Soccer History
The origin of football / soccer can be found in every corner of geography and history. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Viking, and many more played a ball game long before our era. The Chinese played "football" games date as far back as 3000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used football games to sharpen warriors for battle. In south and Central America a game called "Tlatchi" once flourished .
But it was in England that soccer / football really begin to take shape. It all started in 1863 in England, when two football association (association football and rugby football) split off on their different course. Therefore, the first Football Association was founded in England.
On October 1963, eleven London clubs and schools sent their representatives to the Freemason's Tavern. These representatives were intent on clarifying the muddle by establishing a set of fundamental rules, acceptable to all parties, to govern the matches played amongst them. This meeting marked the birth of The Football Association. The eternal dispute concerning shin-kicking, tripping and carrying the ball was discussed thoroughly at this and consecutive meetings until eventually on 8 December the die-hard exponents of the Rugby style took their final leave. They were in the minority anyway. They wanted no part in a game that forbade tripping, shin-kicking and carrying the ball. A stage had been reached where the ideals were no longer compatible. On 8 December 1863, football and rugby finally split. Their separation became totally irreconcilable six years hence when a provision was included in the football rules forbidding any handling of the ball (not only carrying it).
The 17 Rules for Soccer from the Laws of the Game
1.The Field of Play - The field of play is the surface on which the game of soccer is played on. This law regulates everything regarding line markings, soccer pitch dimensions and how to use them properly. For example, a soccer pitch must be between 90 and 120 meters long and 45 to 90 meters wide. However, it must also have a rectangular shape, so you can't have a square field with a length and width of 90 at the same time .
2. The Ball - Throughout the time, the rules for soccer regarding the football remained the same, but the way in which they were applied was on a constant change. The rules state that the soccer bull must have a circumference between 68 and 70 centimeters and a weight between 410 and 450 grams but they also state that the ball can be made out of "leather or any similar material".
3. The Number of Players - According to the official soccer rules, a team can bring in 10 outfield players and one goalkeeper on the pitch and can have several substitutes on the bench. The numbers of benched subs as well as the actual number of substitutions that are allowed in a single match vary with the type of the game played. For example, in official matches only 3 substitutions are allowed, with 5, 7 or 9 players on the bench.
4. The Player's Equipment - Just like with the soccer ball, soccer equipment maintained most of the original rules in the Laws of the Game, but the way people interpret them today is quite different from how they did back in 1863. Basically the rules of soccer say that a player must wear a shirt or jersey, footwear, shin pads, shorts and socks and the two teams must have different equipment so that they can be differentiated on the pitch.
5. The Referee - Well the man in black (or more recently phosphorus green) is probably the biggest "invention" that came with the initial soccer rules constitution and his role is to enforce these official rules of soccer "in connection to the match he has been appointed to".
6.The Assistant Referees - As I explained above, the assistant referees are placed on the sides of the pitch (one each) and their main role is to help the main referee with some decisions. Actually, the assistant referee has no decision power, he can only signal a game issue (an offside, a foul, handball and so forth) but it's up to the central ref if he's or she is going to take up the assistant's advice.
7. The Duration of the Match - Standard adult games are limited by the official soccer rules to two halves of 45 minutes each, separated by a 15 minutes break. This is not the actual time of play, since this 90 minute clock ticks even when the ball is out of play, during substitutions and so forth. In order to try to balance this timing a bit, the end of each half also brings a few minutes of "injury time" on the table.
8.The Start and Restart of Play - There are 8 reasons for which the game can be stopped and similarly, 8 ways to restart it.
9. Ball In and Out of Play - According to the official soccer rules, the ball is in play all throughout the match duration, except when it passes a bounding line (goal lines and touch lines), when an offence occurs or when play is stopped by the referee. In these particular cases, the ball is out of play and the soccer players cannot score goals or interact with the ball. In addition, substitutions can only occur when the ball is out of play according to the rules for the game of soccer.
10.The Methods of Scoring - As long as the ball is in play and no infringements of any soccer rules are being made, the players can score goals. A goal is considered when the ball crosses one of the goal areas with its entire circumference. Goals can be scored from action, from penalty spots and direct free kicks.
11. The Offside - Since this is one of the trickiest rules of soccer today, I've decided to explain it in detail in a separate article on offside soccer rules.
12. Fouls and Misconduct - Fouls can only occur when the ball is in play, but misconduct can occur when it's out of play as well. Depending on the seriousness of the foul or misconduct, the referee can penalize it with a yellow or red card in addition to a free kick or penalty kick.
13. Free Kicks - One additional soccer rule worth mentioning is that players from the opposing team must be at least 9.15 meters away from the position where the free kick will be struck. Also, the player that kicks the ball initially on a free kick cannot touch it again until a teammate or opposing player touches it.
14.Penalty Kicks - Penalty kicks are conceded when a defended player fouls or commits handball inside the 18 yard box (commonly known as the penalty box). It's important to know that not all offences inside the penalty box are punished with a penalty kick. For example, if a player commits dangerous play inside his own penalty box, the referee will award an indirect free kick from the place that the offence occurred.
15. The Throw In - When the ball goes out of play on the side lines, the opponent of the player who last touched the ball will take a throw in. The throwing method has to follow some rather strict rules; otherwise the referee might dictate a throw in for the other team. The player taking the throw must keep his feet outside the side line, with the sole on the ground and the actual throw must be executed with the ball over the thrower's head.
16. The Goal Kick - The goal kick is a means of restarting play after the attacking team took the ball over the defending team's byline. The goal kick acts as a direct free kick, so if a player would kick the ball so hard that it would reach the opposing team's goal and score, the goal would count.
17. The Corner Kick - The last of the 17 rules of soccer refers to the corner kick, which occurs when the ball passes over the defending player's goal line, with a defender having touched the ball last. The corner kick acts as a direct free kick taken from the corner of the pitch (if the ball passes the line on the left of the goal, the corner is taken from the left corner and if it passes on the right, the corner is taken from the right corner).
Famous Football Players
Alan Shearer Henrik Larsson
Alan Shearer, OBE (born August 13, 1970) is a successful English footballer. He was born in Newcastle and currently plays for Newcastle United. He joined that club in July 1996 for a then record fee of £15m. He made his club debut on August 17th of that year.He played 63 times for the England team and scored 30 goals. His debut for the national side was on 19th February 1992 versus France at Wembley. He also scored 13 goals in only 11 games for the England Under 21 team.
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton (born October 11, 1937) is a former English football player. He survived the Munich Air Disaster. He scored 49 international goals for England, winning 106 caps and a World Cup winners medal in 1966. He also won the FA Cup (1963), European Cup (1968) and three league titles (1957, 1965, 1967) with Manchester United F.C., playing 752 games and scoring 247 goals for United.
Bobby Moore Pele
Moore joined West Ham as a schoolboy and was a regular in the first team by 1960. A composed central defender, Moore was admired more for his reading of the game and ability to anticipate opposition movements, thereby distancing himself from the image of the hard-tackling, high-jumping defender. Indeed, Moore's ability to tackle, head the ball or keep up with the pace was average at best, but the way he marshalled his team stood him out as world class.
Colin Bell
Nicknamed "The King of the Kippax" (the Kippax being Manchester City's terraced stand renowned for its singing), Bell is widely described as City's greatest ever player. He was the inspirational player in the most successful Manchester City side ever. He was part of the famous trio of the late 60s and early 70s alongside Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee.
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer born in Leytonstone, London. He is a midfielder for Real Madrid and captain of the English national team. He is noted for the quality of his crossing and ability to hit free-kicks and corners, particularly at long-range free-kicks and also for his marriage to a Spice Girl. He has played most of his career for Manchester United. Although there are arguably many better current players in world football none are as famous.
Diego Maradona
He first played in the Argentine Championship, for Argentinos Juniors (1976-81) and then for Boca Juniors (1981-82). He then went to Spain, where, playing for FC Barcelona, he won a Copa del Rey. On July 5, 1984 he went to Naples, Italy to join SSC Napoli, where he won two Italian Championships (1986/87 and 1989/1990), a Coppa Italia (1987), a UEFA Cup (1989) and an Italian Supercup (1990), plus Napoli were runners-up in the Italian Championship twice.
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish football international who is mainly remembered for his time with Manchester United F.C. and widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He played for United between 1963 and 1974, helping them to win the Football League Championship in 1965 and 1967, and the European Cup in 1968. The same year, he was named European Footballer of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.
Henrik Larsson
Larsson scored 242 goals for Celtic, in 315 matches, and in 2001 he won the "Golden Shoe" award for being Europe's top goal scorer. In 2003 Sweden nominated Larsson as the greatest Swedish football player of the last 50 years
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born December 14, 1979 in Chester, UK) is an English football player. He plays as a striker, and is noted particularly for his speed and acceleration. He has enjoyed a hugely successful and high-profile career at both club and international level.
Pele
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, KBE (born October 23, 1940), nicknamed Pelé, a Brazilian, is a former football player and thought by many to be the finest player of all time. Often considered the complete attacking player, he was completely two-footed, a prolific finisher, exceptional at dribbling and passing, and was a remarkably good tackler for a forward. He was also famed for his speed and strength on the ball. Over the course of his career, Pelé scored over a thousand goals and won three World Cups. Since his full retirement in 1977 he has served as an ambassador for the sport.
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luiz Nazário de Lima (b. September 22, 1976), simply known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian footballer who is widely considered to be one of the best strikers of all time. Ronaldo celebratingIn 1993, aged 16, Ronaldo had already scored 59 goals in 57 matches for Brazil's under 17 squad. By 1994 he had joined the squad of the national team, but didn't get to play a single minute on the pitch of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA. In 1996–1997, Ronaldo played arguably his best season, scoring numerous spectacular goals for FC Barcelona. One of them, a solo goal against Compostela, is considered one of the most amazing goals in football.
My Favorite Football Team - Germany
The German national football team is the association football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association DFB , which was founded in 1900.
From 1950 to 1990, it was the team of the Federal Republic of Germany as the DFB is based in Frankfurt, located in the former West Germany. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams were also recognized by FIFA: the Saarland team (1950–1956) and the East German team (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" in 1990.
Germany is one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European Championships. They were runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and won three 3rd places in the World Cup. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups.
