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Football Players’ Position

Football is a sport played between two teams which consist of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is the world’s most popular sport and almost all of people like to play or watch a football game. For people who are the “real“ football lovers, they love to play and watch a football game because of its benefits. They play football as one kind of exercises, so they can keep their health by playing football. Besides, football is an economical sport, so people do not need to spend much money to do it. They still can play football although there is no goal and they wear no shoes, because they just need a large field and a ball. Another benefit is they can get entertainment by playing and watching football, so it can refresh their mind from stress. Yet, there are other people who like football because of the players. Many people, especially girls or women, love to watch a football game because they can see their favorite football players. Usually, they admire the football players who have a handsome face and an athletic body. For those people who love football because of the players, they usually do not know about football rules itself. On the other hand, they can enjoy the match instead of just looking at their favorite players if they know the rules. Moreover, one of the important football’s rules that they must know is about the position of the players. Football players can be classified into four categories based on their position on a game field.

The first category of football players’ position is a goalkeeper. A goalkeeper is a player who keeps his team’s goal and tries to stop the ball going into the goal. His position is in front of the goal and he must stay in his team’s penalty area. He has special privileges within the game because he may use his hands and arms to play the ball. Yet, catching the ball outside the penalty area is strictly prohibited for the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper is required to wear a distinctive color jersey, separate from either team’s regular jersey color. He is also allowed to wear trousers and gloves as his additional protective gears. The goalkeeper has some roles, such as stop any penetration of the ball into the goal, do a goal kick, and give instruction to the defender. Edwin Van Der Sar, Gianluigi Buffon, and Iker Cassilas are some examples of the best goalkeeper in the world.

The second category is defenders who stay in front of the goalkeeper to defend their team’s goal from the opponent’s team. There are two types of defenders, a center back and sweepers. Center back plays in central position between two sweepers. The main roles of a center back include; marking threats in their immediate area, making tackles on attacking players, intercepting dangerous crosses, and maintaining the defensive posture. Another type of defenders is sweepers. They play in right and left sides of center back and they have more flexible position than the center back. They can move forward and distribute the ball up-field. Sweepers have some main roles, such as building counter-attacking moves, controlling the ball, and defending the left-right side of their team’s defense area. There are some famous players in defenders position; for example Patrick Evra, Gary Neville, and Ashley Cole.

The next category of football players’ is midfielders. They play in front of the defenders and some of them blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. This position is divided into two types, center midfielder and defensive midfielders. Center midfielder is the most important player in terms of setting up attacks. This position enables him to have an all-round view of the game. Center midfielder usually has the greatest degree of control over how a game is played. On the other hand, there are defensive midfielders who primarily defend their team’s goal from opposition team’s attack. They are screening the defense by harrying and tackling the opposing teams’ players, covering the positions of defenders, and distributing the ball to the center midfielder. Steven Gerrard, Xavi Hernandez, and Ricardo Kaka are the greatest players in midfielders’ position.

The last category of the football players’ position is strikers or forwards. Strikers are the players on a team who play nearest to the opponent team’s goal and they are responsible to score goal. This is a very advanced position and strikers are often among the best-known players. Moreover, the strikers usually become the most expensive players in their teams. Center forward and wingers are two types of the strikers’ position. A center forward is a player who receives the ball from the midfielder, “holds up” the ball to the opposing team’s goal, and scores a goal. Comparing to a center forward, wingers have different role in a football game. They have to beat, cross, and tackle the opposing team’s defenders. Besides, they usually deliver the ball to the center forward or score a goal by themselves sometimes if they are in a good position. The winger players are usually the quickest players in the team and they usually have a good dribbling skill. Some of the best strikers who have a good skill are Lionel Messi, David Villa, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

From the explanation above, we know that football game is not as simple as people think. It has some rules and one of the main rules is the football players’ position. There are four different categories of football players based on their position in a game. They can be classified into a goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, and strikers. Each position has special roles in a game. Yet, they should work together as a team to build strength and win the game.