Soccer is perhaps the world's favorite spectator sport,
popularly known as "Football" in Britain and other European
countries. This game can be as frustrating as golf, as physical
as football and hockey, as erratic as baseball, and as exciting
as basketball. No simple word can describe the popularity of the
game, with a global television audience of 49 billion people for
the 2002 World Cup alone. The game is exciting and highly
addictive to watch and play.
Professional game rules require 11 players per team, 10 playing
the field and one goalkeeper. With the use of a round ball, the
matched is player with the two teams wearing shirts of different
colors with distinctive soccer patches. The game is divided into
two sets, each for 45 minutes long with the referee adding
"extra time" based on time being wasted or play being stopped
during the original 45 minutes. Usually, the extra time will be
about one-to-three minutes.
A maximum of three substitutes may be used in any match played
in an official competition organized under the auspices of the
World Governing body Federation International Football
Association (FIFA), the confederations or the national
associations. However, in other competitions the rules must
state how many substitutes may be nominated, from three up to a
maximum of seven.
The decision regarding a match ending with a tie score usually
depends on the actual type of game being player. There are times
when the just simply ends in a tie score after the regular 90
minutes game plus any added time. On the other hand, a game
ending with a tie score may lead into an overtime with an
allotted time of extra play leading to penalty kicks, this
usually occurs during a deciding game of a tournament. Each team
is given five attempts to score on the opposing goalkeeper, the
team with the highest score wins the game.
During a game, players are only allowed to wear soccer equipment
and are prohibited to wear anything that may harm him as well as
the other. This includes any kind of jewelry and other
accessories. The basic soccer equipment of a player include a
jersey or shirt with their distinctive soccer patches; shorts,
if thermal under shorts are worn, it has to be the same main
color as the shorts; stockings; and footwear, soccer shoes,
boots, cleats.
There are instances that players may use extra equipments such
as shin guards and headgears. The shin guards protect the leg
below the knee and are completely covered by the stockings.
These are either made of rubber, plastic, or similar substances.
While the head gear are available to protect younger players
when heading the ball.
For goalkeepers, they must wear a color that separates him from
the other goalkeeper, players, the referee and the assistant
referees.
There are four important details that one should know about the
game before he is ready to play soccer. The first is that only
the goalkeeper is allowed to use his hands, and this is only
within the confines of the marked-off area surrounding the goal.
When a player uses their hands on a ball, the opposing team gets
a free kick from the spot of the violation.
The second vital information that you should remember about the
game is that players are generally penalized for rough or unfair
play with the use of cards. A yellow card is considered a stern
warning, while a red card signifies a serious violation. Once a
player receives a red card it means that he had been ejected
from the game and cannot be replaced and that leaves the
player's team with less players. Meanwhile receiving two yellow
cards will equal to a red card, meaning the player will receive
the same penalty.
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