Soccer

1. History World Cup The contemporary history of the world's favorite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first governing body. Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral treeNevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands. On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognized right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China. The FIFA World Cup takes place every four years. The location of the cup varies as different countries are awarded to host it every time. There are 32 teams that are allowed to participate in the world cup, each having to qualify in the time leading up to the world cup in order to get in. The 32 teams are then separated into eight groups of four teams. Each team plays each other one time, with the two teams with the most wins advancing to the knockout phase of the competition. The knockout phase is a single elimination bracket with the two remaining teams battling it out for the coveted World Cup trophy. The Men’s World Cup Tournament was last held in 2010 in South Africa. The Women’s World Cup was last held in 2011 and took place in Germany. The next Men’s World Cup is in 2014 and is being held in Brazil. The next Women’s World Cup is in 2015 and is being held in Canada. Soccer Landon Donovan November 3rd, 2011 http://blog.tmcnet.com/convergence-corner/ 2010/06/world-cup-picking-a-device-easier-than -picking-a-winner.html http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/game/historygame1.html

2. Rules Positions Equipment GOAL: In the basic soccer rules the point of the game is to get the ball in the opposing teams goal and the team with the most goals after the specified time is the winner. The ball must cross the goal line to be a goal. Therefore, if the ball is still in contact with the goal line in the inner part of the goal it is not a goal! I have seen pro's sweep through the goal line to save their team from a goal. Everybody swears that it was already in but the cameras show the ball was still in contact with the line (This applies if the ball is in the air as well).NO HANDS! Alright, I know you probably knew this but here it is anyway. Only the goalie can use their hands. the definition for hand ball is any part of between your fingers (including nails) to your upper arm. Your shoulder is actually legal to use! One side note about goalies. the goalie is not allowed to use their hands if the ball was kicked intentionally by any of their team mates. Soccer is played with a ball, shin guards, cleats, a uniform, and gloves (for a goalie). Soccer is played with 11 players on the field for ONE team at a time. This will include 1 goalie and 10 position or field players. The typical set up for many teams is to have 1 goalie, 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 forwards. Forwards are players who will try to stretch out the field and score goals. The midfielders are players who play defense and also help attack the other teams goal when they have the ball. The defenders are players who stay back when their team is on offense and try and stop the other team from scoring a goal. Here is an example of how the players might line up on the field: http://www.freewebs.com/ peacemakers63231997/ apps/photos/photo.jsp?photoID =25689355 http://www.robbinssports.com/ soccer-shin-guards-c-28_89.html http://www.squidoo.com/ soccer-cleat-reviews http://www.sz-wholesale.com/ shenzhen_China_products/ Soccer-Uniform_1.htm http://www.sparkleagues.com/league/ organization/store/all-products/ nike-goalie-gloves/ http://www.kids-play-soccer.com/basic-soccer-rules.html http://www.history-of-soccer.org/soccer-positions.html