Soccer

A popular sport played by many and the facts are read by more than many. Well, sort of.

• Soccer is also known as association football.
• A game of soccer consists of two teams of eleven players and a soccer/foot ball that normally has a circumference of 71 cm (28 inches).
• Soccer is played by more than 250 million players in at least 200 countries.
• Soccer tournaments have been in the Olympics since 1936.
• The rules of soccer were established in 1863 by the Football Association in England.  There are 17 official rules.

Soccer/Foot Ball
Image courtesy of Phaitoon/ Free Digital Photos

• Positions in a soccer game include strikers, goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders.
• A soccer field is normally 100-110 metres (110-120 yards) in length and 64-75 metres (70-80 yards).
• An adult game of soccer usually runs for 105 minutes – 45 minute halves and a fifteen minute break.
• The yellow and red card, yellow – ‘warning’, red- ‘your off the field’, were introduced in the 1970 FIFA cup.
• At the soccer World Cup, approximately 190-200 soccer teams play in 32 nations, and play for four weeks every four years.

Bibliography:
Association Football 23 October 2012, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football>