Soccer

Football at the Olympics is also called soccer. A soccer match is played by two teams of 11 players including a goalkeeper in two halves of 45 minutes.

Players pass the ball by hitting it with their feet, chests or heads. No player, except the goalkeeper, can touch the ball with his hands. To score a goal a player must kick the ball across the goal line and into the net. The winner is the team to score the most goals.

A referee and two assistant referees make sure that players obey the rules. They can send a player who breaks the rules off the ground.

Men's and women's football teams will compete at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Did you know?
In a recent survey, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) found that over 240 million people play football and about five million more people act as referees and officials.

History
About 2000 years ago games in which players moved a ball with their feet were played in China as a training exercise for soldiers.

Football type games were played by the Greeks and Romans in ancient times.

Different forms of football have been played in England and France for over 1000 years.

Teams of married women played teams of unmarried women in football matches in Scotland in the 1600s.

Football was banned in London in 1314 because of the 'rumpus' it caused in the streets. The sport was banned in France too.

In Manchester, England in 1608 football was banned because of the number of windows that were broken.

In the 1800s English schools developed sets of rules for football. Two different sets of rules came about. One set of rules favoured dribbling skills and allowed kicking of the ball and would later become soccer. The other set of rules allowed players to run and carry the ball and permitted rough tackling. It became rugby.

The modern game of soccer, with fixed playing times and a set of rules which did not allow touching of the ball with the hands, was played in England from about 1863.

Football Associations were set up in England and Scotland and later in other countries of the world.
Netherlands and Denmark in 1889
New Zealand 1891
Argentina 1893
Chile, Switzerland and Belgium 1895
Italy 1898
Germany and Uruguay 1900
Hungary 1901
Finland 1907

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris in May 1904

The first World Cup event took place in 1930.

Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham,S. Football [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2011)