Play Soccer Games - Introduction
Hello, and welcome to my free fun soccer games article.
Play small-sided soccer games, and develop skills quicker due to constant involvement for every age soccer player.
Soccer is a sport played with 11 against 11 players, or if you are into playing futsal or indoor soccer, then that number changes to 5 v 5 or 6 v 6.
Competitive soccer games will be 11 v 11, but many fun soccer games will be with friends. In some cases, you only need a soccer ball to be able to play the game by yourself.
I will list the fun soccer games I had grown up playing with my friends when I was young and growing up in Europe; however, I have not seen people play these small sided soccer games here in America, so I decided to share :)
Soccer is still developing here in the United States. It brings a smile to my face every time I pass a public park and see kids playing soccer and having lots of fun with the ball.
Soccer is quickly gaining popularity in the United States. It won't be long before it gets to a whole new level of competition and a lot bigger fan base.
Play soccer games by picking up a soccer ball and kicking it around.
Find a wall and practice your passing by kicking the ball with every part of your foot to get a feel for the soccer ball and then trap the ball once it bounces back off the wall.
You don't need a team of 20 people to play soccer games for fun.
Just juggling the ball up in the air is considered playing soccer to me. It develops the players touches on the ball significantly.
You don't learn how to play soccer by reading but taking a soccer ball, going outside and kicking it around by yourself or with friends.
Every famous soccer player started building their arsenal of skills by themselves and with friends.
Soccer ball was their toy, and playing with their toy every day got them to master the ball and become great soccer players.
You can choose what to call these fun soccer practice games as you set them up to play with friends or on your own.
I will name all of these soccer practice games just for the fun of it as I called them growing up and playing soccer games in Europe (Bosnia).
Count up how many people want to play this soccer game and then draw up squares or mark the squares 5-8 yds x 5-8 yds for each player.
Having four players, you will mark four different squares for each of the players.
Every player will occupy one square and cannot cross over inside the other players square.
The game starts with one player stepping outside of the square, bouncing the ball once in his/her square, and then playing the soccer ball over to one of the other players squares.
Once the ball is in play, it can only bounce once in any other player's squares before that player attempts to play the soccer ball into someone else's square.
More than one bounce and the player occupying that square gets one point against him/her, and that player restarts the play by serving the ball from the outside of the square.
Passing outside of the square, then the player that passed the ball gets the point against him/her and is the one restarting the play from outside the box.
Lines are part of the square and played as such.
You can play up to 10 points, and whatever player gets 10 points against them has to sit out and wait until there is only one player left, who will also be the winner of the squares.
The player that has a point scored against him/her is the one that serves the ball back into play.
Punishment can take place in the form of butts up for everyone but the last player standing in his/her square.
This fun soccer practice game requires a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8 players.
Start by marking a small goal about two yds wide.
Juggle the ball to decide which player will start in goal. Player with the lowest number of juggles will start in goal. Other players will be attackers trying to score goals and passing the ball to each other.
You can make this soccer game one touch, two touch, or unlimited touches.
The goalie will attempt to save any shots on goal or intercept the other players' passing while they play one-touch passes and take one touch shots on goal.
Whoever has their shot blocked or pass intercepted will trade places with the goalie.
Each time a goal is scored, it counts as one point against that player.
Play to 8 goals. Whichever player gets 8 goals scored on him/her loses the game. Punishment will be Butts-Up, sprints, pushups, situps, or whatever you and your friends decide the losing player should do.
Growing up, I used to play with my friends, and whichever player lost the game had to turn around, bend over and take kicks from all the participants.
We would place the ball 5-10 yards away, and each player would take a chance to aim at the losing players' butt.
This punishment for loosing made all the players want to play a lot harder to avoid being target practice after the game finished.
Make this game more challenging by adding the rule that whoever makes a mistake and takes the position in goal will also keep the previous players' points against him/her.
Once the goalie has 7 points against him/her and the game is played to 8 points, players will be under pressure not to make a mistake. Mistake leads to possible loss as the goalie points transfer over to whoever makes a mistake and goes in the goal.
Gather a group of friends and find a field with or without the goal.
If there is no goal, make one by simply placing two bags or shoes to mark the posts.
Playing this soccer game is best when there is an odd number of players.
For example, if you have 7 people trying to play soccer games, it is hard to make teams as one team will always have an extra player.
Playing this game with 7 people is perfect as there will be one player playing goalie while the other 6 players split up into 3 vs 3.
Goalkeeper starts every play by turning away, and throwing the soccer ball in the air and into play.
Once the goalie throws the ball, players will start playing regular 3 vs 3 game with only one goalie playing for both teams, or at least playing with both sides defensively.
Players can choose if they want to play with unlimited touches or simple 1 or 2 touch soccer.
If you take the ball away from the other team, that team must first take the soccer ball outside the marked area before being able to attack the goal and score.
This rule will make the game more interesting as the goals will not be easy to score, having to come back outside of the marked area before attacking the goal.
Mark the area wherever you'd like, preferably 10-15 yds away from the goal.
Play to 8 points/goals to decide the winner.
Make some punishment drills or a reward for the winning team to make the game more interesting.
Punishment dished out in the form of sprints, pushups, situps, or all three losing players bending over and being target practice for the winning team. Each player will take one shot to try and hit any of the losing players in the butt.
Find one or two friends that want to play soccer games with you on developing the touch for the ball.
Simply start by throwing the ball up to your friend and have him return it with his head.
Try and keep the ball up in the air using only your heads and count how many times you can keep the ball up in the air.
Every time you reach a maximum number of heading the ball to each other, be it 2, 5, 10, 20, or more is a great success, but than you should try and break that record.
Over time you would be surprised how much longer you will be able to keep the ball up in the air with your heads without having the ball drop to the ground.
As you get comfortable with heading the ball, start using both sides of the head for more challenging heading practice.
Find a few friends to play soccer with, or you can do this on your own.
Start juggling the ball and counting how many times you can kick the ball without dropping the ball on the ground.
Use every part of your body except hands.
Depending on your skill level, you will want to start juggling the ball with your feet. As you get more comfortable with juggling the ball using only feet, begin using inside and outside of your foot, both shoulders, both thighs, and your head to keep the ball up in the air.
Always try and aim to break your record of how many times you can kick the ball without it dropping down on the ground.
If you have friends with you, you can play this soccer game by juggling the ball in the air and passing it to each other without letting the ball touch the ground.
Too hard to keep the ball up. Add a rule for one bounce on the ground.
Try and juggle the ball 3-5 times before returning it to your friend, who will do the same.
Juggling improves players foot/eye coordination, also improving the touch on the ball and dribbling skills.
Play soccer games anywhere and anytime you have a soccer ball and few friends willing to have fun.
Come up with fun soccer games on your own using your imagination and your will to get better.
HAVE FUN AND NEVER STOP PLAYING SOCCER :)