Sports

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Association football, also known as soccer, is considered the most popular sport in the world. Soccer, or football, is played between two teams and each team has 11 players on the football field not including the substitute, and each team is allowed to have three substitutions during the 90 minute game. Soccer is played on a rectangular grass field with a circle in the middle of the field where the kick off starts. Also, there are two goals in the center of each end of the field. The objective of the game is to get the soccer ball into the opposite goal. The goalkeeper is the only player that is allowed to use his hands or arms to prevent the ball from going into the goal. The goal keeper is the player that stands on the line of the goal and saves the ball from going into the goal. The rest of the team use their feet or heads to get the ball to the other goal or to score. If any of the other players touches the ball with his hands it is a foul and a free kick for the other team. The team that scores the most goals is the winner but if the match ends in a tie, there will be extra time and then a penalty shootout, depending on the competition.

Fouls are when a player pushes his opponent, hands the ball on purpose, tripping the opponent, or a harsh tackle from the back or front are all fouls. If there is any foul inside the 18 yards box it will be a penalty kick and maybe a yellow or red card. If the player gets two yellow cards he will be sent out with a red and no substitution will be allowed to replace the player so the team will play with 10 players. The 18 box yard is where the goalie can touch the ball with his hand and if he goes past the line touching the ball with his hand it will be a yellow or a red card.

The lengths of the pitch in the international matches are 110 to 120 yards but in width its 70-80 yards. Fields for non-international matches are 100 to 130 yards and in width 50 to 100 yards. The white lines are the boundary lines and if the ball goes past that line from the opponent team it’s a throw in for your team. If the ball passes the boundary line from the goal side from the opponent it will be a corner kick.

The FIFA World Cup is the most popular and most important cup in the world and it is held every four years in one country. More than 190 countries compete to qualify for the final round of the FIFA World Cup. Only 32 teams go to the finals of the World Cup. In 2006 the FIFA World Cup was held in Germany but in 2010 the competition will be held in South Africa. There are many continental competitions such as the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC). There are different continental cups for example, there is the continental cup for the clubs and there is a continental cup for national teams.