The "penalty area" (colloquially ""the 18-yard box"" or just ""the box"") is similarly formed by the goal-line and lines extending from it, but its lines start from the goalposts and extend into the field. ie this is a rectangle 44yds by 18 yds. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to denote where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a foul by a defender, usually punished by a direct free kick, becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Both the goal and penalty areas were formed as semicircles until 1902.