Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match. Each team is made up of six field players and one goalkeeper. Excluding the goalkeeper, players participate in both offensive and defensive roles. It is typically played in an all-deep pool where players cannot touch the bottom.
In many team sports that involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting opposing shots on goal. Such positions exist in bandy, rink bandy, camogie, association football, Gaelic football, international rules football, floorball, handball, hurling, field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, lacrosse, ringette, rinkball, water polo, and shinty, as well as in other sports.
Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt like a basketball court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
A penalty kick is a method of restarting play in association football, in which a player is allowed to take a single shot at the goal while it is defended only by the opposing team's goalkeeper. It is awarded when an offence punishable by a direct free kick is committed by a player in their own penalty area. The shot is taken from the penalty spot, which is 11 metres from the goal line and centered between the touch lines.
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play soccer during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, gymnasiums are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names.
In association football, a penalty shoot-out is a tie-breaking method to determine which team is awarded victory in a match that cannot end in a draw, when the score is tied after the normal time as well as extra time has expired. In a penalty shoot-out, each team takes turns shooting at goal from the penalty mark, with the goal defended only by the opposing team's goalkeeper. Each team has five shots which must be taken by different players; the team that makes more successful kicks is declared the victor. Shoot-outs finish as soon as one team has an insurmountable lead. If scores are level after five pairs of shots, the shootout progresses into additional "sudden-death" rounds. Balls successfully kicked into the goal during a shoot-out do not count as goals for the individual kickers or the team, and are tallied separately from the goals scored during normal play. Although the procedure for each individual kick in the shoot-out resembles that of a penalty kick, there are some differences. Most notably, neither the kicker nor any player other than the goalkeeper may play the ball again once it has been kicked.
A try is a way of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area. Rugby union and league differ slightly in defining "grounding the ball" and the "in-goal" area. In rugby union a try is worth 5 points, and in rugby league a try is worth 4 points.
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he won two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and a Ballon d'Or. He is the only player ever to have won a World Cup, a Copa América, a Confederations Cup, a Champions League, a Copa Libertadores and a Ballon d'Or. A global icon of the sport, Ronaldinho was renowned for his technical skills, creativity, dribbling ability and accuracy from free-kicks, his use of tricks, feints, no-look passes and overhead kicks, as well as his ability to score and create goals, all prominent characteristics of his early-age background playing futsal. He is known by the nickname "O Bruxo".
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to penalty shots in that a single player takes one shot on goal from a specified spot, the only defender being the goalkeeper. If the result is still tied, the shootout usually continues on a "goal-for-goal" basis, with the teams taking shots alternately, and the one that scores a goal unmatched by the other team is declared the winner. This may continue until every player has taken a shot, after which players may take extra shots, until the tie is broken, and is also known as "sudden death".
International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players.
Rafael Márquez Álvarez is a Mexican football coach and former player who played as a defender. He is the current head coach of Barcelona Atlètic, the B team of FC Barcelona. Nicknamed El Káiser, he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and one of the best Mexican players of all time.
Uğur Yıldırım is a Dutch football coach and former professional player. He especially impressed during his time with SC Heerenveen and became free kick world champion. After retiring, he began working as a coach at the Go Ahead Eagles youth academy.
The 2006 UEFA Champions League final was an association football match between Barcelona of Spain and Arsenal of England at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, France, on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. It was the final match of the 2005–06 season of Europe's primary cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their fifth final, having won the competition once in 1992, while it was Arsenal's first final appearance and the first appearance by a club from London.
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. The rules on how a player attempts a penalty shot or kick also varies between sports.
The 2010–11 season was Associazione Calcio Milan's 77th season in Serie A, and their 28th consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football. It was the first season under new head coach Massimiliano Allegri, who replaced Leonardo, and with new shirt sponsors Fly Emirates, after four seasons with Bwin.
MLS Cup 2011, the 16th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was played between the Houston Dynamo and the Los Angeles Galaxy to decide the champion of the 2011 season. The soccer match was played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on November 20, 2011. Los Angeles won their third championship, defeating Houston 1–0 off a 72nd-minute goal from Galaxy captain Landon Donovan. David Beckham and Robbie Keane assisted the game's lone goal. With the win, the Galaxy became the first team since the Columbus Crew in 2008 to win both the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup in the same year.
Circle rules football, commonly referred to as circle rules, is a team sport played between two teams of six with a large spherical ball similar to a stability ball. Invented in New York City in 2006, the sport is currently played in cities across the United States, as well as in several international locations.
The 2011 Emirates Cup was a pre-season football friendly tournament hosted by Arsenal at its home ground, the Emirates Stadium in London. It was the fifth Emirates Cup, an invitational competition inaugurated in 2007. Held on the weekend of 30–31 July 2011, the participants were Arsenal, Boca Juniors, Paris Saint-Germain, and New York Red Bulls. The inclusion of the Red Bulls meant Thierry Henry returned to play against his former club, Arsenal. The 2011 edition, with the Red Bulls and Boca Juniors, also marked the first time clubs outside of UEFA's jurisdiction had participated in the competition.
A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team.
