When you watch a game of soccer you can sometimes see players raise their arms from time to time and you probably think to yourself, why do they do this?

There are several reasons that players do this and in this article, we will have a look at why they do it.

Soccer players raise their hands when they are signaling to their teammates while taking a corner and when they are appealing for a player to be offside. The other reason is when they score a goal against their former team.

Why do players put their hands up when taking a corner?

 

Throughout training during the week, teams and coaches will practice everything from formations to set pieces. Ideally, they will have several tactics that they will use during a game when it comes to corner kicks. 

One signal from a player might be to crowd the goalkeeper, another one might be that the ball is going to be aimed at the back post. Or that the ball could be coming in fast at the near post.

Most teams will have a wide range of tactics that they will have lined up to use during a game and they will all have different signals to tell the players in the box what to expect.

The main reason for the signals is so that the opposition does not know what is going to happen because the attacking team wants to surprise the defense with their set-piece tactics.

When done right it can lead to clear goal-scoring opportunities and can even lead to players having huge amounts of space in the penalty box.

Sometimes a player will raise his left hand, other times he will raise his right hand, and then other times, both player’s arms will be raised. All this does is that it lets all other players what kind of delivery to expect.

Why does the kicker raise his hand in soccer?

 

As mentioned before, the main reason is to secretly tell-all teammates what you are trying to do and what kind of ball delivery they can expect. All teams do it, from the amateur teams all the way up to the professionals. 

Anything that a team can do to get an edge or to keep the opposition guessing is great to try and score a goal, whether that be from a corner or from a free-kick.

When taking a free kick, the hand signals can mean many things and it will also depend on where the free kick is being taken as well. 

If the free kick is close enough for the kicker to have a shot, then one arm might be raised to say to his team “this looks like I am going to shoot, however, I will attempt to kick the ball to the back post to surprise the opposition”.

Because there are several things that the kicker can do when the free kick is close to the goal, the element of surprise is a good tool to have.

When it is close to a goal like that, most goalkeepers and defenders will automatically think that the kicker will be having a shot at the goal.

This is because 90% of players do in fact have a shot at goal, however just because they can, doesn’t mean they will.

There are different signals that a kicker can use to tell his teammates what to expect with his delivery. From one arm raised to both or even none, they all have a designated delivery assigned to it.

From balls delivered high to the back post to balls delivered with pace, they all have their needs in certain situations that arise during a game, and most importantly, they keep the opposition in the dark as to what to expect and that can lead to goals.

Why do soccer players put their hands up when they score against their old teams?

 

The reason why players put their hands up when they score against their old team is simply it is a sign of respect towards their previous team.

Many players who have left a team for one reason or another and happen to move to a new team in the same division, will often get the chance to play against their old team. 

When they do score they feel that celebrating like they normally would is seen as disrespectful towards their old team. It is a sign of respect to raise your hands and say yes I scored but out of respect for the club, I will not celebrate.

This is usually the case for players who have had an amicable end to their playing time with their team.

However as well all know, football is a business, and business decisions must be made. When a player is not offered a new contract, or they have run-ins with players or even coaches then they are in fact happy to get out of that club.

So, if a player feels hard done by from the club, whether the player got low balled with a contract offer, or the club simply did not want them anymore then there will be many feelings of anger and sometimes even hatred towards that club.

This is where it can get messy for both players and clubs. One such example that comes to mind is Emmanuel Adebayor.

Playing for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, the striker was told directly by Wenger that he did not have a future at the club anymore. 

So when a player who loves the club hears that, then naturally they will get angry. As it panned out, Adebayor moved to Manchester City and played against Arsenal two months later.

The striker scored against his former side and instead of raising his arms up, he ran the entire length of the field and purposely celebrated in front of the traveling Arsenal fans, there was no respect between the two on that day.