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- Law 4: The Player's Equipment
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- Law 7: The Duration of the Match
- Law 8: The Start and Stop of Play
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Anatomy of a Game
There are many ways to watch a soccer game. These range from fan enjoyment to the professionals who are analyzing it.
Understanding Soccer's primary focus is on helping those new to soccer to understand and enjoy the game. However, soccer becomes increasingly more enjoyable as fans know what to look for and most importantly, "how to anticipate the action".
George Vecsey's quote on the home page is what soccer is about:
"I don’t know any other sport so beloved by the people who play it, or the people who watch it.
Everybody in the stadium understands that at any given moment something amazing can happen, out of nothing."
As exciting as these moments can be, they are considerably more enjoyable when anticipated. The inexperienced fan enjoys the beautiful pass to an arriving player in open space. The experienced fan is anticipating it.
"Soccer Analytics" is a recent introduction and holds great potential to add to the understanding of soccer. "The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer is Wrong" by Chris Anderson and David Sally discusses Soccer Analytics and it potential effect upon the game.
The Numbers Game is soccer's equivalent of Moneyball; how Billy Beane used statistics to improved the low payroll Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team.
With soccer, the situation regarding analytics is far fuzzier – the game is more fluid and much more complicated to track and analyse. What's more, the experts are yet to convince the masses or all of the managers. The mere mention of the word "data" makes some soccer fans and managers' eyes glaze over.
Opta Sports was one of the analytical companies whose statistics were used in "The Numbers Game".
Opta and MLS-a beautiful game they play is an in depth article by Joe Prince-Wright on NBC Sports' ProSoccerTalk which explores the potential of Soccer Analytics.
(More on this later)
Understanding Soccer's primary focus is on helping those new to soccer to understand and enjoy the game. However, soccer becomes increasingly more enjoyable as fans know what to look for and most importantly, "how to anticipate the action".
George Vecsey's quote on the home page is what soccer is about:
"I don’t know any other sport so beloved by the people who play it, or the people who watch it.
Everybody in the stadium understands that at any given moment something amazing can happen, out of nothing."
As exciting as these moments can be, they are considerably more enjoyable when anticipated. The inexperienced fan enjoys the beautiful pass to an arriving player in open space. The experienced fan is anticipating it.
"Soccer Analytics" is a recent introduction and holds great potential to add to the understanding of soccer. "The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer is Wrong" by Chris Anderson and David Sally discusses Soccer Analytics and it potential effect upon the game.
The Numbers Game is soccer's equivalent of Moneyball; how Billy Beane used statistics to improved the low payroll Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team.
With soccer, the situation regarding analytics is far fuzzier – the game is more fluid and much more complicated to track and analyse. What's more, the experts are yet to convince the masses or all of the managers. The mere mention of the word "data" makes some soccer fans and managers' eyes glaze over.
Opta Sports was one of the analytical companies whose statistics were used in "The Numbers Game".
Opta and MLS-a beautiful game they play is an in depth article by Joe Prince-Wright on NBC Sports' ProSoccerTalk which explores the potential of Soccer Analytics.
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Barcelona 2-Chelsea 2 Champions League Game: In a controversial game, and playing with only 10 men, Chelsea rallied to gain a 2-2 tie and eliminate Barcelona. George Vescey's and ESPN's summaries give a sense of the greatness of Chelsea's victory.
Manchester City 3-Queens Park Rangers 2 Season Final Stoppage Time Win. : Manchester United, the defending champs, and Manchester City are tied for first place on the last day of the season. City would win on goal differentials if they remained tied. United needed to have more points than City to win the title. Manchester City was down by two goals going into 5 minutes of stoppage time needing a win since Manchester United had already won their match against Sunderland 1-0.
Manchester City scored 2 goals in less than 3 minutes. The highlights of the stoppage time action are in the video below.
Manchester City scored 2 goals in less than 3 minutes. The highlights of the stoppage time action are in the video below.
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US 1- Honduras 2 World Cup Qualifier
Bengtson, who plays for Major League Soccer's New England Revolution, scored the winner when defender Geoff Cameron and Howard both went for a pass by Maynor Figueroa to Oscar Boniek Garcia. That allowed Garcia to tap the ball across to Bengtson for a shot into an open net, and Omar Gonzalez was too late to challenge him.
Players must react almost immediately as the entire scoring sequence took about six seconds. Two seconds elapsed from when goalie Howard advanced to cut off the scoring chance to when he started his slide. It appears that Howard erred in sliding to attack the ball rather than advancing to about two meters in front Garcia. At the start of his move Howard was a distance from the ball four times greater than Garcia was. Howard had covered only two thirds of the distance to the ball when Garcia made contact and passed off.
Knowing when to come out is one of the most difficult decisions that a goalie must make. They must evaluate the distance to be covered and the speed of the incoming attacker. Unless a goalie is positive that they will make contact with the ball, it is more prudent to stop short of the attacker to create an obstacle for them.
Players must react almost immediately as the entire scoring sequence took about six seconds. Two seconds elapsed from when goalie Howard advanced to cut off the scoring chance to when he started his slide. It appears that Howard erred in sliding to attack the ball rather than advancing to about two meters in front Garcia. At the start of his move Howard was a distance from the ball four times greater than Garcia was. Howard had covered only two thirds of the distance to the ball when Garcia made contact and passed off.
Knowing when to come out is one of the most difficult decisions that a goalie must make. They must evaluate the distance to be covered and the speed of the incoming attacker. Unless a goalie is positive that they will make contact with the ball, it is more prudent to stop short of the attacker to create an obstacle for them.