Crosses and Corners

The cross and corner kick are vital soccer skills, because a large proportion of goals arise from crosses and corners. The orange box in the illustration represents the most dangerous area in football for the defending team - in front of the six yard box. A well aimed header from crosses kicked into this area is extremely difficult to stop.

The soccer kicking techniques for taking crosses and corners are the lofted kick preferably with some spin applied to swerve the ball. When the ball is being crossed from near the touchline at a steep angle, it might be necessary to use the area around the big toe for kicking in order to keep the ball in play.

Tactically, there are two main types of cross - the near post cross and far post cross. At the near post the attacker tries to get in front of the defender, ideally with a run towards goal to obtain momentum. At the far post, the attacker usually tries to get behind the defense, on the blind side. This type of cross tends to favour taller player who can jump high over the defense, whereas shorter players are better at the near post. Another interesting tactic is the flick-on, in which a player in front of the six yard box deflects the ball into the danger zone. An advantage of this cross is that it is almost impossible for the goalkeeper to cut out, and for this reason a defender is usually stationed in front of the six yard box at corners.