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What is Relegation in Soccer?

07 Mar, 2023

There are many ways in which European soccer differs structurally from the most popular American sports, such as baseball, basketball, and American football. Sports are influenced greatly by the cultures in which they are developed, and as a result it can be sometimes be difficult to wrap your head around how sports are played in different countries around the world. One example of this is the concept of relegation, a big part of European...

Soccer Skills: Shielding

07 Feb, 2023

Of all the soccer skills that help professional players operate at the highest level, shielding is certainly one of the less glamorous ones. Unlike an overhead kick, a rabona or a rainbow kick, it doesn't grab the headlines with a super visible display of inventiveness or individual brilliance. However, when compared with these kinds of standout skillful moments, shielding is without doubt of greater importance. Shielding is a crucial...

Soccer Positions Explained - Complete Guide (2023)

30 Dec, 2022

Sport never stands still for long. The game of soccer is constantly evolving, as coaches, tacticians, and players seek to find new ways to gain an edge over their rivals. One of the key areas in which soccer teams look to gain advantages is by trying out new formations and tactical systems. Soccer formations can vary massively; shapes such as 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 are built on a strong, compact back line, while other formations like...

Soccer Skills: The Slide Tackle (And How To Do It Effectively)

26 Dec, 2022

It might often be the attackers who get all the glory, but defenders play an absolutely crucial role in top-level association football. In fact, sometimes there's nothing more entertaining than watching a combative center-back relish the task of stopping the opposition from scoring. Think of Italy and Juventus' Euro 2020-winning captain Giorgio Chiellini, or Portugal and Real Madrid legend Pepe, for example. There are a number of skills...

The Role of the Striker in Soccer

23 Dec, 2022

In soccer, attackers often grab the headlines. Whether it's Karim Benzema leading Real Madrid's phenomenal charge to the 2022 Champions League trophy, or Kylian Mbappe once again taking center stage during the Qatar World Cup, if you score goals, you're going to get noticed. While any good team needs a strong core, from goalkeeper through to the central defender and midfield players, it's the players up top that will usually get the...

10 Soccer Skills You Should Learn

11 Dec, 2022

Technical skill is what makes the best players in the world stand out. Sometimes, footballing magicians like Lionel Messi or Neymar seem to be able to pull off tricks that you can barely even wrap your head around, let alone accomplish yourself. However, often things can look more complicated than they really are. Many soccer skills are difficult, yes, but that doesn't mean amateur players can't learn how to do them too. Our recent...

Is Soccer A Contact Sport?

08 Dec, 2022

When you watch a soccer game on TV, one of the first things you'll notice is that in stark contrast to the action within US sports leagues such as the NFL or the NHL, there's a complete lack of protective gear on show. This is hardly surprising, given that the need for this kind of protection is far lesser in soccer, a game that revolves around a simple, relatively light ball. However, that doesn't mean there's no risk of injury at all....

Soccer Skills: The Bicycle Kick

02 Dec, 2022

In our series of articles on the world's most famous soccer skills, we've covered a wide range of topics. From basic moves such as the stepover to more complicated tricks like the rainbow kick or the trivela , there are a variety of skill moves that can be used to gain an edge on the soccer field . Whether you're trying to confuse an opponent or move yourself into a particular area of the pitch, player intentions can also vary...

Soccer Skills: The Trivela

27 Nov, 2022

Soccer skills are very much the domain of the individual. Unlike the intricate managerial plans and strategies that shape different tactical approaches like gegenpressing or tiki taka soccer , glamorous soccer skills bring the focus onto specific players and their technical ability. Whether it's the fluid pirouette of the famous Maradona turn , or the art of the "elastico" , a skill move that always brings us back to the talent of...

What is a Cap in Soccer?

04 Nov, 2022

Despite plenty of controversy, the 2022 Qatar World Cup has come around, and the world's international soccer teams are once again taking center stage. The likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé , and Neymar will be hoping to bring success to their respective nations. And with all that high-profile international soccer taking place and media coverage unsurprisingly through the roof, there may be a few technical terms thrown around that...

The Role of the Sweeper in Soccer

30 Oct, 2022

In the modern game, soccer tactics are highly complex. A wide variety of different ideas and playing styles have emerged and grown in the last few decades, from gegenpressing to zonal marking . As a result, the typical positions found on a soccer field have also changed dramatically. Gone are the days of ridiculously offensive shapes like 1-1-8 or 1-2-7, the formations used in the 1870s during the...

Soccer Skills: The Maradona Turn

18 Oct, 2022

Many of the popular skills used by soccer fanatics all over the world get their names from the player who popularized the move. Perhaps the most widely used is the Cruyff turn , made famous by Johan Cruyff, the legendary Netherlands forward who helped pioneer the Total Football philosophy in the 1970s. And while Cruyff was a man with his fair share of flair, the move we're focusing on in this article (also named after an iconic player)...

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