7 Ways Most Soccer Goals Are Scored
Soccer Crossing Passes, Centering a Soccer Ball, Soccer Rebounds, Soccer Breakaways, Soccer Combination Passing, Great Soccer Dribbling, 3 Soccer Penalty Kick Tips, Soccer Corner Kicks

Obviously, for any goal to be scored there must be a shot from within scoring range. Thus, as discussed above, a simple way to increase your chances of scoring is to increase your number of quality shots. It can be useful to think about how most goals are scored. By this I mean the build-up or actions that lead to goals. From the list below, you can think about which might work for your team.

What your team can do depends upon the age and skill level of your players and the amount of time your entire team practices. If you have a typical Recreational team with some skillful players, some unathletic players and limited practice time, it is unrealistic to expect your team to play like a select team that practices 4 hours per week. However, you can keep in mind that most goals are scored by getting players into scoring position and then passing, crossing, or centering the ball into the other team's Penalty Box. In any case, you can only win if your players hustle and win the ball. At Forward, an alert, quick player who will fight for the ball may be better than a faster, more skillful player.

1. Goals Scored From In Front Of The Goal That Don't Fit In Other Categories (Obviously, to score from in front of your goal, your team must be onside, which means the defenders are defending deep, or you have moved the ball near the other team's goal line).

  1. Crossing Passes. A "cross" is when the ball is kicked from the right or left side of the field toward the area in front of the goal. A cross is often not a pass to a specific person as much as a kicking of the ball to the space in front of the goal with the expectation that one or more teammates will be there. Advancing the ball down the sideline is a good tactic because it allows teammates to move toward the other teams goal without being "offside". Thus, it can allow attackers to move into scoring position. It also has the advantages of "Spreading the Field" and creating "Width in Attack". "Long Corner Kicks" are a type of "cross". (See "Creating Space", "Cross", "Spread the Field", "Pass to Space", and "Width in Attack").

  2. Centered Balls. When you make a "cross" you are "centering the ball". Thus, the two concepts are similar. However, the term "cross" means to center the ball from the side of the field, whereas the ball can be "centered" from any place on the field. (See "Center The Ball", and "Pass To Space").

  3. Rebounds. If your players will follow shots and be alert, they will get several good scoring opportunities per game from rebounds. Encourage one-touch shots on rebounds. (See "Rebound").

2. Breakaways. Often, these occur when an attacker runs onto a "Through Ball". This can be especially effective if the other teams FB's push up on their attack. (See "Breakaway", "Counterattack", "Attacking Plan", "Through Ball", "Formations", "Push Up", and "Spread the Field").

3. Combination Passing In The "Attacking Third". You should encourage passing in the Attacking Third. Teach your players to pass if they have a pass and to only dribble if they don't have a pass or can dribble and score. The exception to this might be if you have a brilliant dribbler, but even then it is a bad habit to try to dribble through all the defenders because it doesn't encourage teamwork and a good dribbler can be stopped by assigning a defender to "shadow mark" him. (See "Combination Play", "Creating Space", "When To Dribble", "Give and Go", and "Finish").

4. Free Kicks and "Corner Kicks". "Free Kicks" and "Corner Kicks" are two types of "set plays" that result in scoring opportunities. Both create good rebound opportunities and free kicks (both direct and indirect) give the opportunity for direct shots on goal (although a player must touch the indirect kick first). (See "Free Kick" and "Corner Kick").

5. Long Shots. Long ground balls rarely score in Rec soccer, but long air balls can be effective, especially against a short or slow goalie, or if the ball is wet. The key to these long air balls is accuracy; chips usually score more than hard drives. Long shots can also result in rebound opportunities, either off the goalie or off the goal. A mistake many youth make is playing too close to the goal for rebounds with the result that the rebound bounces behind them. It is better to stay 5 or 6 steps from the goal.

6. Dribbling. A great dribbler can be very effective in scoring and in creating scoring opportunities by pulling multiple defenders toward him, which leaves teammates open. In the past two seasons my team has only lost one game and we lost that one because a great dribbler scored 4 goals. I coach a Rec team and don't like to assign a "shadow marker", but I should have in that game and will the next time we play against a dribbler of that skill. If you have a great dribbler on your team, a very effective tactic is to have him attack the goal, but have a Second Attacker trail him to be ready for a Back Pass and have another Second Attacker go to the goal front or The Far Post (ideally one to the Near Post and another to the Far Post). Teach the dribbler to look for an open teammate or to center the ball. (See "Combination Passing" above, "First Attacker", "Formations", "Creating Space", "Finish", and "When To Dribble").

7. Penalty Kicks ("PK's"). You will not get many chances to score on Penalty Kicks. However, there are 3 things to teach your teams:

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