Basic Rules of Football
As the name suggests, football is played with the feet, but the ball can also be touched with the body and head, the only area where touching is prohibited is the hands. Both teams have a limited amount of time to play, kick the ball and score points, and the team with the highest score wins. Besides that, you must know these basic rules:

The number of players on the pitch and the number of player changes in a football game
A football match is played with 11 players from each team, including a goalkeeper. Substitutions can be made during the game, but only 3 players can be replaced, and the player who is replaced cannot play again.

How long is a football match? Is there no stoppage time?
The normal duration of a football match is 45 minutes for the first half and 45 minutes for the second half, with a 15-minute half-time break. There is no stoppage in time, but if there are substitutions or player injuries that need to be dealt with, the time taken will be counted and injury time will be taken at the end of the half.

Yellow and Red Cards
The referee will blow the whistle and give a verbal warning to the offending player when an offence has been committed. However, if a player commits a foul, delays the game, or makes a charge, the referee will issue a yellow or red card. A red card is more effective. When a player receives two yellow cards or one red card, he must retire from the match and is not allowed to play in the next match.

Offside
Offside is the most confusing rule for football fans who are not familiar with the game. Simply put:

When an attacking team passes the ball, the player who receives the ball must not be more than one player behind the defending team, except for the goalkeeper. In the case of offside, the touch judge raises the yellow and orange offside flag, the attack is disallowed, and the defending team serves the ball. If the attacking team has carried the ball beyond all the defending players, the offside line is determined by the position of the ball. Offside traps are often set by the defenders of strong defending teams to prevent the attacking team from getting a chance to attack.

The key to deciding the game: penalty kicks
The penalty kick is a common form of football and is a key factor in deciding the winner of a football match. By recognising the following 3 types of penalty kicks, you will know when the moment of truth has come when watching the game!

12-Yard Ball
The rectangular line outside the goal box is the defensive penalty area of a football pitch. If a defending player commits a foul inside the penalty area, the attacking team can take a 12-yard penalty kick from the penalty spot, which is 12 yards from the goal. Only the goalkeeper is allowed to defend, while all other players must stand outside the penalty area and keep at least 10 yards (9.15 metres) away from the ball.

Free Kicks
Free kicks are played after a foul has been committed by one of the teams, and are divided into two types: direct and indirect free kicks. The defending team can stand 10 yards away from the ball and form a wall to prevent the attacking team from scoring.

Direct Free Kick

The player who takes the kick is allowed to kick the ball directly into the goal box. There are many great free kicks scored in the history of football.

Indirect Free Kick

A player who takes a free kick cannot kick the ball directly into the goal box, but needs to be touched again by a team-mate in order to take a shot at goal.

Corner Kicks
A corner kick is a penalty kick taken by the attacking team in the corner of the pitch when the defending team touches the ball off their own line. The ball is placed in a small sector in the corner of the pitch and kicked into the field by the player taking the kick. Common types of kick-offs include a high ball into the penalty area for a team-mate to take a header, a penalty kick into the pitch for a team-mate to pass or attack, or, more rarely, a goal kick from a corner position, which is called a banana ball.

PK battles are the last thing almost any strong team wants to encounter, as it is a more lucky way of deciding the winner, but although they don't want to encounter it, most of the teams will still do a PK battle rehearsal in order to avoid the upcoming battle when they are advancing to the final knockout stage, including testing which players have a better hitting rate and what sequence of play is more likely to win the match.

One of the more famous PK battles in the international arena is last year's UEFA Euro final. England's 55 years of hopes for an international title were finally buried on their home turf, and manager Southgate was criticised after the match for the order and selection of his PKs, as he put in young players who came on at the end of the match, and it didn't work out.

But despite the loss, Southgate's decision came from the team's hit rate during training PKs, supplemented by references to their record in matches, but let's just say that matches and practice are different after all. In the 2018 World Cup, England won a rare PK battle, beating Colombia to qualify. Southgate also trained his team on PKs beforehand, and England were even preparing for the PK battle 3 months before the World Cup kicked off.

Looking at international tournaments, most teams will prepare for PKs beforehand. After all, football is a special sport, and even if you are stronger than others, you may be forced to draw due to tactical settings, and end up in a PK battle, which will be a one-over-two battle, and it's rare to see a team not preparing for PKs.

As for whether there are teams that don't practise PKs at all, when I searched for information, I found that during the 2018 World Cup, the entire Japan team, including the goalkeepers, thought that they were not good at PKs, and the head coach, Yoshiro Nishino, said that the team didn't practise the 12-yard box in the hope that the match could be decided in the extended game.

Of course, whether or not there was any preparation beforehand is something that only the staff of the team would know in the absence of any special circumstances, and there is no way for people outside the team to know the full picture of what actually happened. As to which method or approach is more sensible, everyone has a different opinion, but as the old saying goes, ‘In all things, it is better to be prepared than to be in a state of emergency. If you are prepared, you may have a little more peace of mind when things go wrong.

We believe that a good goalkeeper is also a responsible person, so it's your responsibility to take good care of your equipment, including your gloves! Because the goalkeeper is the last man in the defence! Chopchop believes that good goalkeepers realise that taking care of their gloves is more important than taking care of their boots! A properly maintained pair of gloves can often lead to better performance and confidence. Gloves need to be properly maintained on a regular basis, and it's important to keep an eye on your gloves because you can't afford to be distracted by them during a game or training session!

Pre-wash your gloves

Washing your new gloves is the first thing you need to do when you get them home. Firstly, remove all labels and packaging, and then wash them gently in warm water. It's important to wash your gloves before you use them for the first time because chemicals are added during the manufacturing process to preserve the properties of the latex. In order to remove these substances from the latex, it may be necessary to wash the gloves more than once in order to get the latex in the best condition. So remember to pre-wash to make sure your gloves are in top condition. Remember, the latex on your gloves will only work properly once you have removed the chemicals. After pre-washing, new gloves should be allowed to air dry in a room at a normal room temperature - do not use a blower or heater to dry your gloves. This will cause the latex to harden and crack, which will affect performance. You don't want to have to replace your gloves again because of this, do you?

Take care of your gloves

When your gloves are stained, wet or sweaty after use, they need to be washed and dried carefully if you want them to keep their performance and last longer. We recommend washing your gloves as soon as possible after training or competition rather than leaving them in the bag. Gloves need to be cleaned in the same way as pre-wash, but if you need to remove stains you can use a neutral and mild washing/cleaning agent. Remember, gloves should only be washed gently and dried naturally (again, do not use a blower or heater to dry gloves as this can cause damage to the gloves and latex).

Do not:

Try to wash the gloves in the washing machine. Gantry gloves are not designed to be machine washed as this will have a detrimental effect on the latex and the performance of the gloves. If you insist on machine washing, you should expect your gloves to have a shorter life than if you hand wash them in warm water. Again, do not use other means such as a hair dryer, direct sunlight, heaters, dehumidifiers, etc. to speed up drying! Also, avoid leaving your gloves in a hot car, as this will naturally dry them out and make the latex more brittle and dry. Don't try to put them in the dryer, as this may even cause the latex to shrink!
 

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