How would you describe a football match?
Have you ever been to a football match, played a game on a football pitch or watched football highlights? Chances are, you’ve probably done one of the above. For lovers of the game, one great way to make a living is to be a sports writer. In this case, specifically writing football match reports. 
| Career |
Description |
| Gender specialization |
Specializing in men’s or women’s football |
| Blogger |
Giving your opinions on football matches, techniques and more |
| Social media manager |
Update and maintain a news channel or team’s football account |
| Social media personality |
Give a detailed analysis or football match description. React to live games, news, etc. |
From the table above, you can see there are a wide variety of careers you can have not only writing about sports but about football in general. 
One skill that you’ll need for this career: words! You will need plenty of words in order to create descriptive writing about football. Here are some ways you can describe a football match.
| Career |
Ways to Describe a Match |
| Gender specialization |
Top teams in that gender category, any inequalities that may exist in resources, best players, etc. |
| Blogger |
Matches that you’re going to/been to, sports statistics, possession percentage, etc. |
| Social media manager |
Upcoming games, upcoming events, wins, communication with fans, etc. |
| Social media personality |
Football and player statistics, location, sports politics, etc. |
What are some football words?
Whatever your career or specialization, you’re going to need a deep knowledge of the sport of football, different championships around the world and local terms. From football adjectives to verbs - let’s take a deep dive into some of the vocab. 
People
| Attacker |
Player who needs to create an opportunity to score |
| Ball carrier |
Player that has the ball currently |
| Defender |
Player who defends players from getting to the goal |
| Goalkeeper |
Player who defends the goal |
Verbs
| Bending |
Bending the ball refers to the curved path of the ball |
| Bicycle kick |
When the player jumps and lands on their back, simultaneously kicking the ball |
| Cross |
A pass that is made in front of the goal |
| Dribble |
Controlling the ball while running at the same time |
| Shot |
A kick towards the goal |
| Tackle |
A move to take the ball away from the opposing team |
Football Pitch
| Centre spot |
The centre of the field where the kick-off happens |
| Corner kick |
The kick that is located at the corner of the field |
| Post |
The goal post |
| Fair post |
The goal furthest from the ball |
| Pitch |
The football field |
| Penalty area |
The area in front of the goal where the goalkeeper can hold the ball |
| Penalty spot |
The line in front of the goal where the penalty kick can be taken |
Alright, those are all pretty descriptive terms - but what is a nutmeg in football? Or a hat-trick? Football has many unique terms, differing from language to and maybe even by region. Here are some common, unique terms you may use or encounter.
| Term |
Meaning |
| Nutmeg |
Kicking the ball between the legs of the opponent and catching it on the other side |
| Hat-trick |
Scoring a goal 3 times in a single game |
| Perfect hat trick |
A hat trick by scoring once with the right foot, the left food and with the head |
| Derby |
A match between two nearby teams or teams with a rivalled history. |
| Panenka |
A penalty kick where the player kicks the ball in the centre, in a slow arch, while the goalie dives to either side |
How would you describe the atmosphere of a football match?
When you want to describe the atmosphere of a football match, you should think about the descriptive words that will carry your point across. The first step in describing the atmosphere of any event is to think about what tone you want to convey.
| Step |
Description |
Example |
| Tone |
Think about the tone that you want your description to set: spooky, inviting, cool, etc. |
A football match with a fun tone. |
| Adjectives |
Once you select your tone, come up with adjectives that will convey that tone. |
Happy, family-fun, life-changing, etc. |
| Verbs |
After selecting your tone, you may also come up with verbs that help convey your tone. |
Clapping, dancing, chanting, etc. |
As you can see, the first step in describing a football match’s atmosphere is to decide what you want your tone to be. Once you decide on a tone, you can start to think of adjectives and verbs that will help you set that tone. Take a look at some more adjectives and verbs to use with different tones below. 
How do you write a sport report?
When writing a sports report, you should already know some key information about the goal and audience of the sports report. Take a look at the table below for the vital information you should know even before you start to write.
| Element |
Description |
| Goal |
What is the purpose of your sports report? Is it to analyse a game, give information about an upcoming match, summarize a finished game, or more? |
| Audience |
Who is the audience of your sports report? Do they prefer objective coverage or is it meant to be more subjective? |
Once you know this information, you will be able to pick the layout of your report. That is, the format you should follow in order to produce the right report for your audience and goal. Let’s take a look at some vital aspects you should include in your report based on different goals. 
| Goal |
Elements to Include |
| Match analysis |
The teams playing, the time and date of the match, the discussion surrounding the match, the stakes at play, etc. |
| Player/Team analysis |
Amount of wins and losses, political movements surrounding the player/team, upcoming matches, etc. |
| Match Summary |
Who won and who lost, any penalties given during the game, the consequences of the game, etc. |
How do you analyze a soccer match?
There are many different ways to analyse a soccer match. Take a look at the image below to get some ideas on how to effectively analyse a soccer match. Here are some elements you can include in your analysis: 
