Association football, more widely recognized as just football or soccer, is basically a team sport typically played between two competing teams of eleven players each. It is played professionally by more than 250 million players across 200 countries and dependencies, which makes it the most popular sport in the world. The game is governed by a central governing body called the FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations) who assign the tournaments for different countries. The most common competitions are the Interclub competitions, the World Cup and the UEFA (EFL) tournaments. While most teams play only domestic matches, others like Internazionale and AC Milan have joined the international game.
In association football there is only one refereeing authority per game; which means that one referee is responsible for all the games. This officiating is based on the Tournaments Regulations and the disciplinary actions that each team is liable to impose. Unlike other team sports, where the coach and players make the decisions, in association football the decisions of the referees are made by the association board, which is controlled by the country that hosts the tournament.
To play football you need the ball and you need a playing surface; In order to play football, you do not actually need a soccer ball itself because you can use any kind of ball that you want instead. You could use a wooden ball, a rubber ball, or even a water ball; you just need something to play on so that you can kick the ball. As long as the surface you are playing on allows you to maneuver your ball around easily then that would be perfect. The main object of the game of football is to score more points that you can and the only way that you accomplish this is by scoring more goals than your opponents.
The players will use their feet to push the ball; around on the playing field and if they do this successfully then the player has scored a goal. However, the scoring may not be easy since all the other players on the field may also be using their feet to push the ball around as well and if the defenders can stop them then the goal may not be achieved. The defenders are there to prevent the opposing players from scoring a goal and is there for the team to counter attack. It is the job of the goalkeeper to stop the opposition from doing this to safeguard the balance of the team.
The referee starts the game by declaring; The start of play and once the players have started to play the referee will put the ball into play either by throwing it on the ground or by kicking it towards one of the side players who is sitting in the defensive line. If the ball enters the penalty area then the opposing team will be given a penalty kick, which is a very unpleasant and severe action. If a player goes for too many fouls then he may even be given a red card which will require him to leave the pitch and will cost him a point. There are three different kinds of fouls that can be given to a player by the referee. The first is a foul on the floor where there is contact between players; this is called a caress. The next is a foul which is not a caress but involves a tackle or even a kick which leads to a tackle or a kick being substituted; this is called an indirect caress.
The last kind of foul is called an indirect trip; This means that there is contact made by two players who have been fouled by the referee. In a game with eleven players the match referee will decide on the number of points that will be awarded to each team based on how many caresses were made by the players. There are rules governing how a substitution will take place and in some cases a substitution may have to be mandatory. These are all important factors that you should bear in mind when playing association football.