Soccer, or some may call it as football, is the most popular sports game in the world. This is evidenced by the fact that this one game is arguably the most in demand, considering that every game that exists never escapes the large number of spectators, especially in various leagues in Europe.

Soccer, apart from being a sport, is also a place of entertainment for some people. One of the proofs is that there are many girls and boys who may not be good at playing soccer but are willing to jostle into the stadium to watch or support their favorite team. With its popularity, do you know what soccer is? How’s the history? What rules are there in the game?

So, in order to have more insight into the game of soccer, let’s discuss general knowledge about soccer.

What is Soccer and How to Play it?

Soccer refers to a game played by two different teams, with a composition of eleven players on the field. Where each team tries to win by scoring a goal against the opponent’s goal. In its development, soccer involves the movement of physical, mental, gross and fine motor skills, and is built with the strength of a solid team. The movement of all these elements is done to keep the ball moving dynamically and crossing the goal line.

The ball that is used for football game is oval in shape, and for its movement, it is carried out by using the players feet, or any body parts, except hands, and only the goalkeepers may touch the ball using their hands.

History of Soccer

Based on sources quoted on the Football History website, the presence of soccer games wast firstly occurred in China around the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC under the name of the game Cuju. Where Cuju is played on a square ground with a round ball. Many countries claim that the presence of football started from themselves, such as Ancient Greece and Rome.

But the widely acclaimed story of the popular game of football in the 12th century, where in this century football was played on the meadows and streets of England. Over time, football clubs emerged, but the presence of the football club, which is believed to have existed since the 15th century, was well organized and without official status.

Therefore, it is quite difficult to determine which football club was the first to appear on this earth. Some British historians believe that there was a professional club that was formed in England in 1862 under the name of the English club Notts County. A year later modern football was born in 1863 when the English Football Association was founded.

Although football became a beloved phenomenon from England, it slowly spread to other European countries. The first match in 1867 to take place outside Europe was in Argentina.

And finally, on May 21, 1904 the Federation International Football Association (FIFA) was founded, which was signed by seven countries namely France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Rules That Exist in the Game of Football

As one of the oldest sports in the world it is also the most popular to watch, the game is played worldwide by millions of people, with billions of supporters. No wonder football is present in various match concepts, such as the World Cup, European Champions League, English Premier League, and other leagues which with soccer picks we can check and see what other leagues that exist in the world.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the world’s population for soccer, it may have to coincide with the rules of the game, FIFA as the international organization that oversees this sport has issued standard rules.

In the Law of the Game document, they have a philosophy and spirit of the law where “the best matches are matches where referees are rarely needed because the game is full of respect for each other”.

The standard rules that have been set by FIFA are as follows:

1. Rules About the Legal Goals

The first rule to note is to win the game the ball must enter the opponent’s goal. Every kick that is aimed at the opponent’s goal must end by crossing the line in order to be a valid goal. Goals can be scored with any part of the body other than the hands or arms up to the shoulders.

2. Rules About Game Time

The general rule to note is that the time that applies during the match is 90 minutes which is divided into 2 halves.

When the game ends in a draw after 90 minutes, there will be an additional 2 halves which each half is played for 15 minutes and will continue with a penalty shootout if the score remains even to determine the winner.

As for other standard rules, such as regarding the number of players, where as a starter each team must have 11 people and be accompanied by several reserve players.

In addition, there are also several violations that each player should avoid in order to avoid punishment from the referee, such as penalty kicks, yellow cards, or red cards.