The word “football” encompasses many different team sports all of which require a distinctive type of ball, players and two goals. One of the most popular formats for this game is known as association football, which is also called soccer in several countries. Under the umbrella of football, there is also Gaelic football, which is played largely in Ireland; rugby, which is also known as rugby union or rugby league; gridiron football, which is played in the United States and in Canada; and Australian football as well. Each type of football has its own set of rules or codes.
Broadly speaking, each type of football involves a few common rules. For example, there are two opposing teams and each team has to drive the ball into the goal, over the goal posts or over a line and prevent their opponents from doing so at the other end of the field/pitch. The number of players in each team can vary from between 11 and 18 and the shape and dimensions of the ball itself can also vary from a being a spheroid to a prolate spheroid. The ball can be kicked with the foot or held in the hands and/or passed to another player, depending on what type of football is being played. But in each of these types, there is a clearly defined area in which the ball must be kept and points are scored according to the goals or by sending the ball over a line. The goal posts are usually defended by a goalkeeper. If the football is kicked out of the play area or if the players violate a rule then it results in a foul and/or a penalty. A free kick is given as a reward or as a penalty kick in most forms of football.
The oldest known occurrence of football was probably in Ancient China around 300 BC when a game known as “cuju” or “kick ball” was played by the military in which a ball was kicked through a hole in a silk curtain. Cuju was known as “kemari” in Japan where people kicked the football to each other without allowing it to drop to the ground.
Playing football is a wonderful form of exercise and brings out the best of your coordination skills and speed. Football also requires tactical awareness and quick thinking.
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