Although the majority of keepers said the ball was so bad it was impossible to play with, we might be forgiven for thinking that offers advantages to strikers. A huge festival of brilliant goals? Well, apparently not, as the early group stages of the tournament were mind numbingly boring. I mean they were dreadful. And as the competition marched on, all the big name players failed to realise their potential. So called greats launching free kicks 50 yards into the air, when we are accustomed to seeing them swing the ball around the wall to curl devilishly and burst the net past the sprawling keeper. Most of the creme de la creme of international football ended up skulking home with their tails between their legs, few with any soccer goals in their 2010 accounts. So did the Jabulani make the goals bigger, leaving goalies looking decidedly foolish? Or was the handicap of the super-designed, ultra-tested globe of doom felt by all?

Germany had been playing with the Adidas Jabulani for six months prior to the World Cup Finals, so they should have had no excuses. And to be fair, they made it to the semi-finals. You can only ever blame the ball for so long; once you’re down to the last four, you’re going to get dumped out by a great team.

Speaking as an England fan, I think one of the great winners of this summer’s campaign was the USA. A real coming of age for their soccer team, although of course, many do play in leagues outside the States. The question is, would this state of affairs have been any different with a better loved football than the Jabulani? I rather suspect the England keeper against USA wished it was the “Jumanji” and he could shout it out and get the ball sucked back out of the net, and pretend that nightmare had never happened! Looks instead like the life has now been sucked out of his England career. Oh well.

Shall we go through the spec of the ball and see what all the fuss is about? Lots of science went into it. It’s all really space age and vorsprung and technik. Yeah, alright; let’s not bother then! Let’s see what ordinary punters think about the Jabulani.

As you might expect, the views from customers buying the Adidas World Cup 2010 Official Match Soccer Ball were fairly polarised. A couple of people who bought it and play recreational soccer quite a lot think it’s great; a bit more bouncy than you’d expect perhaps, but not ridiculously bouncy. It is good for dribbling and ground passing, but some find the ball feels quite light – maybe that’s why the pros were kicking free kicks into the stratosphere!

The funniest review on Amazon was by somebody calling himself Robert Green (surely not; it’s not the Rob…; nah, can’t be…can it?). Anyway, funny story, he doesn’t like the ball, and here’s some of what our man Rob (Goalkeeper extraordinaire) has to say about it:

I am like the third best goalkeeper in England and I can’t even stop this thing. A buddy of mine kicked a slow roller to me and I completely muffed it in front of billions of people. Now people in my country will never forgive me for this. And it wasn’t even my fault! IT WAS THE BALL!

But if you’re American, just imagine owning one and basking in it’s bouncy, super-spherical, light and airy glory. Hmmmmmmmmm. Got us past the group stages, baby!

The rules for playing soccer indoors are different to the outdoor game, although in the British version, games are normally played fairly informally and the rule variations agreed prior to the game. There is no offside rule in indoor soccer, and so there is no requirement for assistant referees. The goalkeeper’s area is a semi-circle, and no other players are allowed in this area – the goalkeeper is not allowed to wander out of it either. It is a free kick to the opposing side if the ball is kicked above head height, but otherwise the ball is always in play, as it can be bounced off the walls to dribble past opponents. This is one reason why indoor soccer is such a great game for improving fitness. British 5-a-side is sometimes played outside in a caged area and on astroturf – in this case the ball can be kicked and rebounded of the cage in a similar way that the walls are used in the indoor variant.

The soccer goals used for indoor soccer, 5-a-side and futsal are smaller than full size goals, and usually are lower than the goalkeeper’s height. Some goals sold by sports retailers can be used, for example, as a practice goal outdoors with 6 foot wide by 4 foot high by 2 foot deep dimensions. Then for indoor play, the same goal can be flipped over to present a target that is 6 foot wide by 2 foot high by 4 foot deep.

An example of such a “flippable” indoor and outdoor soccer goal is called the Alumagoal Lil Shooter, and fits the bill, especially if you are a club that fields teams at various age levels. For example, you can use this type of goal for all indoor practice, and also use it as a normal outdoor goal, either for shooting practice or for the younger age groups.

From a fitness perspective it always pays to play some indoor soccer even if you are normally playing your soccer on a full size pitch; and it helps greatly with close ball control and tight one-touch football.

Goal Sizes

There is a variety of different goal sizes available, to cater for the different age groups. Full size goals (over 12 years old) are 8 feet high and 24 feet wide, and the size of the pitch needs to take this goal size into account – so you’ll want to mark out a pitch that is 50 yards wide and 90 yards in length.

For the juniors (8 to 11 years old) you will need to get slightly smaller goals. A good size for this age group would be 7 feet high and 21 feet wide, although you’ll be able to find a range of smaller sizes. Just pick one close to these measurements. You can use a slightly smaller pitch for this age group – same width but 70 yards in length.

The next group is the fledglings (6 to 7 years old) and again they’ll need to be practising in soccer goals the next size down. Go for goals approximately 6.5 feet tall and 18 feet wide. Again the sizes may vary but go for something close. For the fledglings, a shorter, narrower pitch is recommended (eg 30 yards by 50 yards).

Finally, there is the under-6 age group, and you’ll want to keep things simple for these guys. A soccer goal that is 4 feet high and 9 feet wide is a good size. And to keep their interest and avoid exhausting them, shrink the pitch for them to 20 yards wide by 40 yards long.

There are other sizes available for other types of football, in particular the low height indoor soccer goals used for 5-a-side soccer. I’ll cover this in a later post.

Soccer Goals Accessories

Unless you want your teams to do extra fitness training, the extra accessories you will need to get hold of are nets and fasteners. You will certainly need these extras if you’ve bought your soccer goals to be used in competitive soccer matches – otherwise you’d be losing precious minutes of play retrieving the ball after a goal was scored!

The nets are sized to fit each particular size of goal, and many sports retailers will have charts to help you pick the correct nets for the goal frames you are using.

You will need to attach the nets to the goals, and there is a selection of different methods, either clips or bars, or velcro strips that you can use to secure the nets by wrapping them around the goal posts and crossbar.

Finally, if you are using soccer goals for juniors or younger, and you opted for lighter-weight equipment, ensure that they are securely anchored, to prevent accidents in case they tip over. Stakes and anchors for these goals will be readily available at the sports store you bought the goals from, or may have been supplied with the goals themselves.

Cheap Soccer Goals

Before you jump in and buy any kind of soccer goal, you need to be clear who is going to be using it, whether it is for a little practice in the backyard or for matches, how much space is available to you etc. There is little point in buying a pair of aluminum 8 foot by 24 foot soccer goals just to kick a football around the back garden with your toddling four-year-old son!

So the best soccer goals for this type of situation are the small, lightweight plastic ones. They’ll be the cheapest ones also. Remember that although these are lightweight, durable and portable, they can easily get knocked or blown over, so always remember to anchor them when in use, for safety. The plastic practice goals are great for shooting and usually have a tighter rebound net so the ball will come back out for you.

Metal Professional Goals

The more expensive type of soccer goals are made of aluminum, and are a lot heavier. For safety they should be securely fixed in place. They are designed to be a permanent fixture on the football field, not to be moved around. Because they are made of aluminum, they are weather resistant and sturdy enough (when anchored) not to move when hit by the soccer ball.

The full size metal soccer goals should be used by all players over the age of 12; they are 8 foot tall and 24 foot wide, and also have minimum pitch size requirements – 50 yards in width and 90 yards in length. These sizes apply to the outdoor game; indoor soccer goals and futsal goals are different.

Goal Requirements

It’s absolutely fine to buy the small plastic goals if you play for fun with the kids, out in the backyard. But for more serious training, for schools and colleges eager to build competitive teams, it is probably better to acquire a set of different soccer goals to best serve the different age groups. In this case, the general recommendation is to get two full sized all-weather goals and two smaller sizes for the youngsters to practise with. Usually, you’ll only be playing on half of the full-size pitch with the smaller ones.

I’ll explain a bit more next time about the different sizes and who should use them as well as what accessories you’ll need for your soccer goals.