Every game has its own words and phrases to talk about what happens in this game and football is not an exception. Football is very popular all over the world, but that doesn’t mean everyone understands the lingo and Football vocabulary.
In this post we take a look at some of the words and phrases that players use while playing the game.
Football Slang Phrases in English
- What a howler: If you find yourself watching the English national team play- this phrase will likely come in handy. This expression is used after someone has made a comical mistake. It is usually attributed to red-faced goalkeepers after failing to stop a shot and sullen-looking players who’ve scored an own goal.
- Ref: Who’d be a referee?! Almost every decision is met with unrelenting cries of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing,’ and ‘get your eyes tested.
- What a screamer: When someone scores a goal from a long distance that creates pandemonium in the stadium.
- That was a sitter/he should have buried that: They are delivered with a mixture of shock, sadness, and anger as a player misses the simplest of chances to score a goal.
- We need a clean sheet: When a goalkeeper doesn’t concede a goal, it is known as a clean sheet
- It’s time to park the bus: This is an ultra-defensive style of football where teams do anything to preserve their clean sheet.
- Man on: When a player isn’t aware of an approaching opposition player, cries of ‘man on’ ring around the stadium to warn them of an imminent tackle.
- He needs to hug the line: To hug the line is a statement used to encourage these players to stay as wide as possible so to stretch the opposition across the pitch.
- He was caught ball watching: By just watching the ball they can be caught out of position, which will be taken advantage of by the opposition.
- The wall did its job: When players stand in a line, 10-yards from a free kick, this is known as the wall.
- He’s a dead ball specialist: Dead ball situations are when the ball is stationary after a stoppage in the game
- Stay on your feet: A strange phrase for a sport played on your feet, but fans shout this in a vain attempt to stop a player lunging to the ground to tackle an opponent.
- Bicycle kick: A bicycle kick is a method of shooting or passing which involves a player being airborne and usually playing the ball in the opposite direction to the way they are facing.
- Big-game player: A big-game player is one who routinely performs well in a highly pressurized environment
- All Ball: This is said when a player attempts to tackle the ball, and connects with the ball rather than the player’.
- Back Of The Net: A commentator favorite to describe the ball crossing the line and hugging the net, in other words, a goal.
- Ball To Hand: The claim that the contact between the hand and the ball is inadvertent, therefore it shouldn’t warrant a free kick.
- Bicycle Kick: Also known as the overhead kick.
- Boot It: An instruction given by the teammates of a player for them to kick the ball with full power to get it away.
- Box To Box Player: A player that can successfully play both sides of the game.
- Brace: A word to describe the achievement of a player that scores two goals in one game.
- Chip Shot: A shot that is kicked from underneath the ball to provide some arc for it to go over the opponent.
- Class Act: A player/manager that deserves praise especially with their attitude and manners off the field.
- Clean Sheet: The accolade a team/goalkeeper earns when a full game is played without conceding a goal.
- Cleats: The plastic or metallic bumps on the sole of football shoes. Also used for the shoes themselves.
- Clinical Finish: A top notch shot that leads to a goal. The scorer of this goal is called the clinical finisher
- Cracker: A breathtaking football match or an outstanding goal, mainly from a long distance.
- Drive: The exaggerated falling move of a player to deceive the referee in order to win their team a foul call.
- Dummy Run: An off-the-ball run made by an offensive player to create space for his teammate with the ball. Used to trick opponents by pretending to move towards the ball.
- First Time Ball: Transferring the ball to a teammate with one single touch when a pass is received.
- Flick On: A move where the offensive player hits a moving ball with their foot or head when it’s passing by them without controlling it first.
- Game Of Two Halves: A cliché that commentators resort to when a match has consisted of two halves with huge disparities in character and score.
- Hard Man: A player notorious for their tough, physical, and assertive style of football.
- Hoof: Purposelessly kicking the ball towards the opposite goal with power.
- Howler: An inexplicable mistake by a player that generally proves costly.
- Hug The Line: The instruction given to wing players to stay closer to sidelines, especially when dribbling forward.
You can also learn some common basketball phrases when you are done with the above table of phrases.
Keep exploring EnglishBix to learn more about words and phrases used in different sports.
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