FOOTBALL AND SOCCER

Football and Soccer

Football and Soccer

Introduction to both Games

Americans have football and soccer, but what Americans know as soccer is called football elsewhere. This might make it confusing, but the sports are not very much alike. While both games are played with 11 players on each side, the differences between football and soccer are in the rules, the necessary skills, and the scoring methods.

Analysis

The objective in both sports is to outscore your opponents. Scoring occurs in the goal in soccer and the end zone in football(Mandelbaum, 2004). The methods of moving the ball up the field and gaining points are different and require different skills, since a soccer ball is round and smooth and is mostly kicked, while a football is oval, has laces on one side for grip, and is either thrown or carried.

Fields

Football and soccer fields have slightly different dimensions. Football fields are 100 yards long and 160 feet wide, with end zones of 10 yards in length. Soccer is played on fields that are 120 yards long and 70 yards wide, with goals 8 yards wide and high.

Soccer Rules

Soccer games are played with 11 players on each team, with offensive and defensive players on the field at the same time. Except for the goalkeeper, players cannot use their hands to move the ball (Eric, 1999). While they technically can use any other part of their body, players primarily use their feet and head to control, pass, and hit the ball. For the most part, play is continuous until a goal is scored. Players move from one end to the other and back, as the ball is moved.

Football Rules

Football is also played with 11 players on the field, but all will play either offensive or defensive at one time, depending on which team has possession of the ball.

The ...