How+to+Play+Soccer

By Lillie Rana ** Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and on this page I'm going to teach you how to play, how to understand how the game works, the language of the game, and even how to complete some very simple plays. So let's get started! =)
 * __How To Play Soccer__

The first I want to do is to give you a small explanation of how the game actually works. It takes two teams to play a game, and there are 11 players on each team and a black and white ball called a soccer ball. The game is played on a large rectangular field that can be either regular grass, or is sometimes astro turf. Basically through teamwork and good passes, your job is to take the soccer ball up the field and score in the net of the opposing team. Now this sounds kind of easy, I know, but in reality it's not anywhere near as easy as it sounds. While you're trying to bring the ball up the field and pass to your teammates, the opposing team is giving everything that they've got to try and stop you from doing that. So along with good passes, you need to also have good control of the ball and maybe even a few tricks. So, like I said, definitely not as easy as it first sounded.

As mentioned above, there are eleven players on a soccer team. Below is an explanation along with video instruction on the different positions that each of the eleven players play:

Position Breakdown:
__**Goalie**__**:** - A goalie's sole job in the game is to stop the ball from entering the net. They are also the only player in the game that is allowed to touch the ball with his or her hands.

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__**Defense**__**:** - Normally on a team you have 3 to 4 defenders: - __Stopper__: The stopper is normally going to be the farthest player up on the field of the defenders and he or she will most likely be the first defender to the ball. - __Sweeper__: The sweeper is probably the most important member of the defensive line. They are the last line of defense before the goalie. Their job is to catch anything that happens to slip through the other three defenders and pound it up the field so that it's far away from their goal. - __Two outside defenders (left and right)__: The two outside defenders jobs in to basically cover the stopper, so that if the player the stopper is covering so happens to get past the stopper with the ball, the left or right outside defenders can jump in and help. media type="youtube" key="XbdedDgzEsQ" height="385" width="640"

__**Midfield**__**:** - The __mid-fielders__ are the ones that do the most running throughout the game. - Their job is to play both offense //and// defense, depending on where the ball is at any given time. - They have to supply support to the forwards if they have to drop the ball back because of pressure being put on them. They also have to supply support to the defense in case they are having trouble with the forwards from the other team. - Even though they are often support, the mid-fielders can also score points for their team. media type="youtube" key="_3A4k4_GOtQ" height="385" width="640"

- Players whose sole job is offense are called "__Forwards__" - Basically their job is to take the ball up the field and score points in the opposing team's net.
 * Offense:**

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