Barcelona: $14.1 million
3. Frank Lampard - Chelsea: $13.5 million
4. John Terry - Chelsea: $13.5 million
5. Fernando Torres - Liverpool: $13.1 million
6. Andriy Shevchenko - Chelsea: $12.9 million
7. Michael Ballack - Chelsea: $12.9 million
8. Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United: $12.7 million
9. Thierry Henry - FC Barcelona: $12.7 million
10. Steven Gerrard - Liverpool: $12.7 million
Major League Soccer (MLS)
The MLS was founded in 1993 and has grown to sixteen teams with discussion of adding more teams in the near future. Although they claim sixteen teams, the newly added Philadelphia won't begin playing until 2010. Here is a list of the Major League Soccer teams; Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Chivas USA, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, Red Bull New York, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Toronto FC. Each team plays a total of thirty games per year in an attempt to win the MLS Cup.
Play The Game Soccer
The Rules of the Game: Soccer is very simple to understand. Each team can field eleven players at any one time and they can make substitutions at any point in a game. The number of changes is dependent on the league, but in the current era three substitutions is the accepted norm across the leagues.
A game of soccer will last for two separate periods, each lasting forty-five minutes. The time between the periods is called half-time and lasted for approximately ten minutes.
Each team defends one half of the pitch in order to prevent the opposing team from scoring a goal in the net at the end of the pitch. Soccer coaches have developed various methods to create ways to improve the offensive and defensive tactics of the game.
Generally modern teams will defend the goal using four defenders and a player who protects the goal, known as the goal keeper. Offensively, the coach selects four players in midfield and two strikers to create and score the goals.
With the exception of the goal keeper, the players can not handle the ball. Instead, good play is developed by passing the ball in various ways to attempt to breach the opponent's defense. Goal scoring is low in the professional soccer game with most matches decided by just one or two goals.
There is a lot of terminology used during a game of soccer that is very specific. To the casual viewer this can appear confusing. The most important factor to consider is discipline. The game is mediated by one referee on the pitch and two further officials known as linesman on either side of the pitch.
If a player attempts to take the ball from an opponent but misses and instead makes contact with the player, the referee will regard this as a foul and stop the game and award a free kick to the fouled team. Dependent up on the severity of the foul, the referee can issue the player with either a yellow or a red card.
A yellow card indicates to the player that they risk being issued with a red card later in the game. The red card indicates that the player must leave the game immediately. In these circumstances they are not allowed to return for the remainder of the game.
On each side of the pitch the defense protects the goal. Directly in front of the goal is a marked rectangular area. If the referee deems that a foul has occurred in this area by a member of the defense, a penalty kick is awarded. When this occurs, a member of the offense is given the opportunity to score a goal against the opposition goalkeeper without the defense able to assist.
Finally, perhaps the most confusing law is the offside rule. At its simplest interpretation, an offensive player cannot be ahead of the defense as the play develops. This is regarded as attempting to gain an unfair advantage and if seen by any of the referees will result in a free kick for the defense.
This rule is responsible for many of the debates and controversies that surround the game of soccer. The referee's interpretation ultimately can decide who wins a game. At present, despite calls to introduce video technology to assist the officials nothing has been forthcoming.
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