What Are the Different Positions in Soccer?
A Mildfielder? A Forward? Here's What Each Soccer Position Does on the Field
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Playing in the outfield, a defender's role is to keep the opposing team as far away from the goalpost as possible and prevent them from scoring. Defenders are considered the backbone of the team; their primary job is to prevent forwards from passing forward (duh), dribbling toward the goal, or shooting. In short, they do whatever it takes to prevent their opponents from taking a shot. Being a successful defender requires grit, speed, strong passing skills, and the ability to push offencive players off the ball.
There are seven defenders on the US World Cup Team: