The history of football started when the Romans and Greeks started playing football between 115 to 215 AD. The Chinese also started playing football in the second and third centuries.  However, Football became popular  during the medieval era (9th century to 12th century). In 1409, King Henry 4 banned football in England. The oldest football club recognized by FIFA is the Sheffield Football Club which started in 1857.  The biggest tournament of football in the history of football is  FIFA (football international federation association) World Cup . Almost 198 countries take part in this tournament which is held once every 4 year.

The last time the FIFA world cup was held was on 2018 and France won it that year.  FIFA first started in 1930 under the leadership of the then FIFA president Jules Rimet.  Even though FIFA world cup was played 21 times, only 8 nations have won it. These nations are : brazil ( 5 times  ) , Germany and Italy ( 4 times each ) , Argentina , France and the first winner of the world cup Uruguay ( 2 times each ) and England and Spain ( 1 time each ) . Brazil holds the world record of being the country to win the most number of FIFA world cup. (5 times) .

The rules of football are simple. There are two teams, each consisting of eleven players. Each teams job is to try and score goals by shooting the ball with their foot into the opponents goalpost. The total time of play is ninety minutes and in the end , the team who scored the most number of  goals  wins the match.

My favourite game is football because it is a sport that needs teamwork, strength, speed and durability. I play football every day with my friends. My favorite football player is Lionel Messi and my favorite club is Barcelona. I like him because of his dribbling skills. He is an excellent player and is the only reason why Barcelona is still standing and is popular. The best lesson I learned from him was the importance of hard work. Messi dedicated his life to the sport and worked hard to reach this level. Football is a sport that proves the old saying “united we stand, divided we fall “.  We need to support each members in our team to win a match. Players needs to be deployed as per their strengths. So player with good shooting and dribbling skills will be assigned as strikers.

Similarly, players are assigned to the position of defenders, midfielders and goal keeper depending on their individual skills. The strengths and weakness of the opponent team also needs to be analyzed and strategies need to be changed for every game. That’s why the coaches and managers play a vital role in the game. Sir Alex Ferguson and  Jose Mourinho are the best examples on how coaches and managers can influence and  change the  course of a club and the game. I love this game and it will always remain as my favorite sport.