Know Your Football

World's biggest sport event is just 4 days away.  Like most of you, this time I wanted to be equipped with a better awareness about finer aspects of the game and hence this blog.

Football is the most popular sport on our planet, with around 3.5 billion fans.  Football mania is sure to grip even our country, which is otherwise cricket-mad!

FIFA is football's global governing body which is organizing the ensuing World Cup in Russia. Its headquarters is in Zurich, Switzerland and has 211 member countries, whereas there are only 193 member countries for the UN!  32 qualified countries are fighting for the World Cup.

1.Field of play

The field may vary in size, but must be a rectangle. Longer boundary lines are called touch-lines and the shorter ones are called the bylines.

2.The ball

Football weighs around 450 grams and is about 22 cm in diameter.

3. Formations

A formation is the way a team lines up to play on the field.  Two most preferred  formations in modern football are shown in the pic.

4.The match will be played between two teams of 11 players each, over two periods of 45 minutes each. If required, period may be extended by another 30 minutes time or may be decided by a penalty shoot-out. There is provision to extend the period to make good the loss of time due to stoppages.

5. Offside

A player is offside if he is nearer to the goal than both the ball and the second defender (1st defender is the goal keeper in this pic).  In this pic player A is offside whereas player B is not.  Mere presence in such a offside position is not an offence.  If he receives the pass and touches the ball then it is an offence and the referee awards an 'indirect free kick' to the opposing team. 

There is no offside offence, if the player receives the pass from

a goalie-kick, or a throw-in or a corner-kick.

6. Fouls and misconduct

Players must play the game fairly and safely.  Otherwise they will be penalized by awarding opponents a free kick or even a penalty if the foul is committed in the penalty box.

7. Free kick

A team wins a free kick whenever the defending team commits a foul outside their own penalty area.  The free kick is taken from the spot where the offence occurred.  Scoring chances become high if the offence is committed very close to the goal.

England's David Beckham's free kick goal  through a curving shot (remember the slogan 'Bend it like Beckham'?)scored against Greece during 2002 World Cup qualifier is considered iconic and remembered even today.  

Indirect free kicks are awarded against lesser infringements.  While free kicks can be shot straight into goal, an indirect free kick must be touched by a teammate first.

8. Penalty kick

A team wins a penalty kick for any foul or offence committed by the defending team in its own penalty area.  A goalkeeper gets only 700 milliseconds to save it!  Penalties shot to top corners are virtually unsaveable.  However kicks to the corners are risky and are most likely to miss the goal.

Penalty shootout

Similar penalty kicks are made in a 'penalty shootout', in deciding matches to decide the winner after a drawn match. The 1994 World 

Cup final was the first to be decided by a penalty shootout. Italy's star player Roberto Baggio ballooned the decisive penalty over the bar (see pic) and Brazil lifted the World Cup!

9. Throw-in

A team wins a throw-in when the ball crosses the touchline after touching an opposition player last.

10. Corners

A team wins a corner when the ball crosses the byline after touching a defender.  Chances of scoring are quite high in case of corner kicks.  A quality corner kick followed by a clever header can be a sure goal.

11. Dribbling

Skill of moving the ball past the opponents in tight spaces is known as dribbling.  Argentina's dribbling dynamo Maradona dribbling to take the ball past 5 opponents of England to score a goal during 1986 World Cup Quarter-finals is remembered even today.  (See pic).

12. The bicycle kick

Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal)'s classic bicycle kick to score a winning goal for Real Madrid Vs Juventus in the Champions League was performed on 3rd April 2018.

13. Heading

German striker Miroslav Klose (in pic) scored 5 goals in World Cup 2002 and all of them were headers!

14. Tackling

A tackle is a trick to take the ball away from an opponent.  Care should be taken to see that it doesn't result in a foul.

15. Shooting

Brazil's legend Pele was called the finest goal scorer and an all time great because of his accurate shooting skills to score a goal. In a glittering career that spanned 22 years (1955-77), he played 1,363 games and scored 1,281 goals!

16. Goalkeeping

Goalkeeper is the last line of a team's defence.  They have to be good at leaping, catching and kicking.  This key player is allowed to handle the ball only inside the team's penalty area, and nowhere else on the field.

Spain's mercurial goalkeeper Iker Casillas (see pic above) is considered one among the most successful.  

17.Referee 

An appointed referee will be in charge of the match.  He will be supported by two Assistant referees (with flags in pic). Referee too has to be very agile and fit.  It is estimated that he runs for about 19 kms in a match, much higher than any other player.  A referee has immense powers.  He controls the players by showing yellow (for offences) and red (for serious offences) cards.  A yellow card is a warning whereas a red card is an order to leave the pitch! Receiving a second yellow card amounts to a red card.

18.The Manager

A team without a Manager is like an army without a general.  They may win battles but not a war!

Vincent del Bosque crafted Spain's World Cup trimuph in 2010.

19.A team game

Football is a team game of 11 players who must work together to win.  They are guided by their Manager who strategizes the game plan. One or two players can win a cricket match, but not in football! 

20.The fans

Football fans are passionate participants who think of themselves as the team's 'twelfth player'.  Eight out of 10 fans believe that their support helps their team to win! Fan power is proved to help home sides, who generally win half of their matches.

21.India in World Cup

Indian football team did qualify for the 1950  Brazil World Cup, although by default as all other nations in their qualifying group withdrew.  However India itself withdrew from the World Cup.  Various reasons like travel cost, lack of practice time and even no permission to play barefoot are quoted to be the reasons for withdrawing from the World Cup. Since then India has never come anywhere close to winning a place to play the World Cup.

World Cup 2018 is certain to throw surprises although Brazil is said to be the most favoured team to win.  4-times champions Italy has failed to qualify for this tournament!  Next one month period of World Cup will be full of thrills and excitements.  May the best team win.  Let us get ready to enjoy!

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