Eastside FC News: The Penalty Kick plus Pics of the Week

Sunday, November 1, 2009

The Penalty Kick plus Pics of the Week

After a busy couple of days, we continue our series on the Laws of the Game, this time focusing on Law 14 - The Penalty Kick. The penalty kick, for all intents and purposes, is the result of a direct free kick foul that occurred in the penalty area, also referred to as the 18 yard box. (Note - the penalty area has dimensions of roughly 44 yds wide by 18 yards deep).

Source: FIFA Laws of the Game 2009/2010

What distinguishes a penalty kick from a direct free kick is the following:

the offense occurs inside the penalty area.
when taking the direct free kick, the ball must be placed on the penalty mark.
the defending goalie must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts until the ball has been kicked.
players other than the kicker and the goalie must remain on the field, outside of the penalty area, behind the penalty mark, and at least 10 yds from the penalty mark (which is why you have the semi-circular penalty arc at the top of the penalty area - it is that portion of a 10 yd circle around the penalty mark that is outside the penalty area).

Here is a sequence of photos that show a direct free kick foul being committed inside the penalty area, in this case by the defending goalie. This young goalie, in the heat of the action and facing an imminent goal in the last minute of a game, goes a little over the top in his efforts to stop the goal from being scored....

Thanks to Todd Ames for this excellent series of images that illustrate the circumstances under which a penalty kick should be awarded. The Eastside player is Nihar Baxi of the B95W (U14) team. In this case, a penalty kick was called. In a later post, we'll cover the circumstances under which a yellow or red card may be issued. This sequence could easily have called for one...

We thought they qualified as Pics of the Week.