Association football tactics and skills

Antonín Panenka (born 2 December 1948) is a Czech former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his career for Czech club Bohemians Prague. Panenka won UEFA Euro 1976 with the Czechoslovakia. In the final against West Germany, he scored the winning penalty in the shootout with a softly-chipped ball up the middle of the goal as the goalkeeper dived away; this style of penalty is now called the Panenka penalty. In 1980, he won Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year and his team finished third at Euro 1980.

Curl or bend in association football is spin on the ball which will make it change direction, called a 'screw shot' in the 19th century. When kicking the ball, the inside of the foot is often used to curl the ball, but this can also be done by using the outside of the foot. Similar to curl, the ball can also swerve in the air, without the spin on the ball which makes the ball curl.

A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team.

Push-and-run, also known as a one-two, a wall pass or a give-and-go, is a tactic often used in association football. It was devised and developed by Arthur Rowe, who was the then manager of English football club Tottenham Hotspur from 1949.

In association football, a long ball is an attempt to move the ball a long distance down the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfield. Rather than arrive at the feet of the receiving attacking player, the attacker is expected to challenge the opposing defence in the air, with other attacking players and midfielders arriving to try and take possession of the ball if it breaks loose. In Continental Europe the style is called kick and rush. It is a technique that can be especially effective for a team with either fast or tall strikers. The long ball technique is also a through pass from distance in an effort to get the ball by the defensive line and create a foot race between striker and defender. While often derided as either boring or primitive, it can prove effective where players or weather conditions suit this style; in particular, it is an effective counter-attacking style of play in which some defenders can be caught off-guard.

A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken from the corner of the field of play nearest to where it went out. Corners are considered to be a reasonable goal scoring opportunity for the attacking side, though not as much as a penalty kick or a direct free kick near the edge of the penalty area.

In association football, the formation describes how the players in a team generally position themselves on the pitch. Association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, and (with the exception of the goalkeeper) a player's position in a formation does not define their role as rigidly as for, for instance, a rugby player, nor are there episodes in play where players must expressly line up in formation (as in gridiron football). Nevertheless, a player's position in a formation generally defines whether a player has a mostly defensive or attacking role, and whether they tend to play towards one side of the pitch or centrally.

A training ground is an area where professional association football teams prepare for matches, with activities primarily concentrating on skills and fitness. They also sometimes form part of a club's youth system, as clubs consider it important to have good facilities to aid the development of young players.

In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before descending on the ground, making a shearing movement with the lower limbs to get the ball-striking leg in front of the other. In most languages, the manoeuvre is named after either the cycling motion or the scissor motion that it resembles. Its complexity, and uncommon performance in competitive football matches, makes it one of association football's most celebrated skills.

A direct free kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football that is awarded to a team following most types of fouls. In a direct free kick, the fouled team is entitled to freely kick the ball from the spot of the foul, with opponents required to be at least 10 yards (9.1 m) from the ball. The kicking team may score a goal directly from a direct free kick, that is, without the ball having first touched another player. This is in contrast with an indirect free kick – a restart with a similar procedure that is usually awarded for technical infringements – where the ball must contact another player before a goal is scored. If a player commits a foul punishable by a direct freekick within his/her own penalty area, a penalty kick is awarded instead.