History of Soccer

Soccer is among the most loved and celebrated sports worldwide. People will spent a lot of money to buy soccer jerseys with the same number worn by their favorite soccer stars Soccer has evolved throughout time, from being a game without rules to a game that has a visual assistant referee.The game get its name from that people uses their foot to kick the ball. It was started more than two thousand years ago as some other games. The only ancient game that has closer resemblance to modern day soccer is Tsu Chu which was played in China.

In the Tsu Chu game, players would kick a small leather ball towards a net that was put between two bamboo poles. The idea behind Tsu Chu was adopted by other cultures around the world and other people started to have games that had similar concepts. In Japan they had Kamari, in America they had Pahsaheman and in Australia they had the Marn Grook .During the middle age, soccer started to take a different route altogether. The progression began in England. At this point their version of soccer was referred to as folk football.People would kick a pig's bladder from a certain point to another point. It was regarded by most England kings as an initiator of violence. Moreover, the sport was popular among the lower class. The teams in folk teams comprised a number of people that it was difficult to score. The areas on which they would be playing would sometime stretch from one town to another town. Because there were no rules, games ended with people becoming violent. However, on ash wednesday there was the biggest match. With time, more space was now used to build industries and residence area hence there was no space for people to play folk football.

Football was introduced in schools and it gained momentum. Regardless of it becoming popular among the school, there were still no rules to govern it. In 1893, the Football association was formed. The formation of the association brought in place some rules that were agreed on. The rules included banning of the use of hands ,shin kicking and tripping. In 1872 the first association cup was played. It was also during the same time that soccer moved from being a game to a source of income. Players were now paid for playing soccer. In 1904, the International Federation Of Association Football was formed in Paris. In 1930, the first FIFA world cup was held in Uruguay. Today as a result of soccer many people will be either glued on the television or in the actual stadium watching their favorite teams player Soccer today fig1.1 In soccer, the main aim of the game is for the teams to score as many goals as possible.The teams run up and down the soccer field in attempt to score. According to FIFA The soccer pitch which looks the one in fig above will have a length that varies between 100m-110m and a width that varies between 64m-73m. The soccer field is marked with white lines.The touch line divides the pitch into two halves.

In the middle of the pitch is a circle which is called the centre circle, where the game start off. The penalty box is where the penalty kick is taken from.Its an arc from the penalty spot which the opposing players cannot enter until it is taken. The goal area is where the goal kick is taken from to resume the game after it had been kicked outside by the opponent team in their attempt to score.the touch lines is the outline which is very long in a pitch. If a team commits a foul on purpose inside their penalty box, their opponent team is given a penalty kick. The ball is placed on the penalty spot during a penalty. The goalkeeper is the only one who can defend the shot thus only the goalkeeper will be in the box. The goalkeeper is protected inside the penalty area stated by the law which says,"When a goalkeeper has gained possession of the ball with his hands, he cannot be challenged by an opponent." On each of the corners is a flag as well as a marked quarter circle these arcs are for The goal posts should be of the same width apart and of same height also following the FIFA standards. They should be made of wood,metal and painted in white.Both teams have a coaching and team area, where sub team members sit. The are is on the same side of the (team benches) although there is a distance between them to separate them. Eleven players are allowed in the pitch from each team.Players uses their feet,chest,knees and head.The goalkeeper is the only person who is allowed to touch the ball.

However other players may also touch the ball during throw ins. Free kicks are given to a team when their opponent has committed a foul. A full game is played for ninety minutes. However, to compensate for lost time during substitution and injury time, the referee may add more time. A yellow card is a warning which is given to a player when they have committed a foul. A red card is a sent off card, which tells the player to leave the game. It is given after a player has violated the rules of soccer or when the player has failed to listen to the first warning card, yellow card. According to FIFA the law o offside states that, "a player is in an offside position if any of their body parts except the hands and arms is in the opponent's' half of the pitch closer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent (the last opponent is usually but not necessarily the goalkeeper)"

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