All About Soccer

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Rules

Chapter 2: Positions

Chapter 3: Kicking

Chapter 4: Stadiums

Chapter 5: Tournaments

Conclusion

Glossary

Introduction

  “POW!” The ball soars through the sky. “Goal!” the fans scream. Soccer is the most popular sport or one of the most popular sports in the world. You might be wondering, “ What are the rules? ” or, “ What tournaments are there? “ In this book, you will learn about the rules of soccer, soccer positions, how to kick in soccer, stadiums, and tournaments. Keep reading to learn more!

Chapter 1: Rules

Do you know any soccer rules? Well, if not, then you’re in luck. In this chapter, you will learn two important rules in soccer. Read this chapter to learn those rules.

The first rule is out of bounds. It happens when a player kicks the ball out of the field. When the player kicks the ball and it goes out, the other team gets the ball. Imagine a rectangle with two goals on each short side. If the ball goes out on the long side, then the other team who didn’t kick the ball out will get the ball and do what is called a throw-in (when a person throws the ball over their head). If the ball gets out on the short side, it is called either a corner-kick (when the opponent  kicks the ball out on their side and one of your team members kicks the ball in the corner which was closest to where it got out or the exact opposite), or a goal-kick (same as a corner-kick but one of your team members kick the ball out or the exact opposite). You always should pass the ball to one of your teammates.

The second rule is fouls. It happens when a player tackles another player. The person who tackled another player will recieve either a yellow card (other team gets a penalty) or a red card (3 yellow cards = 1 red card, can be recieved manually) and it sends the player who tackled another player out, and he/she cannot play the game anymore. Yellow or red card, the player who got tackled’s team will get a penalty. A penalty is when a team member kicks the ball and tries to score from the edge or middle of the penalty box with only the goalkeeper in the way. If you score, it’s a goal! One time, I was watching a match on T.V. and I saw a person tackle another player and they received a yellow card. The other team got a penalty and they scored!

Chapter 2: Positions

Defense and offense are similar and different in some ways. Here are some ways they are similar and different. 

Defense and offense are similar because they both require players. They also both try to get the ball when it is on their side. They both kick the ball towards the opponent’s goal. Some defenses go to offense and some offenses go to defense. They both try their best to do their job.

Defense and offense are also different in some ways. Defense works to defend the goal while offense works to score a goal. Offense is harder than defense because offense uses more tactics. Offense is also more popular than defense because more people like to watch the offense than the defense.

In an AFC (Almaden Futbol Club) game, The defense and offense worked together to score a goal and to defend the goal. In that game, it was very hard for the other team and we won!

Chapter 3: Kicking

Kicking may seem easy. For example, all you have to do is just to kick the ball and that’s basically kicking. But in soccer that’s a different story. You have to dribble past defenders and shoot against the goalie. It’s harder than you think in soccer. I’m going to teach you some tips to help you with dribbling and shooting. Let’s dive in!

First, you have to dribble to try to shoot. Always make short touches with the ball to keep it close to yourself. That way, if one of the opposing team members tries to get the ball, you can try to dribble past him. When you’re dribbling past defenders, try to fake a touch and then dribble the other way past him or pass to another teammate. Keep doing that or try doing something else and you will find yourself near the goal and ready to shoot against the goalie.

When you shoot, you want to aim where the goalkeeper isn’t at. For example, if the goalie is in the middle of the goal, then try to shoot in any of the corners, and if the goalie is in one of the corners, then try to shoot in the other corner. When you’re kicking, try to kick with your laces. It will give more power to your shot. You can try to curve the ball too. It’s hard but better. There are also other tricks to shoot and score like faking a shot, but I will stop here. Practice this and you will be a goal scoring machine.

One time, I was playing a soccer game for my team, and I dribbled past almost all the people on the other team until I lost the ball. I felt proud of myself. I felt better at soccer. I felt awesome.

Chapter 4: Stadiums

One of the or the most annoying things is the noise of the crowd in soccer. But they’re just trying to cheer for the player/team that the person/s from the crowd wanted to win. If you’re playing on the field, focus on getting to the ball and scoring if you’re attacking, and if you’re defending try to defend your goal from the other team. The crowd will make noise and you don’t worry about it. The noise can be very loud. Focus on the game and don’t worry about the noise. That way, you are alert of the things happening on the field.

The most important part of the stadium is the field because that’s where most of the action happens. The field is shaped like a rectangle. There are two goals on the short side and lots of lines. There’s a halfway line and an out-of-bounds line. There’s also a goal line and a penalty box. Those are the four main lines/boxes on the field. There are reasons for those lines/boxes. For example, the halfway line separates the sides and the center of the halfway line where there’s a dot is where the ball goes when somebody scores or the game just started. The field is made of grass. The lines are painted white. There are lots of things about the field. More lines/boxes. Lots of intensity and atmosphere. It’s the best!

One time, I was watching a soccer game on T.V. again. I saw the different parts of a field. I noticed the intensity and atmosphere of the game. I loved it.

Chapter 5: Tournaments

There are lots of teams in soccer that play in tournaments. There are bad teams like Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League and there are good teams like Brazil in the FIFA World Cup. They still play very hard to be the winner of that tournament. The managers (owners) of that team try to make people sign contracts. Managers mainly want people who are good to sign contracts for the manager’s team. That way, the manager’s team will be better and if they do well, they will stay manager of that team for longer. When people sign contracts, the manager of that team gives that person money and whoever signed the contract will be on the manager’s team. If that person doesn’t sign the contract, then the manager mainly does two things: they just give up, or they offer the player more money until the player says yes. Remember, teamwork makes the dream work.

Now, do you know what it is called when two teams face each other? It is called a match. In tournaments, there are different kinds of matches. The top 4 matches (knockout rounds) are called the Round of 16, the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals, and the Finals (in order from first match to last match). In those matches, if you lose any of them, your team is out of that tournament. There are rounds before that too. Those rounds are not really knockout rounds because if you lose, then your team is probably not out but might be. Now that you know all about matches, you might become a referee!

One time, I was playing in an AFC tournament. We played two games and we lost both of them. We tried our hardest but I still had fun. After the two games, we went out for pizza at Mountain Mike’s Pizza at Blossom Hill Road. I loved that day.

Conclusion

As you can see, soccer is an exciting sport to play! In this book, you learned about the rules of soccer, soccer positions, how to kick in soccer, stadiums, and tournaments. Now that you know more about soccer, you should try playing it!

Glossary

stadium - a big, oval place with seats and a soccer field on the bottom

tournament - lots of matches played in different stadiums where there is one winner 

dribbling - when you tap the ball with your feet and use tricks to get past people

shooting - when you kick the ball to try to score a goal with a goalie in the way

opponent - a player/team that plays/competes against you