Corner kick

The defending team also has the choice of whether to instruct a player to adopt a position beside one or both of the goalposts to provide protection to the goal in addition to the goalkeeper.

In situations where a set-piece, such as a corner, is awarded to a side trailing by a single goal at the closing stages of a match where conceding further is of minimal consequence (i.e. in a knockout tournament) a team may commit all their players, including their goalkeeper, to the attack.

The other tactic, zonal marking, involves allocating each player to an area of the box to defend (their "zone").

But the 21st century has seen the rise in the use of Olimpico goal, derived from the Spanish and Portuguese term gol olímpico widely used in Latin America.

[15][16] Max Bretos has used it on Fox Soccer Channel in the United States, reflecting Latino influence on the sport's culture there.

[42] Such incidents are extremely rare, and in some cases require unusual or extraordinary circumstances in order to occur (for example, a ball from a corner kick would have to travel the entire length of the field and enter the kicker's own goal without being touched by any other player).

In a 1983–84 English Third Division match, Millwall were incorrectly credited with a goal against Wimbledon rather than a corner, when Wally Downes' free-kick backpass eluded an off-guard Dave Beasant.

[43][44] In a 2002–03 FA Premier League match, Birmingham City scored against their local rivals Aston Villa when Olof Mellberg's throw-in backpass was missed by Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, who reacted with dismay but later claimed he had made no contact and the goal should not have been awarded.

[53] The author, writing under the pseudonym "Rouge", argued that the then-current rule was "a great inducement to foul and dishonourable play, for it is manifestly to the advantage of a defending side to allow the ball to pass their goal line, they having the great advantage or a free kick-off".

[55] The next year, 1873, the FA rule was rewritten, under a proposal by Great Marlow FC, to essentially its current form:[56]

[67] When first introduced in 1872, the corner-kick was required to be taken from the corner-flag itself, which made it impossible for an attacking player to be in an offside position directly from a corner.

In 1874, the kick was allowed to be taken up to one yard from the corner-flag, thus opening up the possibility of a player being in an offside position by being ahead of the ball.

At the International Football Conference of December 1882, it was agreed that a player should not be offside from a corner-kick; this change was incorporated into the Laws of the Game in 1883.

In 1875, this was forbidden,[58] but it was subsequently legalised by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting of 14 June 1924 with effect from for the following season, and is now referred to as an Olimpico goal.

[58] In 1924, this restriction was accidentally removed, as an unintended consequence of the law-change allowing a goal to be scored directly from a corner.

[70] This possibility was exploited by Everton winger Sam Chedgzoy in a match against Arsenal on 15 November of that year.

[71] At the end of November, the International Football Association Board issued emergency instructions that dribbling was once again forbidden.

[81] (In 1977, the Scottish FA had proposed an additional pitch-marking of a quarter-circle with a radius of 11 yards for this purpose, but the suggestion was rejected).

[87] This table includes only kicks from the corner flag awarded to the attacking team after the ball goes out of play over the goal line.