One of my friends requested a hub on football rules. Although I am only an armchair fan and know only the very basic rules. I try not to make the experts scream and I apologize before hand if I get it wrong. I would be obliged if you say so and then I can rectify it.

A football game is played over 90 minutes with a 15 minutes break. At the beginning a coin is tossed and the winner of it kicks off.

A football team consists of one goalkeeper and ten players. Usual it is four defenders who are in front of their goal, then comes the four midfielders who can attack, shoot a goal or defend and then in front of them are the two strikers. It is not necessary to set up the team like that, it can vary, but mostly it is best played like that because it leaves little room for the other team to get through..

Although the goal looks huge and the ball is small, it is really unbelievably hard to score. The reason is that most of the opponent team are in front of that goal and fight like hell to stop a goal being scored. If they don't quite succeed then there is still the goalkeeper to prevent a score.

Only the Goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with his hands. If a player touches it he gets booked.

In front of the goal you see a white marked box which is called the penalty box. Any foul in there is automatically a penalty. When the team gets rewarded a penalty only one player can face the goalkeeper and shoots the ball, mostly it is a goal. A foul in the penalty box could mean a player from the other team brings down the attacking player to prevent a goal. Also if the goalkeeper brings down a player in the penalty box, who is trying to shoot a goal, he can be sent off and another goalkeeper has to come in.

Now if one team ran towards the other team's goal and tried to shoot a goal; if this player is past the defenders of the other team, the linesman will put up his flag and stop the game. If a goal has been already shot it will not count. It is called offside. In other words when a player of one team wants to shoot a goal there always has to be defenders between him and the goal.

There is a referee in the middle of the two teams, two linesmen standing on each corner of the pitch (football field) of each goal and an assistant referee on the tough line (edge of the pitch). If the referee is in doubt he will talk to them or if they saw something wrong they will draw his attention.

If there is a foul, a player kicks a player from the other team, a player trips a player up from the other team, the referee can decide to warn them or give them a yellow card. If it is really severe like stamping on a player, hitting a player or elbowing a player, the referee can show a red card and send him off. That team is then one player short which leaves a big gap for the other strikers and midfielders to get through. Also when a player had a yellow card twice it is automatically a red card and he is sent off. The referee decision stands. Very, very rarely it gets reversed.

Each team can have three substitutes, meaning replacement players. The manager of the team has to inform the referee and when the game is stopped for a throw-in or corner, the referee allows them in and the other player out.

Another rule is when the ball is kicked out the opponent team is allowed a throw-in from the place where it was kick out, along the side of the pitch. It can be handy for stopping the opponent team to attack and maybe even to score a goal.

When in very important matches, like finals, the sore is equal like 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 an extra 30 minutes get put on with a break after 5 minutes. If there is still no winner, both team have to have a penalty shoot out. It means one player stands in front of the other team goalkeeper and tries to shoot the ball in. The most goals one team have scored are the winners. It is usual 6 penalty shoots each team. The team can choose who shoots.

Why everybody goes berserk when their team won 1-0 is because it is really almost impossible to shoot a goal. There is more or less the whole team of the opponent in front of the goal and if they manage get through them, there is the goalkeeper. Especially these days the players and goalkeepers are such great professionals.