"What's most exciting about [soccer] for me is that it's a game that lies in between art and science," Zhe Wang, one of Google DeepMind's leads on the TacticAI project, told Business Insider.

TO ZHE WANG at Google DeepMind, an artificial-intelligence (AI) company, corner kicks are like games of chess. Partly because both feature opposing sides poised to react to a single imminent move.