The Complete Guide to Soccer

Chapter 1: What Is Soccer and Why People Love It

Let's start with what soccer actually is, stripped of all the television spectacle and the massive global industry. Soccer is a game played on a rectangular field — usually grass, sometimes artificial turf — where two teams of eleven players each try to get a round ball into the other team's net. You can only use your feet, legs, torso, and head to control and move the ball; your hands and arms are off-limits except for the goalkeeper, the one player on each team allowed to catch and throw it. That's the entire rule. Everything else is the beautiful, frustrating, exhilarating chaos that unfolds within that single constraint.

If you're reading this guide, you've probably watched a game on television at some point, or walked past a park where people were shouting and chasing a ball, and you've wondered — what's it actually like to do this? Not to watch, but to play. What does a Saturday afternoon at the local pitch really involve? How much does it hurt? Is it as hard as it looks? Is it fun?

The honest answer is: it's harder than it looks, and that's exactly why it's so rewarding. When you first start, the ball will bounce off your foot at weird angles. You will swing and completely miss on a pass that seemed simple. You will be out of breath after five minutes of chasing, even if you consider yourself reasonably fit. And