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00:00A yellow card?
00:13You've got to be kidding me.
00:15I didn't trip him.
00:16He just fell down on his own.
00:21Turn it over.
00:23Ah, dear Tim and Moby.
00:28I need to know more about soccer.
00:30Can you tell me?
00:31Sincerely, Ronnie.
00:34Soccer is the most popular sport in the world.
00:38In most places outside the U.S., though, it's known as football.
00:42Amateurs everywhere play for the love of the game, and there are professional soccer leagues
00:46around the world.
00:49Millions of fans attend matches every year, and millions more watch on TV.
00:56Amateurs had mild success as a spectator sport in the United States, but millions of
01:01girls and boys play in youth leagues and on school teams.
01:06Well, soccer-like games have been played for centuries, but the modern rules were codified
01:13in 19th century England.
01:15Today, matches are played between teams of 11 players each, with a ball that looks like
01:21this.
01:23The field, or pitch, is about 100 meters long, with a big goal at either end.
01:28The point of the game is to put the ball into the other team's goal.
01:33A match lasts 90 minutes, and whichever team has the most goals at the end wins.
01:39If the teams have the same number of goals, then the match usually ends in a tie.
01:49Sorry, buddy, but that's against the rules.
01:53Only one player on each team can touch the ball with his hands.
01:58That's the goalkeeper, who stands by the goal, waiting to catch or deflect the ball when
02:02the other team takes a shot.
02:05The other players mainly use their feet to dribble the ball downfield, pass it to one
02:09another, and take shots on goal.
02:13They can also move the ball with their heads and torsos, but there's a reason the game
02:17is called football.
02:20Actually, it's a lot different than American football.
02:25First of all, soccer is a non-contact sport.
02:28You can't push, hold, charge into, or trip your opponents.
02:33If you do, you'll be called for a foul, and the other team might get a free kick on your
02:37goal.
02:39If you commit a really bad foul, the referee might give you a yellow card, which is like
02:43a warning, or a red card, which means you have to leave the game.
02:48Um, yeah, you already gave me one of those, thanks.
02:55Another major difference between soccer and American football is that play rarely stops.
03:01If the ball goes out of bounds, it's thrown or kicked back in almost immediately.
03:08As a result, the action is fluid, continuous, and dynamic.
03:13There's not a lot of starting and stopping, and very few substitutions.
03:18Games are really low-scoring, too.
03:20There are often only two or three goals scored in an entire professional match.
03:25Well, aside from the goalie, there are three basic positions on a soccer team.
03:32Defenders usually stay on their own half of the field.
03:36Their job is to prevent the other team from breaking through and taking shots on goal.
03:42The forwards are the most aggressive players on the team.
03:46They play close to their opponent's goal and try to score at every opportunity.
03:51In between the defenders and the forwards are the midfielders.
03:56They play a combination of offense and defense.
04:00When the other team is moving the ball, they try to take it away.
04:04And when their team has possession, they set up scoring plays by moving the ball downfield
04:08and passing it to the forwards.
04:12Defenders can switch between these three positions depending on the formation their
04:15coach chooses.
04:17Oh, right, I was just getting to that.
04:21The biggest event in soccer is the World Cup, which is held every four years.
04:27The best players in the world, both male and female, represent their home countries on
04:31special national teams.
04:35Teams from hundreds of countries play against one another to qualify.
04:40Eventually, the fields are narrowed down to 32 teams, which travel to a designated host
04:44country and compete in a month-long tournament.
04:49It's sort of like the Olympics, in that it stirs feelings of patriotism and intense national
04:54pride.
04:56World Cup final matches between the last two teams standing are among the most watched
05:01sporting events on the planet.
05:03Anyway, those are the basics of soccer.
05:07Can we restart the game now?
05:21I guess I still have to work on my heading skills.