Cross (football)

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In football, a cross is a delivery of a ball from either side of the field across to the front of the goal. A cross is there to provide a goal-scoring opportunity. Crosses are generally airborne - a ball along the ground from a crossing position may be a low cross or a pass.

Crosses differ qualitatively depending on how far they travel, where they are crossed from, and what curl the ball has on it. Typically, these are binary - a ball is either travelling to the "near post" or "far post" (the goal post closer to, or further from the player crossing the ball), it either comes from the goal line or it is an early cross delivered from further back, and it may be an outswinger or an inswinger. Crosses are most frequently delivered by midfielders positioned on either flank, wingers, wingbacks and fullbacks.