Association Football, commonly called just football or soccer, is the most most popular sport in the world. In other languages, you may find it referred to as futbol, bollfoer, calcio, fussball, labdarugó, podosfairiki and voetbal. It is a sport which is played on a rectangular shaped field having two net goals one on either end of the field. It is played between two teams consisting of 11 players in each team.

Players in this sport are only allowed to use their body to move the ball towards their opponent’s team goal post to score a goal. Players are allowed to use kicking, heading or any other part of their body except their arms and hands in this sport. A goalkeeper is the only player in both teams who is allowed to touch the ball with his arms or hands, but only in a defined area on the rectangular field. A score can only be scored by the team if its player kicks the ball in the net goal post of the opponent’s team.

History of Association Football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, can be traced to as far back as the ancient period in China (Han dynasty). The modern game of association football originates from cuju, an ancient Chinese football game, as recognized by FIFA. The formation of The Football Association was later implemented in London, England in 1863 based on multiple efforts to standardize the varying forms of the game. This allowed clubs to play each other without dispute and which specifically banned handling of the ball (except by goalkeepers) and hacking during open field play. After the fifth meeting of the association a schism emerged between association football and the rules played by the Rugby school, later to be called rugby football. At the time, football clubs had played by their own, individual codes and game-day rules usually had to be agreed upon before a match could commence. For example, the Sheffield Rules that applied to most matches played in the Sheffield area were a different code. Football has been an Olympic sport ever since the second modern Summer Olympic Games in 1900.

Laws of the Game (association football)

The Laws of the Game (LOTG) are the codified rules that help define association football. The laws mention the number of players a team should have, the game length, the size of the field and ball, the type and nature of fouls that referees may penalise, the frequently misinterpreted offside law, and many other laws that define the sport. During a match, it is the task of the referee to interpret and enforce the Laws of the Game.

There were various attempts to codify rules of football in England in the mid-19th century. The extant Laws date back to 1863 where a ruleset was formally adopted by the newly formed Football Association. Over time, the Laws have been amended, and since 1886 they have been maintained by the International Football Association Board.

They are the only rules of association football FIFA permits its members to use. The Laws allow some minor optional variations which can be implemented by national football associations, including some for play at the lowest levels, but otherwise almost all organised football worldwide is played under the same ruleset.

Fouls and misconduct (association football)

In the sport of association football, fouls and misconduct are acts committed by players which are deemed by the referee to be unfair and are subsequently penalized. An offense may be a foul, misconduct or both depending on the nature of the offence and the circumstances in which it occurs. Fouls and misconduct are addressed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game.

A foul is an unfair act by a player, deemed by the referee to contravene the game’s laws, that interferes with the active play of the game. Fouls are punished by the award of a free kick (possibly a penalty kick) to the opposing team. A list of specific offences that can be fouls are detailed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game (other infractions, such as technical infractions at restarts, are not deemed to be fouls); these mostly concern unnecessarily aggressive physical play and the offence of handling the ball. An infringement is classified as a foul when the infringement meets ALL of conditions of: 1) It is committed by a player (not a substitute), 2) on the field of play, 3) while the ball is in play and 4) committed against an opponent. For example, a player striking the referee or a teammate is not a foul, but is misconduct.

Misconduct is any conduct by a player that is deemed by the referee to warrant a disciplinary sanction (caution or dismissal). Misconduct may include acts which are, additionally, fouls. Unlike fouls, misconduct may occur at any time, including when the ball is out of play, during half-time and before and after the game, and both players and substitutes may be sanctioned for misconduct.

Misconduct will result in the player either receiving a caution (indicated by a yellow card) or being dismissed (“sent off”) from the field (indicated by a red card).:38 A dismissed player cannot be replaced; their team is required to play the remainder of the game with one fewer player. A second caution results in the player being dismissed. The referee has considerable discretion in applying the Laws; in particular, the offence of unsporting behavior may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences.:123

Team sport

A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing teams which compete to win. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a number of ways such as outscoring the opposing team. Team members set goals, make decisions, communicate, manage conflict, and solve problems in a supportive, trusting atmosphere in order to accomplish their objectives. Examples are basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, handball, lacrosse, cricket, baseball, and the various forms of football and hockey.

Misconduct will result in the player either receiving a caution (indicated by a yellow card) or being dismissed (“sent off”) from the field (indicated by a red card).A dismissed player cannot be replaced; their team is required to play the remainder of the game with one fewer player. A second caution results in the player being dismissed. The referee has considerable discretion in applying the Laws; in particular, the offence of unsporting behavior may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences.

Association football positions

In the sport of association football, each of the 11 players on a team is assigned to a particular position on the field of play. A team is made up of one goalkeeper and ten outfield players who fill various defensive, midfield, and attacking positions depending on the formation deployed. These positions describe both the player’s main role and their area of operation on the pitch.

In the early development of the game, formations were much more offensively aggressive, with the 1–2–7 being prominent in the late 1800s. In the latter part of the 19th century, the 2–3–5 formation became widely used and the position names became more refined to reflect this. In defence, there were full-backs, known as the left-back and right-back; in midfield, left-half, centre-half and right-half; and for the forward line there were outside-left (or left wing), inside-left, centre-forward, inside-right and outside-right (or right wing). As the game has evolved, tactics and team formations have changed and so many of the names of the positions have changed to reflect their duties in the modern game (though some old familiar ones remain).The term “half-back” fell out of use by the early 1970s and “midfield” was used in naming the positions that play around the middle third as in centre midfield and wide midfield.

The fluid nature of the modern game means that positions in football are not as rigidly defined as in sports such as rugby or American football. Even so, most players will play in a limited range of positions throughout their career, as each position requires a particular set of skills and physical attributes. Footballers who are able to play comfortably in a number of positions are referred to as “utility players”.

However, in Total Football tactics, the players are only loosely defined into a position. This tactic required players who were extremely versatile, such as Johan Cruyff, who could play every position on the pitch apart from goalkeeper.