Soccer is the most popular game on the planet, with a fan-base of more than 3.5 billion people. For those of you who are new to this sport, and want to know more about it, here's a basic guide that will help you out.
Be it Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or the charming David Beckham, no prizes for guessing that for innumerable youngsters and amateurs, these players are like gods. It takes years of passion, dedication, and practice to get to the levels they reached. For starters, here is more on how this game is basically played.
Passing: Passing the ball with the inside of your foot is the basic skill you would start off with when learning this game. Once you get this correct, go on to complex footwork and tackling. With continuous and unhindered practice, this skill can be mastered. Practice, and only practice, is going to sharpen your passing skills.
Dribbling: Dribbling is all about tricking your opponent and getting past him toward the goal post. It needs nimble feet and a good amount of athleticism. The fundamental thing about dribbling is that no soccer player dribbles in his own half. Then, even when you dribble in the opponent's half, you need to go forward with the team. Every time the ball comes to you, there is no need to dribble. Analyzing the situation of the game, and deciding whether dribbling or passing is the need of the moment, is absolutely essential.
Receiving: Getting the ball in a correct position, or receiving it, is another thing you have to know. You get a fantastic pass, but you goof it up by receiving it in a wrong way, and you are gone. An opportunity to score could be at stake. The first touch is what matters while receiving the ball. Again, just like passing, you have to receive the ball using the inner part of your foot.
Shooting: Shooting is to hit the ball in the goal, or rather shoot the ball in the goal from a particular position. Okay, you are great at dribbling, receiving, and passing, but you are a damp squib when it comes to shooting.-This is no good for you as a player or your team. This way, you would not be able to score goals, because you do not have accurate and powerful shots in your arsenal. The important thing in shooting is not power, but correct timing and ball control. Focusing on the goal needs to be done. The whole aim of the game is to score goals, so the goal post is what has to be visualized at all times.
Heading: Ah! No, please do not do something like what Zinedine Zidane, aka Zizou did in that final against Materazzi! Heading the ball is what I want to say, and which is a very significant aspect of soccer. When the ball is in mid air, like when a team gets a corner, after the player takes the corner and it comes flying around the penalty area, many times, the goal comes about as a result of heading the ball. And what an amazing sight it is! Especially in the replay. Nevertheless, the point is that, heading the ball is important, and that too with your forehead.
Kicking: There are around 7 types of basic kicks in the game of soccer. They are, free kick, indirect kick, penalty kick, goal kick, corner kick, bicycle/overhead kick, and instep/lofted kick. Start off with the simplest and keep practicing your way up to the hardest one.
Trapping: Perhaps, you could call this as an add-on to your soccer ammo. This can be very handy when you do not want the opponent to get the ball. Trapping the ball is generally done using the feet, thighs, or the chest. It usually needs to be done at the time of receiving.
Playing soccer is ultimately all about slogging it out on the flied, and having an unfettering passion and love for the game.
