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Here is the situation:

Kids in a small yard are about to play soccer. There are no goalposts in that yard (or "goals" or whatever you call it, I mean those metal frames on each side of the soccer field that have nets on them. Once the ball is in the net, the score changes). So, one boy picks up some sticks from the ground and tries to mark out the goalposts for each team. While doing that he says:

"This will be your team's goal and that will be our team's goal"

Is the first goal that he mentioned the one that his team will be defending or trying to get the ball into?

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1 Answer

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"Your team's goal" refers to the goal you are defending. It's the one your goal-keeper is guarding. "Our team's goal" refers to the goal we are defending, in front of which our goal-keeper stands.

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Precisely, the goalkeeper protects his team's goal. – Andy F Jan 9 '11 at 13:51
But isn't it like when you are referring to some of your tasks, you would say "our goal is..." and that would be the goal which you are going to move toward to (not away from)? – brilliant Jan 9 '11 at 13:58
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@brilliant: That is a different type of goal. You could easily say "Our goal as a football team is to get the ball into our opponents' goal." – Robusto Jan 9 '11 at 14:01
Aaaaah! I see. Thank you. – brilliant Jan 9 '11 at 14:01

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