World Cup primer

Futbol: More commonly known as soccer in the U.S., it is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is the most popular sport in the world. The game is played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal in the center of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal (between the posts and under the bar). The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins.

FIFA: The International Federation of Association Football, soccer's international governing body. French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association, from which the acronym FIFA is derived.

FIFA World Cup: Also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, it is the premier international soccer tournament contested by the men's national teams of the members of FIFA. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th World Cup; it is being held in South Africa.

Pitch: The soccer playing field.

Match: A soccer game, usually 90 minutes in duration, 45 minutes per half, plus "extra time."

Goal: A score in soccer, something that occurs about as often as a sighting of Halley's Comet.

Draw: A tie game in soccer. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.

Nil: No score, as in nada, zip, zilch, zero. A nil-nil draw would be a 0-0 tie game, not an uncommon occurrence in soccer.

Keeper: Goalkeeper or goalie. The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair.

Robert Green: The England goalie who has become known as the equivalent of baseball's Bill Buckner.

Wayne Rooney: The English soccer hero, not to be confused with Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" fame.

Vuvuzela: The infamous plastic horn of distraction, incessantly blown by soccer fans during a World Cup match. As written by Jason Gay in today's Wall Street Journal: "Is everyone already exasperated with The Infamous Plastic Horn of Distraction? WE SAID, IS EVERYONE ALREADY EXASPERATED WITH THE INFAMOUS PLASTIC HORN OF DISTRACTION?"

Hooligan: A violent young ruffian or hoodlum, usually associated with an English soccer fan who has consumed too many pints of ale, either before, during, or after a soccer match.

Yellow card: Something submitted by soccer players after being asked to give a urine sample for drug testing.