Progress Report:The Match

On 10th January 2009, which was 3 days ago, we had a match against a team called Kallang Roar. It was played at Tampines Safra and my team had to travel quite far to play them. But it was worth it, though, as we beat them 4-2. I played for the whole of the first half and early parts of the second half before I got myself substituted. I had a decent game. I played as the right winger. And even though I didn't get any shots at all, I was happy to give an assist for a teammate to score. I can still remember what happened. I had the ball on the right and simply passed it into the path of my running teammate. I must say it was a good finish by him. But I was even more proud of my assist because I had at least done something for team. The weather was very hot on that day and it affected my concentration at times but I'm happy that me and my friends won the game.

Progress Report:New Year Session

3rd January 2009. We had our last training before the match that we were going to have. The match was on the following Saturday, the 10th of January, which is only about 3 days ago. It is against a team called Kallang Roar, and we wanted to prepare well for that match. I was as excited as I was nervous about the game. But I told myself that this is all just for fun and had a good training session that day. Again, we focused on team play and we were trying to get our teamwork right. In the 'attack against defence' match, the attackers, including me, scored 4 goals against our defenders. I didn't scored any of them but I assisted 2 of the goals. Good progress. My passing and controlling, too, were improving after every week, but still not perfect. My shooting also improved. I had learned how to hit my shots with power while still keeping them on target. With the match just next week, that day's training lasted until almost 2 pm. I was personally satisfied with myself as I felt that I had worked very hard since the first training.

Progress Report:Learning To Play As A Team

It was a chilly Saturday morning on the 27th December 2008, 5 days before the new year kicks in. My friend told me that he was going to arrange an opponent for the team to play against in January. I was a little nervous about it because I just started out on playing but my friends told me to relax because we are just playing for fun and told me that I am ready for it. So the training went its usual way. But during the 'attack against defence' game we focused more on team play and learning how to attack together as a team. I also realised that my stamina was improving slightly as I was more energetic in the game than the week before. My passing and controlling was improving, but still not so good. And I also trained on my shooting, which can be important whenever you get a scoring chance. The training ended at around 1 pm. I felt that I learned more that day because we trained on our team play and learned to create chances as a team, because in the end, soccer is simply really a team game.

Progress Report:Starting Off

On the 20th of December 2008, I attended my first training session with the team. This is the first time I attended such a training and I was quite excited. It was a normal Saturday morning and we started at around 9. We had a simple warm-up and what we then started off with some passing. I was guided by some of my friends and they taught me things like how to pass properly and how to control a long pass, which is actually not very easy. Then we played an 'attack against defence' game which is simply 5 attacking players teaming up and looking to score against a team of 4 defenders and a goalkeeper. We only needed half the field to do this and I was playing as the right-winger in the attacking team. It ended fine but we only managed to score twice. I was exhausted and we took a short break before continuing with a quick game of juggling and lastly a tiring but enjoyable mini match among ourselves before calling it a day. It ended at 1 pm. My first experience of the training is good, because other than tiring, it was fun and I was really looking forward to my next session on the following Saturday.

Roles In Soccer

There are different positions in soccer and all of them have their own specific roles. The goalkeepers' role is to simply keep the ball from going into his goal. They also have to establish good communication with their fellow defenders, to avoid costly mistakes in defence. Playing right in front of the goalkeeper are normally 2 central defenders. Their job is to protect their goal and nullify the opposition's attacking threat. Central defenders are usually big, strong and also powerful in the air. Playing to their left and right are wing backs. Wing backs are required to perform defensive duties as well as supporting their team in attack. Just playing ahead of the wing backs are wingers, and they are very important in every team's attacking plans. They usually provide crosses to help create goalscoring chances for their teams. In between the 2 wingers are central midfielders, and they play a very important role for their team. They must be able to do both attacking and defending. Also, having a central midfielder that can pass the ball properly is a definite advantage. Finally, leading the attack are players called strikers. A striker's role is simple, which is to put the ball into their opponent's goal. But they can also be used to maintain possession, which will encourage other members of the team like wingers or central midfielders to join them in attack.

Famous Personality

The famous personality that I've chosen is Ruud van Nistelrooy. The reason I've chosen him is because I like his style of playing. He is a striker currently playing in Spain for Real Madrid. Van Nistelrooy is a Dutch, and has been a great player for the national side, scoring over 30 goals in 64 appearances. Van Nistelrooy has a unique style of playing. He is well known for his attacking instincts and his finishing. So far in his 16-year domestic career, he has made 499 professional appearances for 5 different clubs, most notably PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United. So far, he has already scored 317 goals for all 5 clubs in just over 15 seasons. His clever runs and good finishing abilities makes him a very tough opponent to play against.

Rules

Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players excluding substitutes. One of the eleven players is the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within their penalty area. Though there are a variety of postions in which the outfield players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the rules.
A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. The amount of substitutions allowed in one game is normally 3, though the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches.
A game is officiated by a referee, who has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed, and whose decisions on the pitch are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. The two assistants operates on opposite lengths of the pitch as linesman. Their job is to help the referee, especially in enforcing the offside rule. In some professional games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise.

Techniques

As I was given the role of a winger in the team, the ability to control and dribble the ball past opposing players is a basic neccesity. Basically dribbling is the ability to control the ball at your feet and moving with it to where you want to go. Of course, being able to do it fast is an obvious advantage. But it is most important to be able to keep the ball at your feet as you move. If you can't control the ball when you dribble, then it will be easier for defenders to tackle or steal the ball from you. The simplest way to learn this skill is by normal juggling, as it improves your overall ball control. But I found a video that teaches advance dribbling, and it is harder to learn than normal dribbling as it teaches you how to include tricks into your dribbling. Below is the link to that video.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/88457_dribble-soccer-evolving-tricks.htm

Equipment Needed

The equipments needed to play soccer are actually very simple and easy to get. All you really need is a pair of long socks, a pair of soccer boots, a pair of shin pads and lastly and most importantly, a soccer ball. For myself, I prefer long socks to prevent myself from getting scratches or scrapes whenever I fall or when I perform sliding challenges. Shin pads are very important as they provide protection for our shins. It is also equally important to get light weight ones. For boots, it is crucial to have the right size. As boots' designs vary for different purposes, it is okay to start with simple ones. As for the ball size, size 5 is the most appropriate for field play.

Background and History of Soccer

Soccer is a game revolving around the kicking of a ball and it is played by many countries in throughout history. It is now arguably the most common game in the world. According to FIFA, which is the international governing body for football, the earliest form of football dates all the way back to the 2nd century BC in China. Various versions were also played later in several parts of medieval Europe, but none is similar to what we play today. Modern rules were later introduced and standardized in the 19th century in England. The enforcement of those rules were to inculcate a proper standard style to soccer-playing, which was being popularly played in different varieties in public schools in England. From then on up till now, there had been no major alterations in rules or the way it is played.

Why Soccer?

I have been watching football for quite some time and I would love to learn how to play it.It is also due to the fact that I have a lot of friends who know how to play and some of them are actually good at it.So they will be a great help for me if I were to achieve this goal.I can join them on their weekly training to sharpen my skills.I can also view videos that are related to soccer as they can help me to learn more about the sport. Below is a link to a video teaching basic ball control. This is an example of the videos that I can learn from.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/28905_soccer-skills-trap-bad.htm