UEFA CUP -- competition among European club teams; a field of selected number of teams is drawn from UEFA member leagues throughout Europe; qualified teams include the top positioned teams in most leagues (although poor performing leagues are generally limited in representants), and in select leagues teams up to fifth place in the standings are invited to compete; the tournament is run in addition to the regular season with mid-week matches generally the rule.

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT: Rude behavior.

U.S. CUP -- international friendly tournament hosted annually by the United States except in World Cup final years; tournament was first played in 1992.

VOLLEY, HOOK; A hooking or circular movement by the kicking leg where the leg is parallel with the ground when contact is made on the ball.

VOLLEY: Any ball kicked by a player when it is off the ground.

VOLLEYS; 17% of all goals are from volleys.

W POSITION: Position of the goalkeeper's hands when fielding a chest-high ball.

WALL PASS: Give and go pass, or interpassing between two attacking players, where the player acting as the wall plays the ball first time and off at a similar angle at which the ball was received. The pass is usually made behind an opponent.

WALL PLAYER; The player acting as the wall in a wall pass.

WALL: A line of 2 to 5 defending players pressed together shoulder-to-shoulder to protect their goal against a close free kick; creates a more difficult shot by reducing the amount of open goal area the kicker has to shoot at.

WARM UP; Exercises that warm the muscles and prepare the body for vigorous activity.

WEIGHT OF THE PASS; A term quite frequently used to describe the pace of a pass.

WINGS OR THE WINGERS: The outside forwards who play to the sides of the strikers and whose primary task is to provide them with accurate crossing passes so they can shoot at the goal; often the fastest players and best dribblers on a team.

WORLD CUP: The international soccer competition held by FIFA every 4 years between the top professional teams in the world, pitting nation against nation; the most watched event in the world, attracting a television audience of over 3 billion viewers.

WALL -- the line of players used to prevent a direct kick from scoring; lined up 10 yards from where the direct kick is taken.

WINGER -- player on left or right side of the attack whose role is close to the touchline; supports forwards and midfielders.

WORLD CUP -- the mother of all international soccer competitions; held every four years in a host country with national teams representing 32 countries (increased from 24 following the 1994 World Cup); 30 teams qualify in competitions with automatic bids going to the past champion and host nation; the tournament has been played every four years since 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to World War II; only six countries have won the World Cup: Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994); Germany (1954, 1974, 1990); Italy (1934, 1938, 1982); Uruguay (1930, 1950); Argentina (1978, 1986); and England (1966); France hosts the 1998 tournament, with the 2002 edition to be the first co-host tournament in Japan and South Korea.

YELLOW CARD -- a caution card showed to a player by the referee after a dangerous play foul; a second yellow card in the same match earns the offending player a red card and automatic ejection; some leagues and tournaments have rules regarding the receipt of yellow cards in successive matches, which often result in a one-game ban.

ZONE: A type of defense that assigns each defender to a particular area in front of or around his team's goal in which he is responsible for marking any attacker that enters.