SOCCER

     The title above might be unfamiliar to you, but if I change it into football, you will know what is meant. It is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is a game played by two teams, each of which consists of eleven players. It is played outdoor on a football pitch. A football match is lead by a referee who is helped by two linesmen.

        Traditionally a team consists of a keeper, the last player who defends the goal and, prevents the opponent from scoring goals, two backs in front of the keeper, three centers in the middle of the field, and five forwards who are responsible for scoring goals in the frontest positton, Among those players only the keeper is allowed to keep the ball with his hands during the game, If the' ball is out of position. either on the left or right side, one of them accept the keeper must throw the ball into the field.

      There are some strict regulation that should be followed by the players. They are neither allowed to hit the opponent purposely nor do rude actions. An example of rude actions is an irresponsible sliding tackle. It happens when a player tries to prevent his opponent from moving further rudely . The referee will never tolerate the rude action and he will punish his team by giving a free kick to the opponent. If it is considered serious, besides a free kick for the opponent, the player will get a yellow card, or even a red card. The latter means that the player must leave the field Without being replaced. Another regulation is that fighting is prohibited, let alone hitting the referee.

     Every nation always tries to have the best team in the world and this must be proved in the World Cup event which is held once in four years. Brazil with its outstanding player, Pele, is the first country which has won and brought home the supreme World Cup three times. Other countries which also have good football teams are England, Italy, Germany, France, Argentina, Uruguay, and still many others.

    Football is usually played by men. Nowadays, however, there are many woman-football teams in the world. Football is also played by the blinds. People put some small bells inside the ball so that the players can hear and identify where the ball is. Some people say that it is not humane since the spectators are. amused and laugh at the, blind players movements. They propose that such a kind of game is banned forever.

     Have you ever heard about 'elephant football'? It has two meanings. Literally, it means a football game played by well trained elephants and figuratively, it is a football game where a strong team gives a big score to its opponent to help it join the next competition.

Posted in: Article