World Cup; The real basics

So as requested a quick run down of the brass tacks you need when watching football, with a look at the positions, formations and a quick jargon guide.

The Positions.
Perhaps the biggest area of jargon in the game is the description of where a player, well plays on the field. So lets go through a quick run down;

Goalkeeper (GK) - Pretty obvious this one, the chap that wears gloves and guards the goal. Allowed to handle the ball within the Penalty area (often referred to as the area) except when it's returned to him in a controlled manner by a teammate (though he can still handle the ball if said pass back was a header..still with us?)
A vital member of the team who can effectively win or lose a game single handed depending on his performance. Most squads will take three 'keepers to protect against injury and suspension apart from the sneaky North Koreans.

Center Back (CB) - Basically the heart of defense, a position in the center of the team's defensive line up . Commonly there will be two of these playing at a time in most sides but certain formations can feature three. These guys will be big, strong and not adverse to being a little rough (see the Italians for a masterclass in fouling the hell out of the opponent and getting away with it). Their main priority is to act as a wall against opponents but will occasionally stray upfield to add height to attacking set pieces.

Sweeper (SW) - A position you don't see that often but basically it is that same as the center back in terms of responsibility but set out to play just behind a pair of center backs. I.e he is there to sweep up if those in front of him make a mess of it.

Full back/Wing back (FB/WB)- These guys operate on the sides of the defense and will be looking to prevent opponents from putting it crosses or cutting in from the flanks. A full back will play most of the game as a defender, a wing back is essentially the same position but advanced a little further up the field. Players here are likely to be quick on their feet and good tacklers, not as bullish as the Center backs.

Midfied (MF)- The midfield is the group of players between the defensive line and the attacking line and features a number of variations. For example you can have a 'holding midfielder' whose main responsibility is too help out the defensive by playing just in front of them and making life hard for opponents, winning the ball and playing it simply to the more creative players on his side. Likewise an 'attacking midfielder' will play just behind his team's forwards and look to help them out by either helping to create space or making runs into the opponents penalty area.

Winger (W) - Part of the midfield and but these days you don't see too many out and out 'wingers' (for example David Beckham played most of his career on the right of midfield but would not be described as a winger). A winger plays on either the right or left of the field, he will look to remain close to the touchline on his side and as an attacking player his job is to try and get to the byline (the far end of the pitch) to put in a cross or create a chance at goal.

Center Forward (CF) - A center forward plays at the attacking front end of a team. Looking to score goals primarily but also there to hold up the ball and bring teammates into the play. Likely to be quite a physical presence, Rooney will be seen as one of these.

Striker (ST) - Plays in the same area of the field as the Center Forward with pretty much the same job but doing it in a slightly different way. A striker is looking to score goals first and foremost. He will play off a partner center forward but will look to shot at goal far more than he will look to play in a team mate. Strikers tend to be quick and sharp on the turn and are as happy scoring off their backsides right on the goalline as they are burying twenty yard pile drivers into the top corner.

So that's the basic set of positions of the football field, you will of course get variations but everything is pretty much a derivation of one of the above.

Formations
Now I was going to write all about formations but when looking for visual representations (the 'ol chalk boards) I found a site that goes through the basics of the most common ones so I'll link to that instead. 4-4-2 and the like.

Jargon.
Ok now a quick look at some of the common bits and pieces of jargon and phrases you'll hear.

"Set piece" - an attacking play from a dead ball situation, ie. a corner or a free kick. Teams will commonly work on their set piece play both in terms of defense and attack.

"Goals" - what some commentators call the goal when referring, because they are idiots. EG; "That one came close to the goals"

"Injury time" - the time added on at the end of a half for stoppages during play. Deciding by the ref and relayed by the fourth official on the touchline. Managers will frequently argue about how long is played and why. Typically about three or four minutes unless there's been a massive punch up or something.

"In the hole" - A phrase used to describe a position of play, it refers to a midfield player that plays behind a forward player in advance of the rest of the midfield. He is playing 'in the hole' between attack and midfield, defenses often struggle against people playing here for some reason.

"Man marking"/"Zonal marking" - the two types of defending at set plays. In man marking each defending player is assigned to defend against a specific opponent in a zonal system the defenders will look to defend an area (such as the six yard box)

"Push up" - this is when the defensive line of a team is looking to play as high up the picth as it can, increasing the chances of an opponent being offside.

"Long ball" - basically to pump the ball up and over the top of the midfield. None of this fancy dan passing it around nonsense. Boot it upfield and chase it.

"cross" - To plat the ball across the field into or through the opposition penalty area

"Byline" - The line marking the end of the pitch at the far ends.

"Touch line" - The line marking the sides of the pitch.


Well I hope that helps and next up it will be a look at all those crazy foreigners who also taking part. Any questions on the above or any other jargon just ask!