Soccer Terms and Definitions
• Advantage: A clause in the rules that permits the referee to refrain from stopping play for a foul if the team that was fouled already has possession of the ball and is in a good attacking position. However, if the advantage does not ensue then the referee may stop play and penalize the fouling team.
• Assist: a play in which one-player passes to another, who scores.
• Attacker: A forward or striker.
• Attacking team: The team that has possession of the ball.
• Back: A defender
• Beat: To get the ball past an opponent by dribbling, passing, or shooting.
• Behind the defender: In the area between a defender and the defender’s goal.
• Break: A play in which a team quickly advances the ball down the field before the opposition has a chance to retreat.
• Caution: SEE YELLOW CARD
• Center: A cross, or pass, from a player located near the sideline toward the middle of the field; used to get the ball closer to the front of the goal.
• Central Defender: A player who plays in the middle of the defense, directly in front of his or her goalkeeper.
• Clear: To kick the ball away from the areas near one’s goal.
• Control: A play in which 2 player uses his or her body, chest, thighs, hands, or feet to stop a moving ball.
• Counter attack: An attack launched by a defending team soon after it regains possession of the ball.
• Cross: see CENTER
• Dangerous Play: Any action that the referee considers to be dangerous.
• Defenders: Backs—fullbacks, center backs, stopper, and sweeper
• Defending team: The team that does not have possession of the ball.
• Deflection: the ricochet of a ball after it hits a player, post, or referee.
• Diving Header: A ball struck by the head of a diving player.
• Draw: A game that ends with a tied score.
• Dropped ball: A way of restarting the game. The referee drops the ball between two players facing each other.
• Drop Kick: A kick in which a goalie kicks the ball from his or her penalty area by dropping it from the hands and kicking it just as it hits the ground.
• End line: see GOAL LINE.
• Fake: A dummy move meant to deceive an opposing player; used by a ball carrier to make a defender think the ball carrier is going to dribble, pass, or shoot in a certain direction when he or she is not.
• Far Post: The goal post furthest from the ball.
• Football: name for soccer in most countries outside the United States.
• Formation: The arrangement of players on the field; for example, in 11-a side soccer, a 4-4-2 formation is one in which a team is playing with 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 forwards.
• Forwards: The attackers, strikers, and wingers on the team, who are responsible for most of the scoring.
• Foul: A violation of the rules for which an official assesses a free kick or penalty kick.
• Fullbacks: Defenders who play neat the touchlines. There are two—a left back and a right back.
• Goal Kick: A way of restarting the game when the ball that crossed the goal line was last touched by an attacking player. The ball is kicked from anywhere inside the goal area.
• Goal Line: The line on which the goal stands.
• Goal Mouth: The front opening to each goal.
• Halfback: see MIDFIELDERS
• Halftime: The intermission between the two periods, or halves, of a game.
• Hand Ball: A foul in which a player other than the goalie touches the ball with his or her hand or arm.
• Hat Trick: Three goals scored in a game by a single player.
• Injury time: Time added on to the end of any half because of time lost due to player injuries, substitutions, or intentional delays by a team.
• In Play: Referring to a ball that is within the boundaries of the field, if play has not been stopped by a referee.
• Linesmen: The assistant referees who patrol the touchlines.
• Lob: see LOFT
• Loft: A high arching kick.
• Marking: Guarding a player to prevent them from passing or receiving the ball.
• Match: A soccer game.
• Midfield: The region of the field near the centerline; the area controlled by the midfielders.
• Midfielders: The players who link together the attacking and defensive functions of a team. The play between the forwards and the defenders.
• Near Post: The goal post closest to the ball.
• Net: The mesh draped over the frame of the goal to catch the ball when a goal is scored.
• Obstruction: A play in which a defensive player uses their body to prevent an offensive player from playing the ball.
• Offensive Player: see ATTACKER
• Offensive Team: see ATTACKING TEAM
• Officials: The referee and two or three assistant referees who officiate a game of soccer.
• Offside: A violation called when a player in an offside position (see term) receives a pass or interferes with a play from a teammate.
• Offside Position: A play in which an attacking player is positioned in his opponent’s half with fewer than two opposing defensive players (usually the goalie and one other defender) between him and the goal he is attacking when he receives the ball.
• Onside: the opposite of offside.
• Open: Referring to a player who does not have anyone marking them.
• Out of Bounds: Referring to a situation in which a ball is outside the boundaries of the field.
• Out of Play: see OUT OF BOUNDS
• Overtime: The periods played after regulation in a game that ended tied.
• Penalty: Short for “penalty kick” (see term); also, a punishment given by the referee when a defending player commits a direct free kick foul within the penalty area.
• Penalty Kick: A kick taken from the penalty mark by a player against the opposing goalie.
• Pitch: A British term for “soccer field.”
• Play on: An instruction used by referees to indicate that advantage has been applied.
• Possession: Control of the ball.
• Post: Goalpost.
• Red Card: A card that a referee holds up to signal that a player has been sent off. He could be removed for other reasons—injury for instance.
• Referee: The chief official at a game.
• Save: The act of a goalkeeper in blocking or stopping a shot on goal.
• Score: To put the ball into the net for a goal; the tally of goals during a game.
• Scorers: Players who score goals.
• Screening: see SHIELDING
• Set Play: A planned play from a “dead-ball situation” such as a corner kick or free kick.
• Shielding: Protect the ball from a defender by keeping one’s body between the ball and the defender.
• Shin Guards: Shin pads that protect the front of a player’s legs.
• Shooting: Kicking the ball at the opponent’s net in an attempt to score a goal.
• Short Sided game: A game played with fewer than 11 players per side.
• Shot: A ball kicked or headed at the opponent’s net in an attempt to score a goal.
• Shutout: A team prevents the opposition from scoring any goals in a game.
• Sideline: The line that runs along the length of the field on each side.
• Sliding Tackle: A play in which the player slides on the ground feet-first to tackle an opposing player who has possession of the ball.
• Square Pass: A pass made by one player to a teammate alongside him or her.
• Stopper: The defender that marks an opposing striker with the opposing striker with the aim of stopping him or her from scoring.
• Striker: A team’s primary scorer.
• Substitution: Replacement of one player on the field with another player not on the field.
• Sweeper: The defender the plays closest to his or her own goal behind the rest of the defenders; a team’s last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper.
• Touch Line: See SIDELINE
• Trap: See CONTROL
• Volley: A ball kicked by a player before it hits the ground.
• Wall: A line of defending players standing together to protect their goal against a close free kick.
• Wingers: The attacking players who play along the wings (see term) with the aim of crossing the ball in to the forwards.
• Wings: The areas of the field closest to the touchlines.
• Yellow Card: A card that a referee holds up to indicate that a player has been cautioned. Two yellow cards in one game earn a player an automatic red card, signaling the player’s removal from the game.
• Assist: a play in which one-player passes to another, who scores.
• Attacker: A forward or striker.
• Attacking team: The team that has possession of the ball.
• Back: A defender
• Beat: To get the ball past an opponent by dribbling, passing, or shooting.
• Behind the defender: In the area between a defender and the defender’s goal.
• Break: A play in which a team quickly advances the ball down the field before the opposition has a chance to retreat.
• Caution: SEE YELLOW CARD
• Center: A cross, or pass, from a player located near the sideline toward the middle of the field; used to get the ball closer to the front of the goal.
• Central Defender: A player who plays in the middle of the defense, directly in front of his or her goalkeeper.
• Clear: To kick the ball away from the areas near one’s goal.
• Control: A play in which 2 player uses his or her body, chest, thighs, hands, or feet to stop a moving ball.
• Counter attack: An attack launched by a defending team soon after it regains possession of the ball.
• Cross: see CENTER
• Dangerous Play: Any action that the referee considers to be dangerous.
• Defenders: Backs—fullbacks, center backs, stopper, and sweeper
• Defending team: The team that does not have possession of the ball.
• Deflection: the ricochet of a ball after it hits a player, post, or referee.
• Diving Header: A ball struck by the head of a diving player.
• Draw: A game that ends with a tied score.
• Dropped ball: A way of restarting the game. The referee drops the ball between two players facing each other.
• Drop Kick: A kick in which a goalie kicks the ball from his or her penalty area by dropping it from the hands and kicking it just as it hits the ground.
• End line: see GOAL LINE.
• Fake: A dummy move meant to deceive an opposing player; used by a ball carrier to make a defender think the ball carrier is going to dribble, pass, or shoot in a certain direction when he or she is not.
• Far Post: The goal post furthest from the ball.
• Football: name for soccer in most countries outside the United States.
• Formation: The arrangement of players on the field; for example, in 11-a side soccer, a 4-4-2 formation is one in which a team is playing with 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 forwards.
• Forwards: The attackers, strikers, and wingers on the team, who are responsible for most of the scoring.
• Foul: A violation of the rules for which an official assesses a free kick or penalty kick.
• Fullbacks: Defenders who play neat the touchlines. There are two—a left back and a right back.
• Goal Kick: A way of restarting the game when the ball that crossed the goal line was last touched by an attacking player. The ball is kicked from anywhere inside the goal area.
• Goal Line: The line on which the goal stands.
• Goal Mouth: The front opening to each goal.
• Halfback: see MIDFIELDERS
• Halftime: The intermission between the two periods, or halves, of a game.
• Hand Ball: A foul in which a player other than the goalie touches the ball with his or her hand or arm.
• Hat Trick: Three goals scored in a game by a single player.
• Injury time: Time added on to the end of any half because of time lost due to player injuries, substitutions, or intentional delays by a team.
• In Play: Referring to a ball that is within the boundaries of the field, if play has not been stopped by a referee.
• Linesmen: The assistant referees who patrol the touchlines.
• Lob: see LOFT
• Loft: A high arching kick.
• Marking: Guarding a player to prevent them from passing or receiving the ball.
• Match: A soccer game.
• Midfield: The region of the field near the centerline; the area controlled by the midfielders.
• Midfielders: The players who link together the attacking and defensive functions of a team. The play between the forwards and the defenders.
• Near Post: The goal post closest to the ball.
• Net: The mesh draped over the frame of the goal to catch the ball when a goal is scored.
• Obstruction: A play in which a defensive player uses their body to prevent an offensive player from playing the ball.
• Offensive Player: see ATTACKER
• Offensive Team: see ATTACKING TEAM
• Officials: The referee and two or three assistant referees who officiate a game of soccer.
• Offside: A violation called when a player in an offside position (see term) receives a pass or interferes with a play from a teammate.
• Offside Position: A play in which an attacking player is positioned in his opponent’s half with fewer than two opposing defensive players (usually the goalie and one other defender) between him and the goal he is attacking when he receives the ball.
• Onside: the opposite of offside.
• Open: Referring to a player who does not have anyone marking them.
• Out of Bounds: Referring to a situation in which a ball is outside the boundaries of the field.
• Out of Play: see OUT OF BOUNDS
• Overtime: The periods played after regulation in a game that ended tied.
• Penalty: Short for “penalty kick” (see term); also, a punishment given by the referee when a defending player commits a direct free kick foul within the penalty area.
• Penalty Kick: A kick taken from the penalty mark by a player against the opposing goalie.
• Pitch: A British term for “soccer field.”
• Play on: An instruction used by referees to indicate that advantage has been applied.
• Possession: Control of the ball.
• Post: Goalpost.
• Red Card: A card that a referee holds up to signal that a player has been sent off. He could be removed for other reasons—injury for instance.
• Referee: The chief official at a game.
• Save: The act of a goalkeeper in blocking or stopping a shot on goal.
• Score: To put the ball into the net for a goal; the tally of goals during a game.
• Scorers: Players who score goals.
• Screening: see SHIELDING
• Set Play: A planned play from a “dead-ball situation” such as a corner kick or free kick.
• Shielding: Protect the ball from a defender by keeping one’s body between the ball and the defender.
• Shin Guards: Shin pads that protect the front of a player’s legs.
• Shooting: Kicking the ball at the opponent’s net in an attempt to score a goal.
• Short Sided game: A game played with fewer than 11 players per side.
• Shot: A ball kicked or headed at the opponent’s net in an attempt to score a goal.
• Shutout: A team prevents the opposition from scoring any goals in a game.
• Sideline: The line that runs along the length of the field on each side.
• Sliding Tackle: A play in which the player slides on the ground feet-first to tackle an opposing player who has possession of the ball.
• Square Pass: A pass made by one player to a teammate alongside him or her.
• Stopper: The defender that marks an opposing striker with the opposing striker with the aim of stopping him or her from scoring.
• Striker: A team’s primary scorer.
• Substitution: Replacement of one player on the field with another player not on the field.
• Sweeper: The defender the plays closest to his or her own goal behind the rest of the defenders; a team’s last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper.
• Touch Line: See SIDELINE
• Trap: See CONTROL
• Volley: A ball kicked by a player before it hits the ground.
• Wall: A line of defending players standing together to protect their goal against a close free kick.
• Wingers: The attacking players who play along the wings (see term) with the aim of crossing the ball in to the forwards.
• Wings: The areas of the field closest to the touchlines.
• Yellow Card: A card that a referee holds up to indicate that a player has been cautioned. Two yellow cards in one game earn a player an automatic red card, signaling the player’s removal from the game.
posted by Lisa Thomas at 12:16 PM
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