Are you familiar with Pit? It is a fast-paced card trading game that my family, after learning from farmers, played growing up. It is for four to nine players; it can theoretically be played with three, but isn’t as fun that way. It uses its own cards, made up of different crops, like wheat, corn, barley, etc. You use as many crops as there are players. Each crop has a point value. The object is to gain a monopoly of a crop. It’s supposed to be like trading in some farmer stock market or something.
There are nine cards of each crop. At the beginning of each round, all the cards are dealt, and when the dealer rings the bell, all the players begin trading cards simultaneously. If you’re doing it right, pandemonium will ensue. You can trade as many cards as you’d like at a time, but- and this is important- they have to all be the same crop. You can’t make a trade combining a corn and a wheat or anything like that. A trade is done by swapping the same amount of cards with any other player. The trades are hidden, so you don’t know what crop you’re getting until the deal’s complete. Once you figure out what cards you want to trade, you yell out the number of cards in the trade and/or hold them out face down. You don’t really have to yell; of course you don’t really have to win, either. Once you and anybody else are in agreement on the number of cards to trade, the trade can be made. Since both of your hands will have cards in them, you just sort of set the cards in front of each other and then pick up your new ones- and then bitch about the fact that you just gave each other the same thing or whatever. You can totally refuse to trade with any player at any time as well. You have to adapt your strategy to match the number of cards other people are trading. Also, especially at the beginning of a round, if you notice everyone keeps giving you the same crop, it might be smart to start collecting that crop. The faster you can trade, the better your odds become of winning.
Once you get all nine of a crop, ring the bell, and if you are the first one to do so, you get the amount of points shown on that crop. I call ringing the bell “going out,” even though I don’t know what that means exactly. After each round, the cards pass clockwise to the next dealer and a new round begins. The first player to 500, or 300 if you want to play a shorter game, wins. You can either designate a scorekeeper or pass out sticky notes and have each player keep track of their own score.
That’s the gist of the game, but there are two other cards I haven’t told you about, which are the bear and the bull. Both of these cards can be traded in with a crop. The bear is always bad. Get rid of it as soon as you get it. You can’t even ring the bell if the bear is in your possession even if you have a monopoly of a crop. The bull, on the other hand, acts like a wild card, and can be used as a substitute for a crop, so you can ring the bell if you have eight of a crop and a bull. However if another player goes out, you lose 20 points if you have the bear or the bull (or 40 points if you have both). I usually hold onto the bull at the start of a round but if I feel like somebody is about to win and I’m not even close I’ll get rid of it.
Because of the bear and the bull, the two players after the dealer will have an extra card; in other words ten, whereas the other players will have nine cards so the same number as there are in a monopoly. This is important to remember because if you are one of those two players with an extra card in the round it means even if you have a monopoly of a crop, one of your cards won’t match. However, if you have the extra card and manage to collect all nine of a crop and the bull, you get double the points. You can go out with eight of a crop, the bull and one of another crop (just not the bear.)
Some people have trouble remembering the difference between the bear and the bull and I always wonder how they react if they were confronted with them in real life. You probably should have studied harder in kindergarten. Maybe think of it like you could raise crops and cattle but you’re never going to keep a bear around- unless you’re a gypsy I suppose.
That’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s one of those games that should become apparent and obvious once it starts. Or scare you to death- one of the two. The main thing to remember is you can’t mix crops on a trade. Also, don’t mistake corn for coffee or barley with the bear or bull. Also, when someone rings the bell, make sure they double-check their cards and prove they’ve won before anyone else shows theirs because if they fucked up play immediately continues as if the bell hadn't rung.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Futbol For Gringos
One reason Association Football (commonly called football, although to avoid confusion I’ll begrudgingly use the term “soccer;” a bastardization as offensive to most who love the sport as “Frisco” is to those who love San Francisco) is not as popular in America as in other countries is because Americans tend to be lazy. American sports are either slow-paced events on large surfaces or fast-paced but on small surfaces. Soccer is a fast-paced sport played on an area larger than an American Football field. A soccer field is called “the pitch.” A soccer ball is called a football. A soccer player is called a “footballer.”
A soccer match is played in two 45-minute halves separated by a 15 minute break. The full of each 45 minutes is played and only the one referee on the pitch (who is called the “man in black” even though he’ll wear any color that makes him stand out from the teams) can call time-out, which he does by blowing a whistle. That same referee keeps track of the time when play is stopped and this is added to the end of each half as “stoppage time,” also called “injury time.” Therefore, plays and strategies are developed before the match and on the fly, giving little to no down-time for replays to explain what occurred. The spectator is actually obliged to watch the action while it’s happening, and anything like “instant replay” to verify the decisions of the referee would destroy the pace and therefore the fundamental premise of the game. The athleticism required to keep up a fast pace while continually covering a lot of ground and also deftly controlling a ball using primary those labored legs is truly awe inspiring.
The object of football is to move a round ball completely past the thickness of a line in an area, called the goal, 8 yards wide and 8 feet tall belonging to another team, while preventing that other team from doing the same. The netting’s only purpose is to make it easy to tell whether a ball goes through or around a goal. The area of the pitch in front of the goal is demarked by a “goal area” 6 yards deep and 20 yards wide and a larger “penalty area” 18 yards deep and 44 yards wide, and the entire pitch is outlined by a “touchline.” A ball is considered out-of-bounds when it completely crosses the touchline unless, of course, it’s a goal. The portion of the touchline on each end of the field but outside of the goal line is called the “byline,” and the perpendicular touchlines running the length of the pitch are called the “sidelines.” The sideline behind which the coaches and reserves sit is called the “technical side.”
There are two assistant referees, formerly known as “linesmen,” one on each sideline, who are usually in charge of judging whether and where the ball passes their sideline and, if it did, which team had touched it last. The referee can always overrule or ask for help from a linesman. Each assistant referee holds a flag, and when a ball goes out-of-bounds, he will point the flag in the direction of the goal of the team who last touched the ball, demonstrating the continued direction of play, and, when possible, stand at the location where it crossed. One player from the team who wins position then executes a “throw-in” from that area. During a throw-in, the player must have both hands on the ball and throw it with both hands above and behind the head without their feet leaving the ground. You can’t throw it to yourself or directly into either goal.
Each match begins with eleven footballers on each side, and in an official game, each team can make a maximum of three substitutions per game, and once a player is taken out he cannot re-enter the game. A “friendly” is an unofficial soccer match that allows a pre-game agreed upon number of substitutions- anywhere from six to unlimited. Besides for injury, substitutions are often made to adjust either the offensive or defensive strength of the team. A “super-sub” is a talented and speedy player who is rested on the bench as what Americans would call an ace-in-the-hole until the latter part of the match. When a sub asks to enter the game, the technical-side linesman signals to the referee, who will decide when to stop play and let him in. A fourth referee holds up a sign announcing the number of the players being swapped. (The only other job of this fourth referee is to use the same sign to display how much stoppage time, rounded to the nearest minute, the referee on the pitch has determined.) Similarly, when play is stopped due to an injury, the injured player must leave the pitch and cannot return until granted permission from the referee, but he can be let back on the field without a stoppage in play.
Each team has offensive and defensive specialists, but ten players on each side must follow the same rules, while one player, called the goalkeeper, is allowed to intentionally use his hands and arms but only while inside his own penalty area and, in a relatively recent rule addition, not if the ball is intentionally kicked or thrown-in to him by a teammate. The goalkeeper usually wears the number 1 on a jersey that must not match the rest of his teams’ (so that he can be distinguished by the referee).
The most aggressive offensive player on each side is colloquially called the “striker” and for whatever reason (possibly a tradition traceable to Pele) he often wears the number 10. A striker tends to play behind the line and attack towards it in order to spread the defense and utilize the advantage of attacking from angles, while a “center-forward” or “number nine” plays closer in toward the opponent's goal hoping to be delivered the ball.
Offensive players who play primarily wide of the goal area near the sidelines are called “wingers,” and they generally push play forward on the left and right sides of the field, commonly to drive the ball toward the corner of the pitch and then send it across the goal, called a “cross,” for a teammate, probably the striker, to intercept and redirect through the goal. Most players are dominantly right-footed and some are left-footed. This affects their offensive and defensive movements and strategies. Traditionally, right-footed wingers play on the right side of the pitch and vice versa to be able to better hug the sideline without letting the ball go out while fending off opponents with the weaker leg, but these roles are often reversed; one strategic reason being it is easier for a right-footed player on the left flank or vice versa to cut inside.
Midfielders generally play behind the forwards and cover the middle third of the field. There are aggressive midfielders more prone to collapse forward and defensive midfielders, also called halfbacks, inclined to hold back. There are usually left and right midfielders, called wide-men, as well; similar to wingers but less attack minded.
Defensive players are called “fullbacks” or just “backs.” There are left, right and often two center fullbacks. A lone center back who plays deep behind the fullbacks and is in charge of getting the ball from that area to the midfield is called a “sweeper” (or a “libero”). Defending man-to-man, even as a result of picking up a player in your zone, is called “marking,” and a defender who fails to cover a player he should be marking is “off his mark.” In today’s soccer, there is sometimes a player who is basically an offensive-minded left or right halfback or fullback, and therefore sometimes acts as a second winger, who is known as a “wingback.”
Well over 11 positions have just been listed, so obviously team strategy involves picking and choosing where to play; a team can’t be everywhere at once. In fact, an offensive strategy is to spread the other team out across the field, known as “opening up” the defense. Team formations are described minus the goal keeper and from the defense forward; some common ones being 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1 (called the “Christmas tree” formation), 3-5-2 and 4-3-3.
Each team is required to designate a Captain, who wears an arm band. If the Captain is removed or substituted for, he must pass the badge to a teammate on the pitch, even though his only job is to participate in calling heads or tails to decide which goal to defend first. (The team that loses the coin toss gets first possession, and during the kick-off from the center of the pitch all players must be in their own half of the field and the team defending must stay outside of the center circle. The teams switch goals and starting possession after half.)
The single most important and game affecting rule in soccer is “offside.” A player is considered ineligible and out of play if, when he or a teammate touches the ball, he is between the ball and the goal on the opponent’s half of the field and there are not at least two opposing players even or ahead of him and the goal. That’s all there is to it, folks. If a player is offside, he cannot make an attempt at the ball, even after a rebound, or otherwise affect play until the ball is touched with control with him back onside. Deciding whether a player is offside is an important job of the assistant referee, who will generally try and keep himself in line with the second to last defender, and will signal a violation by flashing the flag up then holding it down if the violation occurred on the third of the pitch closest his sideline, horizontal if it occurred in the middle third of the pitch or up if on the third of the pitch furthest from his sideline.
If an offside violation is made, the opposing team is awarded an indirect free kick from the spot of the offense. An indirect free kick means a goal may not be scored before a second player touches the ball. During any free kick, the defense must be at least 10 yards from the ball until it is touched by the offense. (The defense will often hover around the ball until their side is positioned so that any attempt by the offense to catch them off-guard by a rushed re-start will be deemed illegal and reset.)
A “tackle” is when a footballer slides at the ball with one foot extended in an effort to kick it. This would be pretty simple to understand if Americans didn’t use the term solely to mean something completely different, but is presumably so-named because it is the only situation during which it is not considered a penalty if, when tackling, you should happen to also- unintentionally of course!- make heavy contact with an opposing player. You can never do things like tackle through an opposing player, extend both legs or scissor your legs while tackling, or push, grab, jump at or in any other way intentionally interfere with an opposing player. These will all award the opposing team a direct free kick- which means a goal may be scored before a second player touches the ball- from the location of the foul. It is common for the defense to form a “wall” between the ball and the goal during a direct free kick. Not even screens, or what are called picks in basketball, are legal, but these and playing recklessly enough that an opponent could be injured are penalized by an indirect free kick.
If the referee deems the penalty flagrant he will issue a yellow card. If the same player is show a yellow card twice or does anything unsportsmanlike even once, he is issued a red card, which means, in addition to the direct free kick, that player is immediately removed from the game and cannot be replaced, so that team will play the rest of the game “short-sided” with ten (or less if there are multiple red cards) players. The referee never has to explain his decisions, which are final. This is to avoid arguments, and arguing with a ref will get you carded, or “booked,” but as a fan it can sometimes be frustrating. Even bench players can get booked. In tournament play, bookings can carry over to subsequent games.
“Diving,” when a footballer pretends he’s been fouled, is supposed to be an instant yellow card, but because it is always difficult and controversial to decide someone is pretending to be hurt, it is a big problem in soccer.
It is not a penalty if the ball hits any player’s hand or arm; only if a player other than the goalkeeper deliberately uses their hand, arm or shoulder to touch the ball. This is called a “hand ball” and is penalized with awarding the other team a direct free kick. A player cannot even deliberately touch the ball with their hands or arms in order to protect themselves, but it is not a hand ball if it is exclusively an instinctually reflexive protective action. It is okay to use the clavicle and scapula but not the fleshy part of the shoulder. Remember, even a goalkeeper cannot use their hands whenever outside the penalty area or any time the ball is intentionally kicked or thrown-in to them by a teammate, but it is okay for a goalkeeper to handle a ball that has been passed by a teammate with a body part other than the hands or feet.
Striking the ball with your head is called a “header.”
The referee will not stop play while the team in possession is successfully advancing toward the opponent’s goal if the defending team commits a penalty. Allowing play to continue despite having been fouled is called “playing the advantage.” If a referee sees a foul but allows play to continue, he’ll motion both arms forward, but if the advantage fails to develop within a few seconds of the penalty, the referee will belatedly stop play to enforce the penalty. Even if play continues, any flagrant foul will be eventually booked.
Not even an injury will stop play if there’s an advantage, but sometimes the team in possession will kick the ball out of play in order to let an injured player from the other side be dragged off the field. When this happens, it is an unspoken and well-honored agreement that the other side will return the favor by returning it to the opposing team on the throw-in.
If a player is called for a violation punishable by a direct free kick while inside his own penalty area, the opposing team is awarded a penalty kick, in which any player from that team on the pitch when the penalty occurs gets a one-on-one attempt to score from a “penalty spot” 12 yards from the goal. During a penalty kick, all other players except the defending goalkeeper must remain outside the penalty area and an arch atop the middle third of the penalty area until the ball is kicked. The goalkeeper must stay on the goal line until the ball is kicked, and the kicker’s first contact must be toward the goal. Also, he cannot feign a kick or anything similarly deceptive.
The offside rule and the penalty area combine to necessitate a defensive strategy known as “holding the line.” Players other than the goalkeeper are reluctant to encroach nearer than 18 yards from their own goal.
A through kick is a ball kicked into the hole behind the defense and timed so that an onside player can run it down. Strikers will often stand offside to lull the defenders into ignoring him so that he can sneak back onside just before a through kick. Alternatively, teams will sometimes employ an “offside trap,” in which the defensive back line suddenly and simultaneously moves forward to put an offensive player offside.
If a ball crosses the byline or flies over the goal, the referee awards a corner kick if it was last touched by the team defending that goal or a goal kick if it was last touched by the attacking team. Both situations allow for the use of a pre-designed play incorporated upon a restart, called a “set piece.” A corner kick is a highly advantageous scoring opportunity that begins with the ball in the small pizza slice shape in the corner of the pitch adjacent to the target goal. A goal kick begins in a team’s own goal area, and the ball must be immediately kicked clear of the penalty area, which the opposing team must remain outside until the ball is kicked. Interestingly, there is no offside during a goal kick.
An “own goal” is when in which a footballer accidentally scores a goal into his own net for the other team. It is not considered an own goal if a kick from the opposing team takes a defection off the defense but still would have scored had the defense not been present. Own goals don’t count if as a result of any set piece, including a free kick.
Moving the ball backward to one’s own goal is called a “back-pass,” and is very common ploy, especially to reset the offense.
The most basic technique for moving a soccer ball up field is the “give-and-go.” One player kicks the ball forward but at an angle to a teammate, forcing the defense to shift and cover the ball while he keeps running forward. The teammate can then pass the ball back to him while he is still onside and now less defended. Two (or more) players can employ this technique in tandem to move the ball across the field very quickly while constantly disrupting the defense.
The player’s first contact with the ball is very important, and is called “first touch.” He must judge the speed and spin of the ball in order to be able to immediately gain control of it. “Dribbling” is the technique of one player moving the ball but keeping it to himself. The final launch of the ball toward the goal is called the “finish.” Players can cause the ball to bend and knuckle in a myriad of ways.
It is obviously advantageous to keep possession of the football. The Spanish have perfected the art of “tiki-taka,” in which they constantly move the ball using short passes between players aligned in triangles. This game of keep-away will eventually tire-out and frustrate the defense. The most common defense to this strategy is to wait patiently for a chance to steal the ball, and then immediately send it to a striker lying in wait just inside the midfield line, who breaks toward the opponent’s goal aiming for a one-on-one opportunity. This is known as a “counter.”
Most soccer games can end in a tie, which is very foreign to Americans. Over the course of a season or tournament, a scoring system is generally employed that awards a winner 3 points, a tie one point and a loser zero points. Because home field advantage is perhaps greater in Association Football than any other sport, later stages on many tournaments incorporate a “two-legged tie,” which has nothing to do with a tie. In it, two matches are played, one in each team’s home stadium, and the combined scores of each match determine the winner.
At the completion of a season or tournament, a winner must be determined from the remaining teams, and at this point a tie-breaker adds another coin toss and two 15 minute halves to the match. If additional time doesn’t yield a winner, a shoot-out will ensue, during which players from each team will take turns attempting penalty kicks until there’s a winner. The exact details will vary tournament to tournament.
Most countries have a “premier” football league and lesser divisions, and at the completion of a season losing teams can be “relegated” or demoted while winning teams from lesser leagues can be promoted to replace them.
I think that’s a sufficient introduction. For more information, attend a soccer match!
A soccer match is played in two 45-minute halves separated by a 15 minute break. The full of each 45 minutes is played and only the one referee on the pitch (who is called the “man in black” even though he’ll wear any color that makes him stand out from the teams) can call time-out, which he does by blowing a whistle. That same referee keeps track of the time when play is stopped and this is added to the end of each half as “stoppage time,” also called “injury time.” Therefore, plays and strategies are developed before the match and on the fly, giving little to no down-time for replays to explain what occurred. The spectator is actually obliged to watch the action while it’s happening, and anything like “instant replay” to verify the decisions of the referee would destroy the pace and therefore the fundamental premise of the game. The athleticism required to keep up a fast pace while continually covering a lot of ground and also deftly controlling a ball using primary those labored legs is truly awe inspiring.
The object of football is to move a round ball completely past the thickness of a line in an area, called the goal, 8 yards wide and 8 feet tall belonging to another team, while preventing that other team from doing the same. The netting’s only purpose is to make it easy to tell whether a ball goes through or around a goal. The area of the pitch in front of the goal is demarked by a “goal area” 6 yards deep and 20 yards wide and a larger “penalty area” 18 yards deep and 44 yards wide, and the entire pitch is outlined by a “touchline.” A ball is considered out-of-bounds when it completely crosses the touchline unless, of course, it’s a goal. The portion of the touchline on each end of the field but outside of the goal line is called the “byline,” and the perpendicular touchlines running the length of the pitch are called the “sidelines.” The sideline behind which the coaches and reserves sit is called the “technical side.”
There are two assistant referees, formerly known as “linesmen,” one on each sideline, who are usually in charge of judging whether and where the ball passes their sideline and, if it did, which team had touched it last. The referee can always overrule or ask for help from a linesman. Each assistant referee holds a flag, and when a ball goes out-of-bounds, he will point the flag in the direction of the goal of the team who last touched the ball, demonstrating the continued direction of play, and, when possible, stand at the location where it crossed. One player from the team who wins position then executes a “throw-in” from that area. During a throw-in, the player must have both hands on the ball and throw it with both hands above and behind the head without their feet leaving the ground. You can’t throw it to yourself or directly into either goal.
Each match begins with eleven footballers on each side, and in an official game, each team can make a maximum of three substitutions per game, and once a player is taken out he cannot re-enter the game. A “friendly” is an unofficial soccer match that allows a pre-game agreed upon number of substitutions- anywhere from six to unlimited. Besides for injury, substitutions are often made to adjust either the offensive or defensive strength of the team. A “super-sub” is a talented and speedy player who is rested on the bench as what Americans would call an ace-in-the-hole until the latter part of the match. When a sub asks to enter the game, the technical-side linesman signals to the referee, who will decide when to stop play and let him in. A fourth referee holds up a sign announcing the number of the players being swapped. (The only other job of this fourth referee is to use the same sign to display how much stoppage time, rounded to the nearest minute, the referee on the pitch has determined.) Similarly, when play is stopped due to an injury, the injured player must leave the pitch and cannot return until granted permission from the referee, but he can be let back on the field without a stoppage in play.
Each team has offensive and defensive specialists, but ten players on each side must follow the same rules, while one player, called the goalkeeper, is allowed to intentionally use his hands and arms but only while inside his own penalty area and, in a relatively recent rule addition, not if the ball is intentionally kicked or thrown-in to him by a teammate. The goalkeeper usually wears the number 1 on a jersey that must not match the rest of his teams’ (so that he can be distinguished by the referee).
The most aggressive offensive player on each side is colloquially called the “striker” and for whatever reason (possibly a tradition traceable to Pele) he often wears the number 10. A striker tends to play behind the line and attack towards it in order to spread the defense and utilize the advantage of attacking from angles, while a “center-forward” or “number nine” plays closer in toward the opponent's goal hoping to be delivered the ball.
Offensive players who play primarily wide of the goal area near the sidelines are called “wingers,” and they generally push play forward on the left and right sides of the field, commonly to drive the ball toward the corner of the pitch and then send it across the goal, called a “cross,” for a teammate, probably the striker, to intercept and redirect through the goal. Most players are dominantly right-footed and some are left-footed. This affects their offensive and defensive movements and strategies. Traditionally, right-footed wingers play on the right side of the pitch and vice versa to be able to better hug the sideline without letting the ball go out while fending off opponents with the weaker leg, but these roles are often reversed; one strategic reason being it is easier for a right-footed player on the left flank or vice versa to cut inside.
Midfielders generally play behind the forwards and cover the middle third of the field. There are aggressive midfielders more prone to collapse forward and defensive midfielders, also called halfbacks, inclined to hold back. There are usually left and right midfielders, called wide-men, as well; similar to wingers but less attack minded.
Defensive players are called “fullbacks” or just “backs.” There are left, right and often two center fullbacks. A lone center back who plays deep behind the fullbacks and is in charge of getting the ball from that area to the midfield is called a “sweeper” (or a “libero”). Defending man-to-man, even as a result of picking up a player in your zone, is called “marking,” and a defender who fails to cover a player he should be marking is “off his mark.” In today’s soccer, there is sometimes a player who is basically an offensive-minded left or right halfback or fullback, and therefore sometimes acts as a second winger, who is known as a “wingback.”
Well over 11 positions have just been listed, so obviously team strategy involves picking and choosing where to play; a team can’t be everywhere at once. In fact, an offensive strategy is to spread the other team out across the field, known as “opening up” the defense. Team formations are described minus the goal keeper and from the defense forward; some common ones being 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1 (called the “Christmas tree” formation), 3-5-2 and 4-3-3.
Each team is required to designate a Captain, who wears an arm band. If the Captain is removed or substituted for, he must pass the badge to a teammate on the pitch, even though his only job is to participate in calling heads or tails to decide which goal to defend first. (The team that loses the coin toss gets first possession, and during the kick-off from the center of the pitch all players must be in their own half of the field and the team defending must stay outside of the center circle. The teams switch goals and starting possession after half.)
The single most important and game affecting rule in soccer is “offside.” A player is considered ineligible and out of play if, when he or a teammate touches the ball, he is between the ball and the goal on the opponent’s half of the field and there are not at least two opposing players even or ahead of him and the goal. That’s all there is to it, folks. If a player is offside, he cannot make an attempt at the ball, even after a rebound, or otherwise affect play until the ball is touched with control with him back onside. Deciding whether a player is offside is an important job of the assistant referee, who will generally try and keep himself in line with the second to last defender, and will signal a violation by flashing the flag up then holding it down if the violation occurred on the third of the pitch closest his sideline, horizontal if it occurred in the middle third of the pitch or up if on the third of the pitch furthest from his sideline.
If an offside violation is made, the opposing team is awarded an indirect free kick from the spot of the offense. An indirect free kick means a goal may not be scored before a second player touches the ball. During any free kick, the defense must be at least 10 yards from the ball until it is touched by the offense. (The defense will often hover around the ball until their side is positioned so that any attempt by the offense to catch them off-guard by a rushed re-start will be deemed illegal and reset.)
A “tackle” is when a footballer slides at the ball with one foot extended in an effort to kick it. This would be pretty simple to understand if Americans didn’t use the term solely to mean something completely different, but is presumably so-named because it is the only situation during which it is not considered a penalty if, when tackling, you should happen to also- unintentionally of course!- make heavy contact with an opposing player. You can never do things like tackle through an opposing player, extend both legs or scissor your legs while tackling, or push, grab, jump at or in any other way intentionally interfere with an opposing player. These will all award the opposing team a direct free kick- which means a goal may be scored before a second player touches the ball- from the location of the foul. It is common for the defense to form a “wall” between the ball and the goal during a direct free kick. Not even screens, or what are called picks in basketball, are legal, but these and playing recklessly enough that an opponent could be injured are penalized by an indirect free kick.
If the referee deems the penalty flagrant he will issue a yellow card. If the same player is show a yellow card twice or does anything unsportsmanlike even once, he is issued a red card, which means, in addition to the direct free kick, that player is immediately removed from the game and cannot be replaced, so that team will play the rest of the game “short-sided” with ten (or less if there are multiple red cards) players. The referee never has to explain his decisions, which are final. This is to avoid arguments, and arguing with a ref will get you carded, or “booked,” but as a fan it can sometimes be frustrating. Even bench players can get booked. In tournament play, bookings can carry over to subsequent games.
“Diving,” when a footballer pretends he’s been fouled, is supposed to be an instant yellow card, but because it is always difficult and controversial to decide someone is pretending to be hurt, it is a big problem in soccer.
It is not a penalty if the ball hits any player’s hand or arm; only if a player other than the goalkeeper deliberately uses their hand, arm or shoulder to touch the ball. This is called a “hand ball” and is penalized with awarding the other team a direct free kick. A player cannot even deliberately touch the ball with their hands or arms in order to protect themselves, but it is not a hand ball if it is exclusively an instinctually reflexive protective action. It is okay to use the clavicle and scapula but not the fleshy part of the shoulder. Remember, even a goalkeeper cannot use their hands whenever outside the penalty area or any time the ball is intentionally kicked or thrown-in to them by a teammate, but it is okay for a goalkeeper to handle a ball that has been passed by a teammate with a body part other than the hands or feet.
Striking the ball with your head is called a “header.”
The referee will not stop play while the team in possession is successfully advancing toward the opponent’s goal if the defending team commits a penalty. Allowing play to continue despite having been fouled is called “playing the advantage.” If a referee sees a foul but allows play to continue, he’ll motion both arms forward, but if the advantage fails to develop within a few seconds of the penalty, the referee will belatedly stop play to enforce the penalty. Even if play continues, any flagrant foul will be eventually booked.
Not even an injury will stop play if there’s an advantage, but sometimes the team in possession will kick the ball out of play in order to let an injured player from the other side be dragged off the field. When this happens, it is an unspoken and well-honored agreement that the other side will return the favor by returning it to the opposing team on the throw-in.
If a player is called for a violation punishable by a direct free kick while inside his own penalty area, the opposing team is awarded a penalty kick, in which any player from that team on the pitch when the penalty occurs gets a one-on-one attempt to score from a “penalty spot” 12 yards from the goal. During a penalty kick, all other players except the defending goalkeeper must remain outside the penalty area and an arch atop the middle third of the penalty area until the ball is kicked. The goalkeeper must stay on the goal line until the ball is kicked, and the kicker’s first contact must be toward the goal. Also, he cannot feign a kick or anything similarly deceptive.
The offside rule and the penalty area combine to necessitate a defensive strategy known as “holding the line.” Players other than the goalkeeper are reluctant to encroach nearer than 18 yards from their own goal.
A through kick is a ball kicked into the hole behind the defense and timed so that an onside player can run it down. Strikers will often stand offside to lull the defenders into ignoring him so that he can sneak back onside just before a through kick. Alternatively, teams will sometimes employ an “offside trap,” in which the defensive back line suddenly and simultaneously moves forward to put an offensive player offside.
If a ball crosses the byline or flies over the goal, the referee awards a corner kick if it was last touched by the team defending that goal or a goal kick if it was last touched by the attacking team. Both situations allow for the use of a pre-designed play incorporated upon a restart, called a “set piece.” A corner kick is a highly advantageous scoring opportunity that begins with the ball in the small pizza slice shape in the corner of the pitch adjacent to the target goal. A goal kick begins in a team’s own goal area, and the ball must be immediately kicked clear of the penalty area, which the opposing team must remain outside until the ball is kicked. Interestingly, there is no offside during a goal kick.
An “own goal” is when in which a footballer accidentally scores a goal into his own net for the other team. It is not considered an own goal if a kick from the opposing team takes a defection off the defense but still would have scored had the defense not been present. Own goals don’t count if as a result of any set piece, including a free kick.
Moving the ball backward to one’s own goal is called a “back-pass,” and is very common ploy, especially to reset the offense.
The most basic technique for moving a soccer ball up field is the “give-and-go.” One player kicks the ball forward but at an angle to a teammate, forcing the defense to shift and cover the ball while he keeps running forward. The teammate can then pass the ball back to him while he is still onside and now less defended. Two (or more) players can employ this technique in tandem to move the ball across the field very quickly while constantly disrupting the defense.
The player’s first contact with the ball is very important, and is called “first touch.” He must judge the speed and spin of the ball in order to be able to immediately gain control of it. “Dribbling” is the technique of one player moving the ball but keeping it to himself. The final launch of the ball toward the goal is called the “finish.” Players can cause the ball to bend and knuckle in a myriad of ways.
It is obviously advantageous to keep possession of the football. The Spanish have perfected the art of “tiki-taka,” in which they constantly move the ball using short passes between players aligned in triangles. This game of keep-away will eventually tire-out and frustrate the defense. The most common defense to this strategy is to wait patiently for a chance to steal the ball, and then immediately send it to a striker lying in wait just inside the midfield line, who breaks toward the opponent’s goal aiming for a one-on-one opportunity. This is known as a “counter.”
Most soccer games can end in a tie, which is very foreign to Americans. Over the course of a season or tournament, a scoring system is generally employed that awards a winner 3 points, a tie one point and a loser zero points. Because home field advantage is perhaps greater in Association Football than any other sport, later stages on many tournaments incorporate a “two-legged tie,” which has nothing to do with a tie. In it, two matches are played, one in each team’s home stadium, and the combined scores of each match determine the winner.
At the completion of a season or tournament, a winner must be determined from the remaining teams, and at this point a tie-breaker adds another coin toss and two 15 minute halves to the match. If additional time doesn’t yield a winner, a shoot-out will ensue, during which players from each team will take turns attempting penalty kicks until there’s a winner. The exact details will vary tournament to tournament.
Most countries have a “premier” football league and lesser divisions, and at the completion of a season losing teams can be “relegated” or demoted while winning teams from lesser leagues can be promoted to replace them.
I think that’s a sufficient introduction. For more information, attend a soccer match!
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