Wide Free Kicks: Two-Player Wall and Marking Space

Students work on wide free kicks in seven-a-side soccer: the defending team sets a two-player wall to block the low cross and organizes marking of the dangerous spaces, while the attacking team looks for the ball into space or a quick short play. Teams switch between attack and defense and adjust their setup.

How to play

1. Mark three wide free-kick spots with cones 20 m from the end line and explain the required distance for the wall (3 min).
2. The defending team rehearses its setup: two in the wall, a line of three level with the penalty spot and one player watching the short option (4 min).
3. Attack round: each team takes four free kicks, choosing between a ball into the space between keeper and defense or a quick short pass (5 min).
4. Switch roles for a second round; each defense may tweak its setup after every kick (5 min).
5. Compare how many shots each defense allowed and why (3 min).

Rules

• Wall players protect themselves with hands in front of the body and stand at the cone-marked distance.
• Kicks are crosses or passes, never direct shots at the wall.
• Headers only with a soft ball and gentle crosses.
• Nobody jumps into the goalkeeper.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: takes the kicks with a ground pass or analyzes the shots allowed.
• Partial visual impairment: plays in the wall, which is stationary, with a partner guiding them.
• Anxiety about the ball: marks the short option, away from the wall.

Learning goals

• Organize the defense of a wide free kick.
• Choose how to take a free kick based on the opponents' setup.
• Adjust team organization through observation.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 16
• pinnies: 16
• balls: 8
• goals: 2

Teacher tip

Explain that on a wide free kick the wall does not protect the goal but the path of the cross: that idea changes how they line up.

More main activities for High School