This is the 552nd most frequent Polish word.
piłkarze
"Piłkarze" means "football players" or "soccer players" in English.
In this sentence, 'piłkarze' is used as the subject of the verb 'grali', indicating the performers of the action of playing.
Piłkarze grali na stadionie przez cały wieczór.
The soccer players played in the stadium all evening.
Here, 'piłkarze' denotes the object of the support provided by 'kibice' (the fans), showing the word in the dative case when obtaining support.
Kibice wspierają piłkarze podczas meczu.
The fans support the soccer players during the match.
In this example, 'piłkarzy' is in the genitive plural form to describe the team.