SOCCER

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Soccer is the most popular sport in the world.It is played by 100,000,000 people in 150 countries. Soccer was invented in England.It is called football in many countries. This game became popular in Great Britain during the mid-19th century. In 1863,the first set of rules was published by the London Football Association,at that time the game was called ,''association football.'' The name soccer seemed to have come from the word association,or ''assoc.'' In 1904,an international group was formed to organize championship matches between the teams of different nations. It was called the Federation International de Football Association(FIFA) and it still governs the sport today. Slowly people in the United States started to know about soccer and the United States Soccer Federation(USSF), and many other leagues were formed.

In a GOAL KICK the ball may be placed anywhere in the goal area and is not considered back in play until it has been kicked out of the penalty area. In a CORNER KICK the ball is placed within the three-foot arc in the corner of the field (nearest to where the ball went out of play), and kicked into play by the attacking team. A KICKOFF is taken from the center circle at the beginning of the game, beginning of the second half, and after each goal. After the ball completely crossed the side boundary lines a THROW IN is awarded against the team that last touched the ball. The throw in is taken from where the ball left the field and must be thrown with two (2) hands from behind and over the head, while both feet are on the ground and on or behind the touchline. The PENALTY KICK is awarded when a defending player commits one of the 10 penal major fouls within there own penalty area while the ball is still in play. The penalty kick is taken by a player by a player from the offended team from a spot of 12 yards from the goal. All players must remain outside the penalty area by 10 yards from the ball and behind the penalty kick mark until the kick is taken except for the goal keeper and the kicker. The goalie must stay at 1position on the goal line until the ref signals and the ball is kicked. Two kinds of misconduct is #1actions resulting in a caution,yellow card from referee. #2 Actions resulting in a player being sent off or ejected from the field. These are many of the rules.