Football is the most popular team sport in the world. Virtually every country on Earth plays the game in some form or another. It is both physically and intellectually demanding, requiring athletic skill and quick thinking.
There is no real proof to show where the sport actually originated from. There are records of football like games having been played in China more than 2,000 years ago as well as in ancient Greece, Japan, and Mexico. In ancient Rome, a game known as harpastum was played which may have been the origin of football.
In England in 1863, the Football Association (FA) was created and rules were established. It was also in England that football professionalism was legalized in 1885. From there the game spread throughout England and to the rest of the world. By 1904 the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) governing body was established to control the sport internationally. Today, FIFA, which is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, has more than 140 member nations and oversees the activity of about 39 million players worldwide.
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FIFA rules require that football be played on a rectangular field as shown on the right. There are lines marking the perimeter of the playing field and there are markings for the halfway line, the goal areas, the penalty areas, the corners, and the centre circle. (run the mouse over the field for measurements). For international matches the field is 100 to 110 meters (110 to 120 yards) long and 64 to 73 meters (70 to 80 yards) wide. The goal posts stand 2.4 meters (8 feet) high and 7.3 meters (8 yards) wide and are placed on the goal lines at each end of the field.
There are 11 players in a team, one goalkeeper and ten field players divided into defenders, midfielders, and forwards.
The ball is a round, inflated rubber bladder covered with leather or some other approved material. It measures between 68 and 71 centimetres (27 and 28 inches) in circumference and weighs between 397 and 453 grams (14 and 16 ounces).
The game is officiated by a referee, who enforces the rules and keeps track of the time, and two linesmen, who patrol the touchlines and determine possession when a ball goes over the touch line.
The purpose of the game is to propel the ball into the opponents' goal, using only the feet, head, or body. Only the goalkeepers can touch the ball with their hands unless a player in the same team deliberately passes the ball back to the keeper by foot. Players get into position to score using a series of passing movements, either kicking, heading, or dribbling the ball downfield. (In dribbling, the player controls the ball with the feet.) Players run as many as 10 or 11 kilometres (6 or 7 miles) during the course of a game, which is divided into two 45-minute halves. The team scoring the most goals wins.
Fouls may be committed in several ways, for example dangerous play, handling the ball when in play (not the keeper though), off-sides, even verbal remarks to the officials can be considered as fouls. The more serious of the fouls (i.e. dangerous play and ungentlemanly behaviour) may result in either one of two cards shown to the guilty player by the referee, this is left to the discretion of the referee. This can either be a yellow card for a caution or a red card which results in the player being sent off the field not being able to play the rest of the game (and perhaps a number of matches thereafter). Two yellow cards make a red card which will also result in a sending off. Any fouls committed within the penalty area as shown on the field will result in a penalty kick. The ball is placed on the penalty spot as shown in the drawing 11 meters in front of the goal posts.
Explaining off-sides to the uninitiated must be one of the most difficult things to do in football. I will try. A player is considered to be in an off-side position when he/she is in the opposition half first of all, and if he is closer to the opposition goals than any of the opposition in-field players. An off-side foul will only be committed if the player is passed the ball from a teammate while he is in the off-side position, if the ball comes off an opposition player last then the foul is not committed. A player may run from an on-side position into the off-side position to receive the ball from a teammate, as long as the teammate kicks the ball before he/she reaches the off-side position.
It is played every four years and is the most-watched sporting event in the world, attracting an estimated television audience of more than 1 billion people. The World Cup was first played in Uruguay in 1930, and 13 countries entered their national teams. More than 100 nations entered the competition in 1986. There is currently talks going on about having a World cup every two years. I agree that the football world cup does not come often enough, but I believe that two years is too short, perhaps every third year would be better.
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The football picture above on the left; I unfortunately cannot remember where I got it from, but it's so cool. If the gifted artist ever views this site, please let me know if I can have your permission to keep it on.