Soccer is one of the most popular collective ball games not only in the Czech Republic but in the whole world. All we need to play soccer is to have a ball of any material therefore the game is played even in the poorest and most remote parts of the world. As soccer becomes more and more dynamic and the players attempt to supersede one another in controlling the ball, its popularity is still on the increase. It is becoming more and more attractive for the spectators. Even though soccer is a collective game, it requires skills and abilities within the individual aspect of skills and abilities. If players want to be successful and become top players, they must not only be physically well prepared but they must also master activities involving the ball.
Soccer Characteristics
Soccer is a collective sports goal game which involves two teams of 11 players attempting to score as many goals as possible into the opponent’s net and at the same time have as few scores as possible in the team’s own net, without violating the rules. The game itself is carried out in a specific match which is characterized by certain actions and sticking to general rules (VOTÍK a ZALABÁK, 2000).
During the game, there are parts when a team controls the ball and parts when it is out of control of the ball. In this respect, the game can be divided into two basic parts – offensive and defensive.
Form the physiological point of view, soccer is demanding in neural and humoral regulation systems which control motor activity of a player.
Match load develops mainly speed endurance, explosive muscle force of the lower extremities and coordination. Aerobic energy transformation prevails over anaerobic. Weight loss after a match is 1-3 kg. Body temperature rises by 2° C. Average heart rate during match is 165-175 beats per minute. (FAJFER, 1990)
History of International Soccer
According to resources, Soccer as it is known today was born in England in 1860s. Previous forms of soccer were only a little similar to the present game. When going into the history, we must first speak generally about ball games (Kilián, 2007).
Fig. 8 Football
“The thing used for playing was called a ball,” Plato wrote in his work “Faidon” when he was describing a ball composed of 12 colorful parts. The Greeks were said to play with a stuffed ball but as early as at that time, also an inflated ball was used. In the Middle Ages, the Romans distinguished 5 kinds of balls: small, medium, big, biggest and empty. In Greek it was called “palla”, in French “balle” and in German and English “ball”. The words “foot” and “ball” formed the name football. The game is called both football and soccer; in North America soccer means football while football refers to American football which is similar to rugby (Jenšík, Macků, 1990).
The disputes about what was the original predecessor of soccer will probably never be settled. An acceptable version could be that the predecessor was a Roman ball game called “harpastum” which was played by Roman legions and brought to England and France by them. Together with the entire Hellenic culture, docile Romans adopted also the original game “episcurtos”. They took over not only the game itself but also its best players – Greek slaves. They adjusted the game a little, made it rougher, renamed it “harpastum” and took it along with them to different parts of the world. Caesar’s legionaries used to play it in their camps over the whole of Europe (Jenšík, Macků, 2007).
History of London mentions soccer in 1175. It was played in the streets of both towns and villages and no longer was it only a pastime activity of the rich. Each could consist of as many as a few hundred players so injuries were not scarce. At first, the game was played outside the city, however, later the game started at the square from which place both teams ran through narrow medieval streets and lanes. As there were no rules to the game at that time, it was very often accompanied with harsh fights which concerned not only the players but the spectators as well. The inhabitants of the city protected themselves by barricading the windows and doors of their houses not to be robbed. A player who succeeded in scoring a goal was celebrated (Kilián, 2007).
In 1314, the inhabitants of London made a petition to the court to stop the wild ball games in the street. King Edward II accepted the petition but prohibiting the game did not bring any results. In 1331, Edward III did not allow it for the game to be played in the streets around Westminster because it disturbed proceedings of the Parliament. In 1348 violating the prohibition of playing soccer could result in imprisonment. In 1364, priests were not allowed to play soccer. In 1496 royal directive prohibited craftsmen, workers and servants to play soccer as a result of bigger workload at the beginning of capitalistic manufacturing. Still, the supporters of the game did not give up. Different craft guilds organized matches and they also provided prizes for the winners. Soccer was not accepted either at English universities. It was first prohibited in 1555 at Oxford and subsequently in 1571 at Cambridge (Kilián, 2007).
Soccer in England was revived only in the middle of 19th Century. It was mainly thanks to students at private secondary schools who did not cease to play soccer even at times of strict prohibition and teachers who liked the interest of young people in games and movement in the open air. Those schools became the homes of athletics, cricket, sculling and they also became the bases of soccer. In this respect, historians mention the schools in Cambridge, Eton, Harrow, Charterhouse, Rugby, Shrewsbury and Westminster (Pondělník, 1986).
Mainly Rugby school became famous. Its teachers most recommended cricket but in the course of time they gave up to students’ pressure and approved of football. The school became so famous that in 1839 the British Queen paid a visit to the school to watch a soccer match.
However, individual schools did not follow the same rules. In 1845, Rugby School put the rules together in a book called The Laws of Soccer as It Is Played at Rugby. The most important thing was that playing with hands was allowed. In 1848, H. de Winton and J. C. Thring published a thin book with their rules in Cambridge. This book, unfortunately, has not been preserved. However, their book became a template for rules at other schools. Rules at Eton were written down in 1849 while they attempted to be as different as possible from Rugby. It is said that playing with hands was forbidden, which cannot be proved (Kilián, 2007).
October 26, 1863 became a historic moment. On this day, representatives of eleven clubs met and agreed that it is necessary to unify the rules of soccer and found an association which would organize soccer matches and competitions. As a result, they founded the first soccer association in the world – The Football Association. To remind us of the uniqueness of this act, England has kept this name until today. The name does not include the country of the association’s activities, even though there are nearly two hundred national football associations all over the world. Proud Albion is convinced that everyone who pays attention to international soccer should know what the abbreviation FA means (Vaněk, 1984).
Other countries of the British Isles followed their example and founded their own associations. In 1873, Scottish Football Association came into existence followed by the Welsh one two years later. The Irish association appeared in 1880 (Rodnege, 1994).
In the late 19th Century soccer flourished. No longer was it only amusement for students. It was widely played mainly by workers in industrial plants. Soccer was slowly becoming Britain’s national sport and it has remained so until now.
Still increasing interest in soccer has led to found a competition. Charles William Alcock was the first to come up with this idea. His idea was an impulse to create the English Cup – The Football Association Challenge Cup which was the first soccer competition in the world. It was created on October 16, 1871 and its first year was launched the year after. Altogether, 15 teams applied out of which there were 14 English and one Scottish (Procházka, 1984).
Fig. 9 and 10 Historical match
History of Czech Soccer
In Czech lands, soccer started to be played in late 19th Century in Cycling, Sculling and student clubs. The first public match took place in early 1890s (precisely on August 15, 1892) in Roudnice. Soccer had been played seven years before but only as a part of other sports activity. The real “father” of Czech soccer is considered to be Josef Rössler-Ořovský. He learned the new sport in London (in 1893 he was playing the whole season for an amateur team called Black Triars). When he returned to Prague, he translated the updated and amended rules of this ball game. This gave rise to developing a new sport and founding two oldest and most famous Czech clubs – Sparta and Slavia (in 1893).
After Czechoslovakia had split into two independent countries, the Czech National Soccer Team was not a completely new thing. The reality is that the team played their first match as early as 1899 against Austria in Vienna. However, as the match had been played before Czech Football Association was founded, Austria did not consider this match official. Czech Football Association originated on October 19, 1901, and right after FIFA, the international football association, appeared in 1904, it became its member. The new Czech association put a lion into its logo and Czech national players have played with this symbol in other countries.
However, in 1908, Austria complained with FIFA that Czechs played international matches without being an independent country and FIFA reacted by expelling Czech association from the organization. As a result, no one was allowed to play against Czech National Team. The only ones to break this restrictions were the English who played versus Czech team during their European tour and won in Prague 4 : 0. At that time, Czech lands were represented only by the teams of Slavia or Sparta and it always was an important sports event in Prague. It may have been during this encounter that the idea originated to create a federation with English and French amateurs under the abbreviation UIAFA. It was an act against FIFA. At that time, the English have not cooperated with FIFA much; but it was very much surprising that the French, who were the founding members of FIFA, took also part in this act. The new association organized World Championship where the Czechs collected gold medals, however, then it ceased to exist. At this period, the English visited Czech lands once more and won in Prague 10 : 1.
The Czech association terminated both its official and unofficial activities when Czechoslovakia came into existence in 1918. (BEDŘICH, 2006)
Bohemians and Moravians played together only after 1940 when, at the beginning of World War Two, independent Slovak State was created. Still, soccer has not lost the attention of the public. League matches continued, only in restricted composition and Bohemians were competing with Moravians like “national teams”.
After the war, the Czechoslovak association was re-established. Czech association appeared only after Czechoslovakia became a federation but just as a part of Czechoslovak organization. Only after Czechoslovakia had split into Czech and Slovak republics, it became part of FIFA which it had left as early as before World War One. The current name is Bohemian-Moravian Football Association.
Czechoslovak Football Association ceased to exist on January 1, 1993 in connection with splitting Czechoslovak federation and the Bohemian-Moravian Football Association (CMFS) has become the supreme body. Currently, 2,390 professional players, over 227,000 amateurs and nearly 183,000 juniors are registered in the Czech Republic. Approximately 3,900 girls and women are involved in soccer in an organized way.
Motor Skills
While acquiring motor activities, the content of the term “skill” is of special importance.
CHOUTKA and DOVALIL (1991) characterize motor skills as readiness to correctly, quickly and efficiently solve a certain motor task or effectively perform a certain activity acquired by learning.
Distinguishing Soccer Skills
Motor skills in soccer can be called game activities of an individual – defensive and offensive. They are trained complexes of motor acts, i.e. game skills acquired by learning. The activities of a goalkeeper are also among the activities of an individual which is, due to its specific features, dealt with separately here.
| Offensive: | |||
| choosing posiiton (play without the ball) | |||
| passing | |||
| bringing the ball under control | |||
| ball control | |||
| circumvention | |||
| shooting | |||
| Defensive: | |||
| marking player with the ball | |||
| marking player without the ball | |||
| marking space | |||
| stealing the ball | |||
| Goalkeeper's play: | |||
| offensive: | without the ball - | managing the game | |
| selecting location | |||
| with the ball - | kick-off | ||
| throw-out | |||
| passing | |||
| controlling the ball | |||
| circumvention | |||
| bringing the ball under control | |||
| defensive: | without the ball - | managing the game | |
| choosing optimum position | |||
| with the ball - | catching | ||
| batting out | |||
| stealing |
Game combinations
| Offensive | based on: | passing |
| swapping positions | ||
| "pass and run" | ||
| Defensive | mutual guarding | |
| taking over players | ||
| multiplied marking players with the ball | ||
| coooperation while pushing the opponent to offside |
Game systems
| Offensive | gradual attack |
| fast attack | |
| combined attack | |
| Defensive | zone defense |
| personal defense | |
| combined defense |
Dead ball situations
| - starting the game | - direct free kick |
| - referee's ball | - indirect free kick |
| - ball throw-in | - corner kick |
| - kick from the goal | - penalty kick |
(VOTÍK, 2005)
Soccer activities can be tested with various tests of motor skills.
Here is an overview of the most widely used tests. They are mostly a form of training exercises where it is possible to count the number of successful repetitions.
Test No. 1 Passing with inner, outer side of the foot into delineated area.
Test No. 2 Flick passing with instep into delineated area.
Test No. 3 Passing with low, semi-high and high passes.
Test No. 4 Juggling with right and then left feet.
Test No. 5 Alternate juggling with right and left feet.
Test No. 6 Head juggling.
Test No. 7 Receiving ball in standing position and in motion.
Test No. 8 Cushion trapping in standing position and in motion.
Test No. 9 Dragging the ball in standing position and in motion.
Test No. 10 Controlling the ball in slalom.
Test No. 11 Controlling the ball for distance.
Test No. 12 Controlling the ball in slalom, for distance and in turn.
Test No. 13 Shooting on goal from a standing position.
Test No. 14 Shooting on goal after controlling the ball.
Test No. 15 Long and precise kicks into a sector.
Test No. 16 Long and precise throw-in into a sector.
Keywords:
Football, soccer, game characteristics, rules, football history, soccer history, game activities of an individual, game combinations, game systems, motor skills in football, motor skills in soccer, FIFA
References:
ZIKA, Ondřej. Srovnání technické úrovně žákovských kategorií ve fotbale. MU Brno, 2010. Diplomová práce. FSpS. Vedoucí práce Martin Zvonař.