Sport involves many types of activities wither for entertainment or for competition. We have different kind of sports. Rugby, basketball, football, boxing, badminton, ice hockey, wrestling, tennis, crickets and so on are examples.
Everyone has his/her own favourite sport. Some of this sport lovers mostly focus on their sport of interest and don't bother about knowing about other sport. You will see a basketball or rugby fan not knowing anything about football or volleyball e.t.c
This post is poised to address that. Football which is the world most watched, loved sport would be explained in a way that uninterested users can fully understand what football is all about
What is Football
Football also known as soccer is a type of sport where two teams of 11 players plays a round ball on the field/pitch. It was invented by England in the 19th century. Just like any other sport, it can be played recreationally between friends or in competitions. Football has fundamental rules that must be followed. Some other rules can be tweaked to favour the moment such as when playing for fun.
We will first look at how the game of football looks like when playing in a competition.
In a Competition or Tournament
Football is played on a standard football pitch housed in what is known as a stadium. The stadium is a rectangular shaped area, usually with green lovely grass that you feel like sliding there. The stadium has 2 goalposts at opposing ends. At each corner of the football pitch, there are flags there. There are lines that mean something on the pitch. A middle line in the center of the pitch denotes where players do pass the ball to kick-start or restart a game after being scored upon. We also have a line dermacating the goal area. This denotes the box 18 and the box 16.
There is another line that goes round the pitch. It is just like a boundary. It shows that the ball mustn't pass the line. When the ball passes through the side line, there is a throw-in. When the ball passes through the lines near the goal post, it results into a corner-kick or goal-kick depending on the team that plays the ball through.
We usually have numerous officials that make sure the rules are followed. We have the linesmen, you can see them at the side of the pitch usually 2 in number. We also have the referee who is in charge of officiating the match. The referee usually have 2 coloured cards namely Yellow card and Red card. The Yellow card is a warning when shown to a player. It's like a caution. A second yellow card to the same player or a straight red card to the player means straight send-off from the pitch of play.
Two teams play football and the team with the highest number of goals scored is always adjudged the winner in a one legged match. Each team is composed of 11 players which include 1 goalkeeper. This means a total of 22 players on the football pitch. The goalkeepers are the only 1 players allowed to handle the ball. Any other player handling the ball on the field during ongoing action will result in a foul. The 11 players in each team can be arranged in different mode called formations. Each team normally will have defenders, midfielders, attackers with each having their main functions.
A football match is usually 90 minutes long, and its divided into two halves, 45 minutes in first half, 45 minutes in the second half. Depending on the referee, towards the end of each half, the referee may decide to give additional minutes.Usually in a one-legged fixture, the winner is the team that has the highest number of goals in 90 minutes. We have cases of ties, where both goals are the same after 90 minutes. There is extra time which is 30 minutes and its divided into two equal halves having 15 minutes each. In a situation where the match ends in a draw in extra time, it results into penalties to decide the winner. The first five penalties is taken to determine who wins, if there is still a tie,then they move to a first-to-lose format of penalty, where if anyone loses and the other scores and win the match.
Just like in other sports, there are penalties to pay for infringements, hard tackles, deliberate fouls and so on. The referee is charged to decide on which decision to take in this respect.
Recreationally
Football can also be a form of recreational activity. You can play with your friends. Here, there is no need for the referee or the linesman or 11 players each. You can play, just following the basic rules of scoring a goal or your laid down rules.
This is a little summary of what football is all about for people that want to know more about the beautiful sport.
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