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| Summary |
Restarts, commonly referred to as set pieces, include free kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins, and penalty kicks. These so-called "dead ball" situations can provide excellent scoring opportunities at all levels of competition. Consider this. Over 30% of the goals scored in World Cup 1998 originated from restarts. In the championship game France scored two of it's three goals against Brazil off of set pieces. In the 1999 European Champions Cup final Manchester United of England scored both of it's goals off of restarts in a stunning last minute defeat of German club Bayern Munich. The 1999 Women's World Cup was decided by penalty kicks. These notable examples reflect a growing trend throughout the soccer world. As scoring from the general run-of-play becomes increasingly difficult due to improvements in modern defensive tactics, the team's ability to score off of restarts has taken on even greater importance.
The following material focuses on two common restart situations - direct and indirect free kicks. Free kick situations provide effective scoring opportunities for reasons that include: 1) the defensive team cannot apply immediate pressure on the shooter because defending players must remain at least 10 yards from the ball until it is played, 2) the attacking team has had the opportunity to plan and rehearse the free kick play during training sessions, 3) due to the stoppage of play, the attacking team can get all of its top players involved in the set piece.
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