Soccer player numbers often correlate to specific positions and tactical roles on the field. Learn the official Fifa handball rules and how to choose the best soccer shoes from Nike, Puma, or Adidas.
One inch can mean the difference between a winning goal or a tied game. A soccer ball must be all the way across the line to score. Various rules apply to soccer scoring. For instance, the ball can cross the goal on the ground on in the air.
Read more →
Even amateur adult players can boom a soccer ball 50 yards or more down the field, from the goal area past the halfway line, and professional goalkeepers such as Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar can make the ball sail three-quarters of the length of the pitch.
Read more →
When teaching soccer to beginners, keep your expectations in line with the skill set of your players and expose them to basic defensive and offensive drills. Focus on basic techniques, such as proper kicking form and dribbling, rather than advanced concepts, such as slide tackling or goalkeeping.
Read more →
Shin guards and socks are required for legal play in nearly all soccer leagues. There are two basic types of shin guards: those with ankle guards and those without. For each type of guard, you should know the best way to wear your socks for the benefit of legal play and your safety on the field.
Read more →
Soccer is the consummate team sport, and it is nearly impossible to single out one specific position as the most important for a team's 11 players.
Read more →
Soccer players at the highest levels have plenty of excuses to take their shirts off and show off impressive six packs. Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo memorably posed for Annie Liebowitz on the cover of Vanity Fair to publicize the 2010 World Cup. U.S.
Read more →
Although both sports take place on either grass or artificial turf, soccer and football fields have many differences. The size of the fields and the markings on them are different. In fact, the size of a soccer field can even change from game to game.
Read more →
All soccer fields are not created equal for a variety of reasons. In fact, the soccer fields used for international competition like the Olympics can be very different from the soccer fields used in local high school games.
Read more →
It is a little more than 380 miles from Boston, Massachusetts, to Dover, Delaware, which is roughly the same distance midfielder Steven Gerrard covered while playing for his English Premiere League club team Liverpool FC and the English national team during the 2005-06 season.
Read more →
Depending on whether your team is on offense or defense, a soccer goal can appear huge, or too small to kick the ball past the goalkeeper. In reality, the official size of the goal is the same for high school, college and international competitions.
Read more →
Your triceps surae is more commonly known as your calf. It is actually composed of two muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles connect the back of your foot to the back of your upper leg. They are necessary for movements integral to soccer, such as running and kicking.
Read more →
Only about 113,000 people worldwide earn their living playing soccer, and of those, only about 7,000 play in CONCACAF, the region including North and Central America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, more than a quarter-billion people play soccer worldwide, including more than 44 million in CONCACAF.
Read more →
Every soccer game begins with a kickoff at the center of the field. A coin flip determines which team takes that kickoff, as well as which one takes the kickoff to start the second half. Procedures surrounding the kickoff are spelled out in the "Laws of the Game"
Read more →
Outdoor soccer cleats come in four different outsole patterns -- soft ground, firm ground, hard ground and turf -- each matched to a type of playing surface. You’ll want to invest in a sufficient number of surface-specific shoes to cover the types of fields you typically play on.
Read more →
Millions of passionate fans follow two ball sports, one the favorite of Americans and the other the favorite of the world. Each is played on a large rectangular field and based on rules that evolved in the 19th century. “Soccer is a gentleman's game played by beasts.
Read more →
Famous soccer players who have played with a cast on their right arm include Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, who represented his home nation, the Ivory Coast, in the 2010 World Cup. Drogba wore a soft cast under a long-sleeved shirt in the wake of an injury days earlier.
Read more →
Whether it is a recreational soccer team for young children or a World Cup champion national team, one thing that all soccer teams have in common is a coach.
Read more →
Ankle injuries account for about 20 percent of all sports injuries, notes Roald Bahr, a prominent researcher of sports medicine at Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center in Norway.
Read more →
For many kids in the United States, playing football is a natural choice as far as a team sport. But for millions of players across the globe, soccer is the better option.
Read more →
The basic elements of soccer shoes are similar for men and women; both contain cleats on the bottom for traction and stability and allow for fast, quick movements or a sudden change in direction. The differences in the shoes play out in the size, biomechanics and color schemes.
Read more →