Soccer

There are a lot of famous sports in the world like volleyball dodge ball, baseball, etc but the sport I like the most is soccer and it is also the most famous sport in the world.

  Soccer is a played between two teams of eleven players. It is played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field with a goal at each of the short ends. The modern soccer was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 laws of the game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. The main goal of soccer is to score by maneuvering the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or penalty shots. The primary rule is that players (other than goalkeepers) may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play. Players may use any part of their bodies other than hands and arms. There are three main categories in the game:

1) Strikers or forwards-their main task is to score goals

2) Defenders who specialize in preventing their opponents from scoring

3) Mid-fielder are meant to steal the ball from the opposing team and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team.

There are seventeen laws in the official “Laws of the Game”. The same seventeen laws apply to all levels of football, although there are a few changes in the rule for group such as juniors, seniors or women. Physical contact between opponents is restricted. Soccer is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or the referee stops play.

One of the earliest forms of soccer in which players kicked a ball around on a small field has been traced as far back to 1004 B.C. In this game, there wasn’t any play stoppage, etc.

In the soccer world, there are a lot of cups, leagues, etc. One of the famous one is FIFA(Federation of International Football Association) or the Olympics soccer tournament. In these tournaments, there are a lot of famous teams like Italy, France, England, etc.

One of the best players in the English team was Beckham and he was the world’s best-paid soccer player in 2007 earning 49 million dollars. There are other famous players in the world and a few of them are:

Ronaldo-He was born in a poor border of Rio de Janeiro under the name of Luis Nazario de Lima. He enters football early in his life driven by his childhood hero Zico.

Zinedane Zidane-He was born in France and he is now 36 years old. His parents have a total of five children. By the age of 16, a scout by the name of Jean Varraud recruits the youngster to Cannes.

David Beckham-He entered the youth squad of Manchester United in 1991, at the age of 16. It took him a long time playing with the youth squad to enter the team.

Pelé-He is the first soccer player who was known as a superstar. His name is famous even today more than around 30 years after his retirement.

Luis Figo- He was born in November in 1972 as the first and only son of Antonio and Maria Joana. He started his career as a street footballer.

Raul Gonzalez-He was born in the capital of Spain in the 27^th June of 1972. He started his youth squad in the Atletico Madrid.

Pavel Nedved-He was born near the capital of former Czechoslovakia. He played in mid-field and he became a major part of the Czech Republic’s silver medals at the 1996 European Championship.

Trifon Ivanov-He is a Bulgarian defender and he was born in Gorna Lipnitza, Veliko Turnovo. He started his career at Etar and later entered CSKA Sofia. Trifon attracted attentiaon as an international with Bulgaria.

Hristo Stoichkov-He started his professional career at CSKA Sofia as a Bulgarian striker. He later moved to FC Barcelona and led them to four consecutive La Liga titles.

Other few famous soccer players are Diego Maradona, Thierry Henry, Giovani Dos Santos, Cesc Fabregas, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic, etc and the top young players for 2008 were Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic, Giovani Dos Santos, Cesc Fabregas and Alexandra Pato.

By Juntaek L