Corner kick
Encyclopedia
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
under the Sheffield Rules
Sheffield Rules
The Sheffield Rules were a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1857 and 1877. They were devised by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest for use by the newly founded Sheffield Football Club. The rules were subsequently adopted as the official rules of...
1867. It was adopted by the Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
on 17 February 1872.
A corner kick is awarded to the attacking team when the ball leaves the field of play by crossing the goal line (either on the ground or in the air) without a goal having been scored, having been last touched by a defending player (including the goalkeeper). The kick is taken from the corners of the field of play nearest where the ball crossed the goal line. Corners are considered to be a reasonable goalscoring opportunity for the attacking side, though not as much as a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...
or a Direct free kick
Direct free kick
A direct free kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football following a foul. Unlike an indirect free kick, a goal may be scored directly against the opposing side without the ball having first touched another player.-Award:...
near the edge of the penalty area
Penalty area
The penalty area , is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. Within the penalty area is the penalty spot , which is from the goal line, directly in-line with the centre of the goal...
.
In most cases, the assistant referee will signal that a corner should be awarded by first raising his flag, then using it to point at the corner arc on their side of the pitch; however, this is not an indication of which side the kick should be taken from. The referee then awards the corner by pointing to the relevant arc.
Procedure
The attacking side may score directly from a corner kick, though this is uncommon.
The first player to touch the ball directly from a corner kick delivery cannot be penalised for offside.
Infringements
Opposing players must retire the required distance as stated above. Failure to do so may constitute misconduct and be punished by a caution (yellow card).It is an offence for the kicker to touch the ball a second time until it has been touched by another player; this is punishable by an indirect free kick
Indirect free kick
An indirect free kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football. Unlike a direct free kick, a goal may not be scored directly from the kick. The law was derived from the Sheffield Rules that stated that no goal could be scored from a free kick...
to the defending team from where the offence occurred, unless the second touch was also a more serious handling offence, in which case it is punishable by a direct free kick
Direct free kick
A direct free kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football following a foul. Unlike an indirect free kick, a goal may be scored directly against the opposing side without the ball having first touched another player.-Award:...
.
Tactics in taking and defending a corner
A common tactic is for several attackers to stand close in front of the goal, whereupon the corner taker crossesCross (football)
In football, a cross is a delivery of a ball from either side of the field across to the front of the goal by applying various kicking techniques. A cross is there to provide a goal-scoring opportunity...
the ball for them to head
Header
Header may refer to: Computers and engineering* Header , supplemental data at the beginning of a data block** E-mail header** HTTP header* Header file, a text file used in computer programming...
into the goal.
The defending team may choose to form a wall of players in an attempt to force the ball to be played to an area which is more easily defended. This is not done often, however, because defending players must remain at least 10 yards from the ball until it is in play.
The defending team also has the choice of whether to instruct a player to place himself beside one or both of the goalposts to provide protection to the goal in addition to the goalkeeper himself. Some teams will only place a player on one post, while it is unusual for a team to not have a player beside either post. The thinking behind placing a player beside a goalpost is that it means more of the goal area is protected and there is no loss in the ability to play an offside trap because offside does not apply for the first touch from a corner.
The defending team also has to decide how many players it needs to defend a corner. Teams may withdraw every player into a defensive area, however this diminishes the potential for a counter-attack if possession is regained, and, as such allows the attacking side to commit more players to attacking the goal. Withdrawing all players into a defensive area also means that if the ball is cleared from an initial cross, it is more than likely that the attacking team will regain possession of the ball and begin a new attack.
In situations where a set-piece such as a corner is awarded to a side trailing by a single goal at the closing stages of a match where conceding further is of minimal consequence (i.e. in a knockout tournament) a team may commit all their players, including their goalkeeper, to the attack.
Short corner
An alternative strategy for the attacking team is to take a short corner. The ball is kicked to a player located within ten yards of the kicker, to create a better angle of approach toward the goal. An example of this was when Maniche scored a goal for PortugalPortugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...
against the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
in Euro 2004.
A rarely-seen "trick" version of the short corner was famously attempted during a tense top-of-the-table Premier League clash between Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in the 2008–09 season
Premier League 2008–09
The 2008–09 Premier League season was the seventeenth since its establishment in 1992. Manchester United became champions for the eleventh time on the penultimate weekend of the season, defending their crown after winning their tenth Premier League title on the final day of the previous season...
, causing much controversy and media discussion. The strategy involved United's Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...
, standing at the corner flag, pretending to change his mind about taking the corner and signalling to winger Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs
Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season...
to do it instead. While leaving the arc, however, Rooney sneakily touched the ball, effectively putting it into play. With Chelsea's defense unprepared and expecting a conventional corner, Giggs took the ball, sprinted with it towards goal and crossed it for teammate Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
to score with a header. On this occasion, the goal was immediately disallowed after the linesman, not having seen Rooney's taking of the corner, raised his flag, thus prompting the referee to stop play; the routine, however, has been considered legal on previous occasions, such as by Mladen Petrić
Mladen Petric
Mladen Petrić is a Croatian international footballer who plays for Hamburger SV in the Fußball-Bundesliga Bundesliga. He also holds the Swiss citizenship.-Early life:...
and Ivan Rakitić
Ivan Rakitic
Ivan Rakitić is a Croatian footballer who plays for Sevilla FC and the Croatian national team.Born in Möhlin, he started his professional career at Swiss giants Basel and spent two seasons with them before establishing popularity for his time in the German Bundesliga with Schalke 04...
at Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...
, as well as United manager Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
saying he first saw it performed by Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
42 years previously, and even himself tried it at Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. The strategy is, however, rare, as its great strength is the element of surprise.
Scoring a goal direct from a corner
It is possible to score direct from a corner kick if sufficient swerveMagnus effect
The Magnus effect is the phenomenon whereby a spinning object flying in a fluid creates a whirlpool of fluid around itself, and experiences a force perpendicular to the line of motion...
is given to the kick, there is a strong wind in the goalward direction, the ball is played from the part of the corner arc furthest from the goal, or a combination of these factors.
Scoring directly from a corner kick has been permitted since the International Football Association Board
International Football Association Board
The International Football Association Board is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football.-Operations:...
(IFAB) meeting of 15 June 1924 authorized it for the following season. The first such goal was scored by Billy Alston in Scotland on 21 August 1924. The first in England was by Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
's Billy Smith
Billy Smith (footballer born 1895)
William Henry "Billy" Smith was a professional footballer who played most of his career at Huddersfield Town....
.The world record holder is Dejan Petković
Dejan Petkovic
Dejan Petković is a retired Serbian football player. In his native country he's widely known under the nickname Rambo while in Brazil he often goes by Pet...
with 8 goals. It remains a rare occurrence, often accomplished by fluke rather than intent, and with the goalkeeper usually blamed for an error.
This type of goal is called an Olympic goal in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. The name dates from 2 October 1924, when Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
's Cesáreo Onzari scored against Uruguay
Uruguay national football team
The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...
, who had just won the 1924 Olympic title
Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the Football tournament winning the Gold.-Amateur Status:In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work; in the months that followed four other Associations permitted similar...
. The expression has also been used in the United States, for example by Max Bretos
Max Bretos
Max Bretos is an American sports reporter, who currently works for ESPN. Bretos' broadcast specialization is soccer.Bretos attended the Judith Weston Acting Studio in Los Angeles, California, and formerly played for ....
on Fox Soccer Channel
Fox Soccer Channel
Fox Soccer is an American television specialty channel, owned by News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group, that specializes in soccer. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian rules football, but is now dedicated strictly to soccer...
; this reflects Latin influence on the sport's culture there
Soccer in the United States
Soccer, fully known as association football,See the articles Football and Names for association football#North America for more detailed explanations of the differing names for soccer. has long been a popular sport in the United States...
. The only Olympic goal in the World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
was scored for Colombia
Colombia national football team
The Colombian national football team represents Colombia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Colombian Football Federation. It is a member of the CONMEBOL...
by Marcos Coll
Marcos Coll
Marcos Tulio Coll Tesillo was a former International professional footballer who played for América de Cali and other clubs, and represented Colombia in the 1962 FIFA World Cup. He is notable for scoring an Olympic goal against USSR after getting a corner kick.- Biography :Coll was born in...
, beating legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin
Lev Ivanovich Yashin nicknamed as "The Black Spider", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his superior athleticism in goal, imposing stature, amazing reflex saves and inventing the idea of...
in a 4–4 draw with the Soviet Union in 1962
1962 FIFA World Cup
The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...
.
A famous example was by Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
's 1950s midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
Charlie Tully
Charlie Tully
Charles Patrick "Charlie" Tully was a famous footballer of Celtic Football Club.Tully was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1944 he was struggling to break into a very strong Belfast Celtic team and in a bid to garner better match experience was sent on loan to Cliftonville F.C....
; he scored direct from a corner only for the referee to decide that Tully had taken the kick from outside the arc; when Tully retook the kick, he scored again. George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
scored from a corner for Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
against Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
; in their next meeting, trying to prove it had not been a fluke, he tried again and hit the bar. Bernd Nickel
Bernd Nickel
Bernd Nickel is a former German footballer.Due to his straight shots his nickname was "Doktor Hammer".Nickel began his career in 1957 at SV Eisemroth. In 1966 he was signed by Eintracht Frankfurt, where he scored 141 goals in 426 Bundesliga games. He won the DFB-Pokal in 1974, 1975 and 1981...
scored for Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...
from each of the four corners of the Waldstadion
Commerzbank-Arena
The Commerzbank-Arena is a sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Commonly known by its original name, Waldstadion , the stadium opened in 1925. The stadium has been upgraded several times since then; the most recent remodelling was its redevelopment as a football-only stadium in preparation...
. According to journalist Özgür Canbaş, Şükrü Gülesin
Sükrü Gülesin
Şükrü Gülesin was a Turkish football player and sports journalist. Almost two meters tall, he was a strong and quick striker, as well as a free kick and penalty specialist, and played for Beşiktaş, Palermo, and Lazio throughout his career...
scored 32 such goals in his career. Steve Staunton
Steve Staunton
Stephen "Steve" Staunton is an Irish association football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently manager of Darlington...
did so in two international matches for Ireland. In March 2004, Mark Pulling scored a hat-trick from corners for Worthing
Worthing F.C.
Worthing Football Club are an English association football club based in Worthing, West Sussex, currently playing in the Isthmian League Division One South...
in the Isthmian League Division One South against Corinthian-Casuals
Corinthian-Casuals F.C.
Corinthian-Casuals F.C. are a football club based in Tolworth in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The club was formed in 1939 by a merger of two amateur clubs: Corinthian, who formed in 1882, and Casuals, who formed in 1878.- History :Corinthian-Casuals were formed in 1939 following the...
; all were in the first half, assisted by a strong wind. Paul Comstive
Paul Comstive
Paul Comstive is a former English professional footballer who mainly played as a midfielder. He played in The Football League for seven different clubs and also played non-league football.-Playing career:...
scored two for Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
against Bournemouth
Bournemouth F.C.
Bournemouth Football Club is an English football team currently playing in the Wessex League Premier Division. Their nickname is "The Poppies", and they are often known as Bournemouth Poppies to avoid confusion with the Football League club A.F.C. Bournemouth...
on 1 January 1991. Dejan Petković
Dejan Petkovic
Dejan Petković is a retired Serbian football player. In his native country he's widely known under the nickname Rambo while in Brazil he often goes by Pet...
scored eight goals from corner kicks in his career, the last one was on 8 November 2009 for Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...
against Atlético Mineiro in the Brazilian Série A. Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira , commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year...
also scored direct from a corner for Flamengo vs Avai on September 1st 2011. As a junior player, Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
winger Morten Gamst Pedersen
Morten Gamst Pedersen
Morten Gamst Pedersen is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Norway national football team.-Tromsø IL:...
once scored six goals directly from a corner in the same match.
Using corner kicks as a tie-breaker
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
method. The theory behind this suggestion is that the team which during the course of play has been awarded the most corner kicks is likely to have dominated play, forcing their opponents to make more high-risk tackles and their goalkeeper to make more saves in which he was not able to gain possession of the ball but rather merely deflect it across the line outside of the goal or over the crossbar. The use of corner-kick counts as a tie-breaker has not been approved by the International Football Association Board
International Football Association Board
The International Football Association Board is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football.-Operations:...
, and as such is not used in any high-level competition. Furthermore, this method should never be used at any level of eleven-a-side football due to Law 10 (The Method of Scoring); only the methods stated there are allowed to determine the result of a game.
Some scoreboards for high school and college venues in the United States have statistics for fouls, shots on goal, and corner kicks earned. On television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
such statistics are shown periodically during play for international and other major televised matches.
Own goal anomalies
According to the laws of the game, if a player puts the ball into their own goal directly from a restart of play (e.g. free kicks, corner kicks, goal kicks etc.) without the ball being touched by any other player, a corner kick is awarded to the other team and not an "own goal" which it would appear to be. Such incidents are exceedingly rare.A mistake relating to that rule appeared to be committed by referee David Elleray
David Elleray
David Roland Elleray , is an English former football referee, who officiated in the Football League, the FA Premier League and for FIFA.-Career:...
during a Premier League derby
Birmingham derby
In English football, the Second City derby is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Birmingham, England – Aston Villa and Birmingham City....
match between Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
and Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
during the 2002/03 season
2002-03 in English football
The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...
. Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg
Olof Mellberg
Erik Olof Mellberg is a Swedish international footballer currently playing for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague. He generally plays as a central defender or right-back.-Early years:...
, threw the ball towards his goalkeeper (Peter Enckelman
Peter Enckelman
Peter Enckelman is a Finnish football goalkeeper who currently plays for St. Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League.-Aston Villa:...
), who seemed to miss the ball completely and the ball went into the net. Elleray gave a goal to Birmingham even though it appeared that Enckelman may not have touched the ball - television replays were inconclusive. If Elleray had determined that Enckelman had not touched the ball, he should have awarded a corner kick to Birmingham.