One summer Saturday afternoon found me together with my elder son and his two boys cheering our favorite soccer club to victory in a packed stadium at the nearby city to our home. The atmosphere was action packed as two teams fought to kick the ball to the opposite poles for a goal. Suddenly the star player our favorite team had control of the large soccer ball and with daring movements he rushed to the netted goal, and then a well placed kick and 'Goal'. 'Goal' screamed the enthusiastic crowd in the packed stadium and there was fervent joy throughout the crowd, which we joined it. The match continued till we saw out team victorious at the end

Basketball, baseball, and football are the most popular sports in the United States, but in many countries throughout the world, soccer is the fastest growing sport. Soccer is quite different from the American sport of football even though 'football' is the term used in many countries where soccer is the national sport. The goal is guarded by a 'goalkeeper' who does his very to best to prevent the kicked ball from entering the through the goal. The 'goalkeeper' is the only team member permitted to handle the ball with his hands in order, whereas the players must kick the ball with their feet or try to butt it with their head to maneuver the ball to goal of the opposing team to score a point; a penalty is called when a team member touches the ball with his hands..

Soccer rules are not very complicated the match is played on a grass field approximately 120 yards long and 75 feet wide. Goal posts are located and consist of posts eight feet high and 24 feet across in the middle of each end of the field with a net attached to the back of a crossbar and posts and held to the ground.

There are eleven players on each soccer team - a 'goalkeeper', two 'fullbacks', three 'halfbacks', and five 'forwards'. Also on the field of play are the officials the 'referee' and two 'linesmen'; the officials watch the players in the match carefully, and call a foul ( for holding, kicking, tripping, and blocking an opposing player. In the case of a foul, a 'penalty kick' (free kick) is given to the offended team (a penalty kick is taken from twelve yards in front of the goal or a free kick is taken from the place where the foul was committed.) http://soccerrules.org/

Soccer (or Kicking the Ball) in an ancient game - Games or matches revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played in many countries throughout the realm of history. The earliest documented version is the Mesoamerica ballgame, played by the Olmec as early as 1500 BC. The Chinese played a form of soccer about 2500 years ago - the game Cuju is mentioned in military manuals from the time of the Qin Dynasty (255206 BC). Historians believe the Roman Legions brought the game to England during their conquest more than 1000 years ago.. And wherever Britain raised the flag for colonial rule through the years soccer became the favorite sport then neighboring countries followed suit. But it was not until the year 1863 that rules were established for playing the game; at that time soccer was considered an amateur sportBy the late 1800, professional soccer teams were organized into leagues, with regular schedule of matches. Today soccer players of renown are amongst the highest-paid athletes in some parts of the world. http://www.archaeolink.com/his tory_of_soccer.htm

The Introduction of the sport of soccer in America had strange beginnings - When Pilgrim ships first sailed into the harbors of Massachusetts in the 1620s, they discovered Native Americans playing a rough and tumble soccer-like game called 'pasuckuakohowog', meaning "they gather to play ball with the foot." The colonists love the rough and tumble play of soccer; and it continued to be a favorite sport with rules in U.S. colleges. The first official soccer club in the U.S. - the Oneidas - was formed in Boston in 1862, during the Civil War. Indoor, or "rink" soccer as it was known then, was played at least as early as 1885 when the Canadian team that visited New Jersey to play an outdoor international a series of indoor games with an American team. Immigrants from Europe to industrial communities in the Northeast and Midwest spurred the development of American soccer in the last part of the 19th century. They brought along their soccer traditions in the play of the game on a regulated grass field. The U.S. Soccer Federation was established in 1913. The same year it joined the world governing body FIFA. (Federation Internationale de Football Association) http://usa.usembassy.de/sports -soccer.htm

Soccer is just as popular for girls as for boys in the United States. Over forty percent of soccer players in the U.S. are women and they have a professional standing through their organization the Women United Soccer Association. They are champion sportswomen as shown in at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, when the women's soccer team made its debut, and the team USA won the first gold medal in the sport. And at the 2004 Olympics the USA women's team put on a magnificent show, winning the gold medal, and allowing the players to bow out in style. The future looks bright in the coming years for US women soccer players. http://www.sover.net/~spectrum /womensoverview.html

Note:

1) The soccer ball is covered with hard leather and filled with right amount of air- it measures about twenty-eight inches in circumference (around). Soccer players have more or less the same uniform jerseys, shorts (mainly white in color) knee-high stockings, and soccer boots with cleats to help the player in running and kicking the ball.

2) The popularity of soccer (football) outside of the British Isles was mainly due to the British influence abroad; it started quite slowly, but it soon gathered momentum and spread rapidly to various nations in all parts of the world. The next countries to form football associations after the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889 were New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907). When FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 it had seven founder members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by the Madrid FC), Sweden and Switzerland. The Germany Football Association followed a bit latter in the same year. http://www.wsoccer.com/history _and_rules/soccer_history.htm

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