Soccer is a remarkable Sport

Football, or Soccer as it's recognized in America, is the preferred team sport played professionally and by amateurs worldwide. Soccer players are revered as icons and soccer groups sign thousands and thousands of dollars as endorsement deals.

Soccer is a sport between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to net the most goals in the opposite side's goal post. Players are forbidden to make use of their arms, aside from the goalkeeper, who can forestall a goal with his hands. So each soccer team tries to forestall the other from scoring whereas making an attempt to make a goal itself. A typical match consists of two periods of forty five minutes each, separated by a 15-minute break called half time. Additional time and penalty shootouts are allowed by the referee underneath special circumstances to determine an undecided match.

Soccer is played professionally all around the world, in stadiums where tens of millions of followers throng to see a match. Such matches are additionally watched on television. Amateurs also play soccer. A survey by Federation Internationale De Football Association(FIFA-- soccer's governing body) revealed that in 2001, over 240 million folks worldwide in additional than 200 countries played the game.

Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA. These embody the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF), Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Union of European Football Association (UEFA), Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and Confederacion Sudamaricana de Futbal (CONMEBOL representing South America).

Soccer trophies are awarded for matches of all sizes, from native playgrounds to large stadiums full of fans. Probably the most prestigious is the World Cup, organized by FIFA. It takes place each four years, and about one hundred ninety national groups vie to qualify to play the finals. The finals now involve 34 national teams. Soccer has been a part of the Summer Olympics since 1900, apart from the 1932 Olympic games in Los Angeles. At the moment, it is performed at an underneath-23 stage, so it's less prestigious than the World Cup. A ladies's football tournament was additionally started for the 1996 Olympics.

The foremost worldwide tournaments are as follows: FIFA World Cup, European Championship, UEFA champions league, Copa America, African Nations Cup, CAF Champions League, Asian Cup, AFC champions League, CONCACAF league and championship cups and Oceania Nations Cup.

Each year tens of thousands of soccer trophies are given out men, women and children of all ages for taking part and winning in their perspective catogories. Soccer trophies are manufactured from metal, pewter, gold, silver or other materials, and depict the shape of a soccer ball or a player in action.