History of Soccer

Since many years soccer has been a passion for many. South American Indians were conversant with a light elasticized ball. In early times, balls were made of stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls, pig or cow bladders or human heads. In the Ts'in and Han Dynasties, animal skin balls were used. As per pre-medieval legend, a whole village would kick a skull to a closeby village square. This village would try to kick it back to the first village square.

History of soccer

In 1863 at England, rugby football and association football took different roads. The Football Association in England was formed at this juncture. Eight years after the foundation, this association had 50 member clubs. In the same year, the FA Cup, the first football competition in the world, was started. After 17 years, the League Championship was begun. While football was not heard in Europe, international matches were held in Great Britain. The first of these was between England and Scotland in 1872. John Love and Fergus Suter were two Darwin players who were the first to receive money for the football aptitude. After the English Football Association, the Scottish FA in 1873, the FA of Wales in 1875 and the Irish FA in 1880 followed. Due to the British, soccer spread quickly to other regions of the world. Football associations were formed in the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889, New Zealand in 1891, Argentina in 1893, Chile in 1895, Switzerland, Belgium in 1895, Italy in 1898, Germany and Uruguay in 1900, Hungary in 1901 and Finland in 1907. The FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris in May 1904. It had seven founder members : Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland. The German Football Federation also declared its aim to join FIFA on the same day. In 1912, 21 national associations were linked to the FIFA. In 1925, this number was 36. In 1930, when the number was 41, the first World Cup was held. In 1938, this number rose to 51. By 1950, the members increased to 73. After the 2000 Ordinary FIFA Congress, there were 204 members from various parts of the world.

Soccer ball

The soccer ball is an air-filled sphere covered in leather or other suitable material. The circumference is 68-70 cm or 27-28 inches. The weight is 410-450 gram or 14-16 ounces. The ball is inflated to a pressure of 60-110 kPa or 8.5-15.6 psi. Size 3 is meant for team handball. Size 5 is the standard ball. Modern footballs are made from 32 panels of waterproofed leather or plastic. There are 20 regular hexagons and 12 regular pentagons. The 32-panel configuration resembles the truncated icosahedron. The difference is that it is spherical as the faces bulge due to the air pressure. The official FIFA World Cup held in Germany in 2006 had the 14-panel Adidas + Teamgeist football. This is a thermally bonded machine-pressed ball. For the World Cups in the future, FIFA aims at alternating between Nike and Adidas for match balls.

Soccer drills

The soccer drill names are as follows:

• Heading Game
• Attacking the near post
• Weave : Off the ball
• Four Corners : Dribbling and Vision
• Youth finishing drill
• Inside the 18
• Shielding
• Breakaway : Closing
• Moving the ball : Off the ball
• Constructive communication, awareness and vision
• Field vision game
• Windows routine
• Teaching defense
• Defensive recovery
• Pushing it wide
• Mark your own man
• Shuffles and Shuttles
• 10 Minute drills
• Covering served balls
• Set play drills
• Keeper warm up exercises
• Quick turn drill
• Barney drill
• Fun dribbling drills
• World Cup

Soccer skills

There are two types of kicks. During Ground kicks, if the supporting foot is in line with the ball, power is achieved if the kick is kept low. If it is placed just behind, a rising or lofted ball is produced. The other type is Volley. Ball control comprises of receiving and trapping. The former means redirecting the ball into space. It becomes possible to shoot or dribble without being stationary. The latter is stopping the ball right near the feet. Heading is of different types like Standard header, Diving header, Glancing header and Flick header. The inside, outside, instep and sole of the foot are used for Dribbling. The different methods of tackling are Block tackle, Poke tackle and Slide tackle. The skills of goalkeeping are Rolling ball pickup, Grounding the ball, Diving for air shots and Crosses.