It's June 16th and we are starting to get into that period in sports where there is nothing going on but baseball. The hockey and basketball season have just ended and football does not even start training camps until late July. There are no live sporting events except for baseball and if you don't like baseball, well you are kind of out of luck. You have the NBA Draft and NBA free agency, but that is about it. There is no excitement in the summer for sports much of the time. No reason to sit in front of your TV every night. Nothing really to talk about at work the next day, but this summer there is one sport that, while still not very popular, is growing and has three major tournaments going on this summer. That sport is soccer and it will be on your TVs all the way through the summer, whether it be one of the major tournaments or just the MLS. Now, many of you make think soccer is boring or you do not understand the rules so you don't watch it, but that is what I am here for. Now, you may just not like soccer and that's okay, but for the rest of this article I am going to explain to you everything you need to know to watch and become immersed in the sport of soccer for those who it might interest.
GAME LOGISTICS
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To start, we are going to stick with the basics. There are 11 players on each team set up in whatever formation the manager chooses, 10 outfield players and one goalkeeper each, as well as four referees, on main ref on the field, two sideline refs and a fourth official who keeps time and monitors the game from the benches. Each team is only allowed three substitutions throughout the whole match, whether it goes to extra-time or not. For soccer, the games are 90 minutes long, 2 45-minute halves, with a continuously running clock and a 15 minute break in between the halves. And guess what? There are NO COMMERCIALS!!! Everyone likes that right!!! Now, the first confusing part of soccer is the time added on after those 45 minutes in each half are over. Because of the continuously running clock, whenever there is a stoppage in play (injury, foul, throw-in, goal, etc.), no matter how long it is, the clock never stops. So, it would only make sense that the game has to make that time up. The name for that is stoppage time. It is the allotted amount of time that the referees believe needs to be added on to make up for the stoppages of play in that half. There can be as little as one minute added on all the way to 10 minutes added on. This is normally show next to the score on the TV graphic with a plus-sign in front of it. (+1,+10). If the game you are watching does not end exactly at the minute it says it will, it is most likely because the referee felt that there was some time during stoppage time that was lost and needed to be added on to the amount of stoppage time originally determined. For standings in the group stage of a tournament or just a regular season, a win counts for three points, a tie for one and a loss counts for nothing. In elimination games, where ties are not an option and points don't play a factor, teams tied at the end of regulation go to two 15-minute extra time periods. Whether there is a goal or not, the teams will play out these halves. If the game is still not decided after that, the games goes to penalty kicks where each team has five chances to make penalty kicks. If it is tied after five, it goes it goes one for one. As soon as one team makes and the other misses in the same penalty kick round, the game is over.
GOALKEEPERS
The goalkeeper is the only player allowed to touch the ball with his hands inside the playing field, but he/she is not allowed to touch the ball with his hands outside the "18-yard box"(the bigger box) on their own side of the field. If the goalie does do that, it results in a free-kick, a kick without the defense of anyone from the other team for 10 yards.
OUT-OF-BOUNDS/GOALS
If the ball goes out of bounds on either baseline (the lines that the goals are set up on), then it results in either a corner or goal kick. It is a corner kick if the ball goals off a player from the team who is defending the net on that side and taken from the corner of the field in which the ball went out. It is a goal kick if the ball goes off a player from the team that is attacking the net on that side. If the ball goes out on the sidelines it results in a thrown-in for the team who did not kick the ball out. Finally, the ball is only considered out of bounds if the ball is completely over the line. If there is even a little bit of the ball on the line or in the field of play, it is not considered out. The same applies for a goal, the ball must completely cross the line for it to count.
FOULS
The next thing you will need to understand are the fouls, or what is a foul and what isn't. The basic, easy answer would be that a play is a foul if the player plays the body of their opponent before the ball. For instance, if a player knocks their opponent in the shoulder before going for the ball, it is a foul. Another form of a foul would be on a slide tackle where the player slides into their opponent catching their opponent with their foot before the ball. Whether intentional or not, this is a foul. Again, a foul outside of the "18-yard box" results in a "free-kick".
YELLOW AND RED CARDS
If these fouls are harsh enough, they will be followed by a yellow or red card from the referee to the player who committed the foul. If a player receives a yellow card, it is simply a caution because if the player receives two yellow cards in one game, it results in a red card and an ejection from the game. As just stated, whether a straight red or the result of two yellow cards, the red card ejects a player from the game. The player will then be suspended for at least the next match of that tournament or season with further suspensions being determined by those higher up. Teams can appeal these cards because, again, they are given out based on the referees discretion and may be too much in some circumstances.
Penalty Kicks
If a foul of any kind is committed inside the "18-yard box", it results in a penalty kick that is taken from marked spot on the field and is the shooter vs. the goalkeeper. As I am sure you have already figured out, for the most part the shooter wins.
HANDBALL
We finally get to the good stuff. The handball is one of the most controversial calls in soccer because the difference between what is and is not a handball is very small and, once again, it is completely up to the discretion of the referee. To explain it in the best way I can think of, a ball is a handball if the hand or arm is outreached from the body and in an awkward position that a player would not normally keep his/her hand. This is also referred to as hand to ball, where the hand is put into the path of the ball, intentional or unintentional, and deflects it from its original path. If the ball hits the hand in a position that is normal for the player it is not a handball. This is also referred to as ball to hand, where the the player does not deflect the ball from its original path and the ball hits the hand anyway. Now that I have explained it, I am almost positive that you realize why it is so controversial. A handball inside the box, like every other foul, results in a penalty kick. Handballs have been the discussion of many games and have decided many games, so if your team ends up losing on a controversial handball inside the box, you are not alone.
OFF-SIDES
The final thing to know when watching a soccer game is off-sides. This one is a little more difficult to explain so bare with me. To start, a player is not allowed to be anywhere between the last defender and the goalkeeper without being off-sides, unless he is in his/her own half. If a team decides to push their defenders up so much that a player is still in his/her own defending half, he can receive the pass legally and move forward. If the player manages to find his way behind the defenders in his/her team's attacking half, then the player is not legally allowed to receive the ball. Finally, this is all determined by when the ball is kicked. If the player is in front of the final defenders when the ball is kicked and he/she ends up in an off-sides position behind the defenders, the player is not considered off-sides. If the player is off-sides when the ball is kicked and then comes back on side to receive the ball, the player is considered off-sides. As long as any part of the body that can score (i.e. anything other than your arms or hands, even if it is just your toe) is off-sides, the player is considered off-sides and the ball is given to the other team for a "free-kick".
Well, there you have it folks!! All you need to know to watch soccer this summer is right here and, if you forget, don't worry, its staying right here. Now, no matter who you root for you can understand the game enough to enjoy it. It can be very confusing at some points and there still may be questions to ask, but once you watch a few games, you will get the hang of it. Other than that you should be ready to go! Listed below will be the dates of each major tournament so that you know when and where to watch them. Now go watch some soccer! Go USA!!!
Copa America Centenario (June 3 - June 26) Fox/FoxSports1- a tournament featuring the best national teams of North, Central, and South America
UEFA European Championships (June 10 - July 10) ESPN - a tournament featuring the best European National teams
The Olympics (August 3 - August 20) NBC/NBC affiliates - a tournament featuring the best Under-23 national teams in the world
And don't forget about the MLS which is all summer long and can be found on ESPN, Fox Sports 1, and your local sports networks, but if I am being honest, the quality of soccer is nothing compared to what you will see in these tournaments, so to start, I recommend that you watch the tournaments first.
