Soccer is a sport played by an astronomical number of people. It is also impossible to count the number of fans that soccer has around the world. What may be most impressive, however, is how many variations of the sport exist – here we present the most popular kicking variations!
Watching the best beach soccer players in action, one gets the impression that, in fact, the soccer could not be taken away from them even by the most experienced defenders from Europe. The team consists of only five players in this variation, one of whom is the goalkeeper. Interestingly, beach soccer is played at the Asian Beach Games, but it still hasn’t been named an Olympic sport. It will be interesting to see if this changes in a while.
Futsal is probably the most popular variation of soccer after classic grass soccer. One team consists of five players, similar to the beach variant. It is worth noting that trainers in “indoor” are entitled to an unlimited number of substitutions, and what’s more – a player who has been changed can return to the field. Futsal has become extremely popular largely due to the phenomenal technique and spectacular play of its players. Suffice it to cite the example of Brazilian Falcao, who with the ball at his feet was able to perform real miracles!
The best proof that the ball can be kicked in any conditions is the increasingly popular swamp football, or soccer in… mud. This unusual variety of soccer was established relatively recently, in 1998, and originated in Finland. On the other hand, we had to wait for the premiere world championship in this discipline until 2003, and for the Polish championship – another 7 years. The team in swamp football consists of five players.
Teqball may not be among the top of the most popular sports in Poland, but this does not change the fact that it is one of the most interesting variants of soccer. The group of fans of this variant around the world is constantly growing. The rules are almost identical to those of ping-pong except that players use their legs instead of rackets. Standing on two sides of the table, players are supposed to hit the ball into the opponent’s field, bouncing it no more than three times. There would be nothing difficult about it, if it weren’t for the fact that a different body part has to be used each time!
Popular futnet, or simply volleyball in Polish, is a variation of soccer, which is played recreationally not only by amateurs, but also by professional footballers. The variation was invented in the 1920s by players of the Czech Slavia Prague. The net is suspended 1.1 meters high, and each team consists of two or three players. A set is played until one of the teams scores 11 points – like in table tennis. Futnet is a seemingly innocuous game that actually requires considerable technical skill.
main photo: unsplash.com/david clarke
