Crossing the Ball
Learning how to take a cross in football requires mastering several different skills. The kicking technique needs to be correct, the player must be have vision and awareness of who to aim the cross for, and he must be able to create space for the cross under pressure from defenders. A corner kick in soccer can be thought of as a special type of cross.
The kicking technique for crossing the ball is to use the instep, getting underneath the ball, and preferably to put some spin on the ball to bend it away from the goalkeeper. This makes the cross harder to intercept. Sometimes, a player will find himself having to cross the ball from a very square position close to the touchline. In this case it might be necessary to use the area around the big toe for kicking the football in order to keep it in play.
There are two main types of cross in football, these are, the near post ball and the far post ball. Crosses at the near post should usually have a flat trajectory. The object is that an attacker runs in front of the defenders to head the ball into the goal. The far post fall needs a higher trajectory, so that the ball goes over the defense to an attacker jumping for the ball at the far post. Shorter players tend to prefer near post crosses, and taller players far post crosses.