When Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli announced his final 23-man roster for the World Cup, he didn't call on one of the hottest strikers on the planet. Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi tied Lazio's Ciro Immobile for golden boot honors in Serie A, scoring 29 goals in 34 games during the 2017-18 season. Instead of being rewarded for a stellar season, Icardi joined the unenviable list of World Cup snubs.
For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup will utilize video replays after voting unanimously to adopt the system back in March. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is most prominently used in Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and MLS, but a World Cup debut is a different animal entirely. So how does VAR work in soccer and at the 2018 World Cup? Can you get sick from VAR?
Soccer field dimensions are anything but straightforward. Unlike the playing surfaces for football, basketball, hockey, tennis and most other sports, not all soccer pitches are created equally. FIFA does not stipulate the specific size of a football pitch, instead allowing a range of lengths and widths.
That said, there are requirements that must be met for every soccer pitch, many of which are more specific when it comes to international matches.
Viewing a soccer match for your first time without knowing the rules and regulations may seem extremely daunting. Watching the clock run without stopping while players are on the ground or when the ball goes out of bounds seems unnatural compared to other sports. Because the clock counts up, you'd be right to ask: How long is a soccer game?
How long is halftime in soccer? Well, as stipulated by Law 7 of the FIFA Laws of the Game, “the halftime interval must not exceed 15 minutes.” Halftime in soccer lasts for 15 minutes, although the duration of the halftime interval could possibly be altered with the consent of the referee. Here is the law as outlined by FIFA.
Law 7 — The Duration Of The Match
Halftime interval
Los goles son el éxtasis del fútbol, tanto que es difícil hacer valer unadefensa en los partidos de 0-0, incluso cuando a veces resultan bastante entretenidos.
Sólo falta algo en el hermoso juego cuando el balón no besa el fondo de la red. Una abundancia de goles es siempre bienvenida por los aficionados y la prensa.
Por supuesto, los goles son agradables, excepto cuando tu equipo favorito los recibe.
Cuando crecí jugando al fútbol juvenil tuve compañeros cuyos padres les daban dinero cuando marcaban. No recibían grandes sumas, pero tal vez 5-10 dólares por gol. Cuando me enteré de esto, me enfadé. Por ejemplo, ¿por qué no ganaba dinero por marcar? Pero más seriamente, me preocupaba que algunos de mis compañeros estuvieran más interesados en anotar ellos mismos que en ayudar a que el equipo anote. Entonces, ¿deberían los padres pagar a sus hijos por marcar goles en el fútbol juvenil?
If you want to turn your child into the next Brian “McHead” McBride, at what age should you start sand wedging some crosses at their malleable dome piece? Well, in America, we have rules for this sort of thing.
Back in 2015, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that children 10 years or under should abstain from heading the ball. Additionally, players from the ages of 11 to 13 were now limited to practicing the skill in training with headers still outlawed in games.
The part of professional soccer that young players continually fail to understand as much as they should is the business part. The part in which they make their money. For example, how does one go about negotiating a contract in a manner that gets one as much money as possible? Most footballers have no idea, but we here at The18 are here to help with five easy tips to get that big new contract, big move (remember that moves to bigger teams almost inevitably come with higher salaries), big raise or big benching (probably the latter).