If you’ve been watching soccer recently and found yourself struggling to understand the colorful descriptions and idioms used to describe the game, you’re not alone.
Soccer
By Sean O'Meara
As audiences around discover ‘the beautiful game’ for the first time, we’re exploring some of soccer’s most ubiquitous lingo.
What is soccer slang?
Soccer slang is a collection of short-hand idioms that describe complex ideas about soccer in a fun way. These expressions are a quick and often colorful way to explain tactics, moments, or player performances without using technical terms.
Common soccer slang every fan should know
Smash and grab: A narrow victory where the winning team spent the majority of the game defending.
Six-pointer: A match between two rivals close in the table where a win for one team also means the other necessarily drops three possible points. Six-pointers are most common toward the end of the season where fans are as interested in rivals failing as they are with their own team winning.
Dead rubber: A game at the end of a series or tournament where the result is irrelevant, often because neither team can move up or down in a league regardless of outcome.
Squeaky bum time: Popularized by a Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson, squeaky bum time describes the tension experienced by a team leading the league toward the end of the season.
Play and incidents slang
: A non-serious confrontation between two opposing players in which both players want to avoid being disciplined by the referee.
Handbags
Sunday league: Shorthand for amateurish, sloppy play.
Sitter: An easy chance that should have been scored but wasn’t, such as an open goal or a close-range tap-in.
Fresh air shot / air kick: Swinging and missing the ball entirely.
Scoring and attacking terms
Top bins: Describing the placement of a shot that enters the goal at the intersection of the crossbar and post, effectively in the very top corner of the goal.
Target man: Similar to ‘big man up top’, but not necessarily describing a big player. A target man can be any build, as long as their primary role is to receive the ball with their back to goal so they can hold possession until other players arrive.
Poacher / fox in the box: A striker who lives off close-range finishes. Miroslav Klose, former player and an all-time scorer for Germany, fits this description perfectly.
Number ten: The creative playmaker behind the striker, the name is taken from the traditional role of a secondary or supporting forward player, defined by them not being the main striker. Not all ‘number 10s’ wear the number 10 shirt and not all players who wear the number 10 play this role. Former players Mesut Özil, Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane can all fit this description.
Big man up top: Describing a forward player defined by their size and strength. Often deployed when playing route one football. England’s former football player Peter Crouch is a classic example.
Tiki-taka: Popularised in Spain, this strategy of short, patient passing to keep possession is designed to exhaust an opponent. It’s popular with purists but many critics say it makes the game less dynamic.
Nutmeg / megs: Knocking the ball through an opponent's legs, considered one of the most skillful moves a player can make and also one of the most humbling things that can happen to a player.
Rabona: A flashy but functional move that involves a player wrapping their kicking leg behind their standing leg. As well as confusing defenders, this move can radically alter the expected trajectory of the ball.
Cruyff turn: Named after the iconic Dutch player, the classic drag-back feint was first deployed in a game between the Netherlands and Sweden.
Rainbow flick / rainbow: Flicking the ball up and over from behind so that ball follows an arc-shaped trajectory with the player in the middle.
Worldie: An absolutely stunning goal, a shortened version of world class. A classic example of a worldie is the goal scored by Zinedine Zidane for Real Madrid vs Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final. As a high, looping cross dropped from the sky, Zidane adjusted his body on the edge of the 18-yard box and struck a flawless left-footed volley straight into the top corner.
Panenka: Named after the Czech player that invented it, the Panenka is a stylised delivery of a penalty in which the taker gently chips the ball to exactly where the goalkeeper is positioned, on the assumption that the goalkeeper will dive to their side before the penalty taker strikes the ball. Because the penalty taker is eschewing power and wide or high placement, these kicks rarely miss the target. But if the goalkeeper stays still, they result in a humiliatingly easy save.
Defensive soccer slang
Enforcer / destroyer / snotter: A combative holding midfielder who closes down opposition moves, intercepts passes and makes crunching challenges.
Parking the bus: Generally deployed by a team who knows it can’t outplay a technically superior opponent, or a team that is clinging onto a narrow lead. Parking the bus involves putting everyone behind the ball and focusing on repelling attacks, rather than attacking. This approach is often hard to watch for supporters of the team that has parked the bus.
Route one: A game plan favored by less technical teams that involves long balls from defence that bypass midfield. This type of strategy is derided by football purists but can be extremely effective.
Gegenpress / pressing high: Pioneered by the current Austria coach Ralf Rangnick, the Gegenpress is distinct because it prioritizes ball retrieval over positional discipline. In a nutshell, once a team loses possession, their objective is to harass the opponent until they receive the ball.
Clattered / poleaxed: A heavy but not necessarily unfair challenge that leaves the recipient on the ground.
Leave one on: To describe the act of making additional, unnecessary contact with an opponent during a challenge or duel. This is often done early in a game by a player hoping to impose their physical presence.
Man on!: A phrase used to describe when a player either in possession of the ball or about to take possession of the ball has an opposing player approaching unseen. This phrase is often shouted by a team mate or supporter to warn a player that they need to release the ball quickly.
Time! / turn out / take a touch: Shouted to a player to let them know there’s no man on and that they can take a touch.
Hoof it / lump it: Similar but distinct to route one football, hoofing it or lumping it can be a defensive strategy to ‘clear the lines’ when under pressure in the defensive third. This approach is often deployed by teams defending a lead in the late stages of a game.
Referee and rules terms
Goal hanging: To describe an attacking player that loiters near to an opponent’s goal or penalty box.
Offside: A contentious law first introduced to stop ‘goal hanging’. The rule is complex and dynamic, but in essence if an attacking player is closer to the opponent’s goal than the closest defender before the ball is played forward, he or she is offside and any goal they score or assist should be disallowed.
Offside trap: A defensive strategy where players will move forward in unison just before the ball is kicked to place the most advanced attacker in an offside position. If it works, the defending side wins an indirect freekick. If they mistime the move, the attacker remains onside and gains the advantage of being ahead of every defender.
Backpass: To prevent time-wasting from goalkeepers, this law prevents goalkeepers from handling the ball if it was played directly to them from a team-mate, unless the ball was headed or volleyed.
Interfering with play: Used to describe whether an infraction such as offside can be overlooked based on a player’s influence on a passage of play. For example, if a player is in an offside position, but happens to be so far from the ball that they offer no advantage to the attacking team, a referee may deem them to not be interfering with play. A player may be deemed to be interfering with play even if they don’t touch the ball, for example if they obscure a goalkeeper's view.
Clear and obvious: Situations where a referee or assistant referee has missed something materially affecting the game, such as a handball, offside or foul.
Second yellow: Players can receive two yellow cards, or “bookings” in a game. The second yellow card results in a red card for “two bookable offenses”.
Straight red: A straight red is given for a sufficiently serious offense, such as violent conduct or a tackle likely to endanger an opponent. A player receiving a red card is sent off from the pitch and banned from at least one subsequent game. A straight red is distinct from a red card arising from receiving two yellows and, depending on the tournament, typically attracts a longer ban. A player can receive a yellow and a straight red.
VAR: An initialism for Video Assistant Referee, a remote official who reviews footage of clear and obvious errors made by the on-field referring team.
DOGSO: An initialism of Denial of a Goal Scoring Opportunity. If a player is deemed to have committed DOGSO, for example by fouling a player about to shoot into an empty net, he or she may be shown a straight red card.
Last man: This term identifies the defending player closest to the goalkeeper, or if the goalkeeper is in a more advanced position, the player closest to the goal. It is a key determining factor in identifying whether a player has committed DOGSO. Typically if a player is the ‘last man’ and they commit a foul, they will also be committing DOGSO by necessity, unless the player fouled doesn’t have possession of the ball.
Soccer slang in other languages
Part of the beauty of soccer is how it transcends language and culture. That said, different regions have their own colorful idioms and turns of phrase. Here’s a few of our favorites.
Colgarse del travesaño (Spanish): To hang oneself from the crossbar, equivalent to 'park the bus', to play in a cynical and defensive style to avoid conceding rather than focusing on scoring.
Il catenaccio: The bolt (lock), equivalent to 'park the bus'.
Engolir sapos (Portuguese): Swallowing toads, similar to parking the bus but more about absorbing pressure.
Nos dieron un baño (Spanish): They gave us a bath, equivalent to 'they thrashed us'.
Chancentod (German): Literally 'chance death', no common English equivalent. Describes a forward player who can't score, similar to ‘donkey’.
Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel (German): After the game is before the game, equivalent to 'we'll go again'.
Armario (Spanish): No direct English equivalent but describing a big lump of a centre back.
Smörpassning (Swedish): Butter pass, no English equivalent, describing a pass delivered so smoothly that it's like butter
Onde dorme a coruja (Portuguese): Where the owl sleeps, equivalent to 'top bins', describing a goal that goes right into the top corner
Why soccer slang matters when reading a match
Soccer slang is so ubiquitous that it’s often hard to understand the dynamics of the game, the game state, the stakes and the consequences of certain actions without it. Commentators routinely use slang to convey meaning, context and emotion in a condensed manner.
Not understanding all soccer slang doesn’t mean you can’t follow a soccer match, but understanding none of it will leave gaps in your understanding and may see you struggle to follow along in real time.
FAQs about soccer slang
What is soccer slang?
It’s a collection of idioms, phrases and euphemisms developed over the decades that add color, context and clarity to how people talk about soccer.
What are some common soccer terms?
Route one, smash and grab and parking the bus all describe game strategies. VAR, offside trap and DOGSO describe officiating considerations. Big man up top and enforcer describe player types.
What does a brace mean in soccer?
If a player scores two goals in a game, it’s a brace. Commentators may describe a player ‘bagging a brace’.
What does a hat trick mean in soccer?
If a player scores three goals in a soccer game, it’s a hat trick. Purists may argue that only when a player scores a goal with their left foot, right foot and head does it count as a true hat trick, but most audiences treat three goals scored any which way as a hat trick. In most games, a player scoring a hat trick may keep the match ball.
What does a clean sheet mean in soccer?
A clean sheet is when a team doesn’t concede a goal in the game. In most scenarios, a clean sheet is viewed as the goalkeeper’s particular achievement, but it may often be the result of a team strategy.
What does parking the bus mean in soccer?
Parking the bus describes a team sitting deep in formation, with as many players between the halfway line and the goal as possible. Teams may park the bus temporarily to protect a lead, absorb a period of pressure, or for an entire game if they feel that attacking the other team would expose their weaknesses.
What does nutmeg mean in soccer?
A nutmeg describes the act of one player kicking the ball through another player’s legs and retrieving it behind them. Simply kicking the ball through the legs is also called a nutmeg, but a true, humiliating nutmeg is when a player passes the ball through an opponent and retains possession. Depending on regional variations, a player may shout ‘megs!’ or ‘nuts!’ when completing a nutmeg to add insult to injury.
What does cap mean in soccer?
Cap is shorthand for an international appearance. The term derives from the tradition of awarding actual cloth caps to players when they play for their country. The tradition persists today.
