Football is a game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, either natural or artificial. The main objective is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team’s ‘end zone’ either by running with it until tackled or passing it to another player downfield towards the end zone. There are several ways to score points during a game; scoring a touchdown, making a field goal, and scoring a safety. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins.
The game starts with a kickoff, the team that kicks off will be decided by the coin toss prior to the start of the match. The team on offense will then take the ball. Depending on what side of the field they are on (Offense or Defense), they will have four downs or tries to advance the ball 10 yards, if they fail to do so, they turn the ball over to the other team and their turn starts again.
There are a number of positions on the football field; the quarterback, who throws passes to other players, the wide receivers who run over the line of scrimmage to catch the ball and the tight ends who can also receive the ball. The defensive team has linebackers who are big and fast to try and overpower the offensive line, cornerbacks who can cover wide receivers and prevent them from getting open and catching the ball, and safeties who are responsible for protecting the kicker and tackling runners behind the line of scrimmage.
In addition to the normal scoring methods of touchdowns, field goals and safetys, a player can earn extra points by throwing or kicking the ball through the posts of the opponents’ goal. The kicker is usually the most important person on the field for this as it is a very precise skill that requires practice and attention to detail.
To kick a penalty shot you must stand on one foot and place the other foot flat, around 20 cm to the left if you are right-handed, aiming at your target. You must then move your body forward to make contact with the ball, then backwards and upwards to generate enough power.
The Premier League is a table based competition where the top twenty teams play each other twice a year and are awarded points based on whether they win, lose or draw. There are also other tournaments that include lower league teams and this is often where the most exciting matches take place, with some huge upsets as teams that are twenty or more places below their opponents win big. The FA Cup and League Cup are other popular tournaments that feature clubs from the top division of English football as well as some of their regional and national counterparts. The teams that win these tournaments then compete in the Club World Cup.