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For other uses, see Penalty kick. Player preparing to take a penalty kick, 2013. A penalty kick (more commonly known as a penalty ) is a method of restarting play in association football, in which a player is allowed to take a single shot on the goal while it is defended only by the opposing team's goalkeeper. It is awarded when a foul punishable by a direct free kick is committed by a player in his or her own penalty area. The shot is taken from the penalty mark, which is 12 yards (11 m) from the goal line and centred between the touch lines. In practice, penalty kicks result in goals more often than not, even against the best and most experienced goalkeepers. This means that penalty awards are often decisive, especially in low-scoring games. Similar kicks are made in a penalty shootout in some tournaments to determine which team is victorious after a drawn match; these are governed by slightly different rules. Contents 1 Procedure 2 Infringements 3 Tap penalty 4 Saving tacti...

In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals. There are four types of defenders: centre-back, sweeper, full-back, and wing-back. The centre-back and full-back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised for certain formations. Contents 1 Centre-back 2 Sweeper ( libero ) 3 Full-back 4 Wing-back 5 See also 6 References Centre-back Centre-back John Terry (26, blue) closely marks centre-forward Didier Drogba. A centre-back (also known as a central defender or centre-half) defends in the area directly in front of the goal, and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers and marking forwards to discourage the opposing team from passing to them. The common 4–4–2 formation uses two centre-backs. With th...