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About This Quiz
Given time, every subculture develops its own shorthand. These lexicons vary in importance and strangeness; some specific terms are clearly derived and thus clearly understood, whilst other slang is so far removed from its origins that unless one is specifically told, one will not know what is meant by them. Every sport develops some shorthand, be it the use of acronyms or made-up slang, and football is no different.
Football has the advantage of being a very old game with centuries of play behind it. Football's style of play is active and against the clock, meaning that shorthand is valuable to players on the pitch, allowing quick and efficient communication. Being an international sport, football has benefited from the input of many cultures and languages, expanding the possibilities for slang through cultural exchange. Played by children and adults, football incorporates many points of view. Still, even the most ardent player can't know all of the shorthand used by footballers the world over. Knowing even an iota of the entire slang lexicon is enough to improve teamwork, so for the serious footie enthusiast, slang knowledge is a requirement.
Do you know the in-house language of the beautiful game, or are you merely a poseur with a limited vocabulary? It's time to test your footie-in-mouth skills!
Yes! Hit the ball with one's head!
With most players unable to use their hands in play, feet, knees and heads are relied upon. A header is an action by which a player uses their head to deflect or impact the ball to a specific course, either scoring a goal or passing to another player.
Yes! Get ahead in the score!
Yes! Pass the ball to the furthest forward player!
Yes! Kick the ball into someone's head!
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Yes, it would be a dark ball played on a hot day.
Yes, it would be very low and fast.
Some kicks bend through the air. Some kicks soar and dive. A worm-burner is a kick that travels at high velocity without getting very high from the ground, usually only clearing the ground by a few centimeters. It is so named because the ball is hit hard and low enough to affect anything living in the ground, apparently including worms.
Yes, it's a football game played on soil without grass.
None of the above
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It's when someone falls and breaks their leg.
It's a moment when a player with the ball has nothing but clear space between him and the goalie.
A breakaway is the sort of thing that thrills some fans and causes others to despair. It is a moment when a player who has the ball has nothing but empty space separating him from the goalie and the goal, making it much easier to charge at the goal and attempt to score.
It's when one player leaves a pack of players to distract the goalie.
It's when the ground under a player's feet rips away.
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It's when a player has a bounty put on them.
It's a kind of player-coverage.
Marking a player means covering the player in a one on one fashion. Marking is usually done when the defender (the player doing the marking) believes that the player they mark is going to be passed the ball. Marking a player is intended as a prelude to intercepting a pass.
It's when a player falls and dirties their uniform.
It's when a player makes a mistake in their trousers.
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Yes! A stretching exercise!
Yes! Tripping another player.
Yes! Another name for a bicycle kick.
Yes! A kind of defensive kick.
A clearing kick is a kick made defensively. Specifically, a clearing kick is a kick made by a defender in which the ball is transported from the defender's side of the pitch to the other side of the pitch, changing the dynamic of the game and perhaps passing the ball to a striker in on the defender's team.
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Kicking the ball to the centre of the goal
A kick that calibrates a player's body coordination
Kicking the ball from the centre of the goal to the sidelines
A kick from the side to the centre
A centring kick is a kick from the sidelines, sometimes a corner kick or the like, allowing the kicking player to pass to another player in the centre of the pitch. The purpose of a centring kick is usually to set up a striker for a goal, either by kicking or heading the ball.
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When muck stuck to the ball gets into someone's eyes
The action taken immediately after a header
Kicking the ball
Action happening with players who do not have the ball
Any action off-the-ball is an action taken by players who do not have the ball at the time of the action. For example, a defender and a striker may try to shove past each other to intercept a ball, but until one of them has the ball, their actions are off-the-ball.
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Stopping the movement of the ball with one's foot
Trapping isn't just stopping the ball from moving using one's foot. Specifically, trapping involves stopping the ball from moving by stamping one's foot down onto the ball, thus "trapping" it between one's foot and the ground.
Cornering a player on four sides
Tripping a player out of the playable area of the pitch
Forcing a player to kick the ball out of bounds
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Passing the ball to the player with whom you've shared a sack of chips
Passing the ball to the hottest player on the team
It's a short, curved pass.
A short pass over a defender's head
A chip pass is a kind of short pass where the player in possession of the ball hits the ball with a force similar to chipping away at a stone, sending the ball up and over a defender, to the receiver. A chip pass is a clever way of getting around a defence.
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Part of a wall
An assistant referee
Linesmen are a special kind of assistant referee whose job is to watch for when the ball crosses a line into an out-of-bounds area. When this happens, they signal the referee, who is responsible for taking action as a result of the call.
A player who is very fast when running in a straight line
A player who cannot kick the ball in such a way that it bends
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Put the ball in the box at speed for someone else to score
Whipping it in is kicking the ball into the box at speed for another player to attempt to score on the goalie. Pace is obviously an important part of this, as doing it slowly could hardly be called "whipping" it in.
Hit another player accidentally
Score an own-goal
Mime kicking the ball
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Yes! When one team leads in scoring.
Yes! When one team has more players on the pitch.
Yes! When one team has more players on the half of the pitch with the ball.
Yes! When a ref does not call a foul but reserves the right to.
Advantage is a special situation when a player has been fouled, but the ref has not called the foul because it hasn't changed the dynamic of the play, meaning the attacker's team is still in a position to score. If the attackers fail, then the ref can call the foul, as it may be deemed to have contributed to the failure of the play.
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It describes the portion of the goal where the sides meet the top, which is almost impossible to defend.
An upper V is indeed the top section of the goal where the bar describing the top meets the bar on the side of the goal, forming a sort of "V." When balls are hit to this part of the goal, they are notoriously difficult to reach and because they are so high, even harder to block.
It's when a player misses the ball and kicks the defender between their legs.
It's a formation for attacking the goal.
It's a kind of collarbone injury common to goalies.
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The sensitive part of the instep
The space around an unattended ball
The box around the goal
A bit of football slang originating in Spanish, "area chica" literally means "girl area," but it isn't clear why this term was chosen for the goalie's box. It is possible that reaching the area is deemed a prize, or that players who are tasked with defending are somehow more feminine. Whatever the origins, the meaning is clear.
The worst player on a team
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No. It is a two-footed tackle.
A slide tackle is a vicious move in the beautiful game, and the most devious players execute it from behind other players. A two-foot is a slide tackle done with both feet, usually behind. It is dangerous and may injure the target of the attack.
No. It's a two-footed kick.
No. It's a player who is an excellent attacker.
No. It's a player who is awful.
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It means they are sandwiched between two larger players.
It means they trip.
It means their name is written down in a ref's book, noting that they have been carded.
When referees card players for fouling other players, there are, of course, degrees of cards. When a player is carded, in order to keep track of the number of times they have been carded, and thus the degree of any further infraction, their names are written in the referee's book.
It means they are red-carded.
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It is the name for the pre-game meal.
Bunch up with other players
This term is usually used about defence. The meaning of "tuck-in" is for players to bunch together, creating a physical barrier. Such a barrier can either be used to stop players from passing the ball, or attacking the goal, or, indeed, intercepting a player who has the ball.
It is the name for the post-game meal.
None of the above
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A toe-kick
Dribbling the ball using only one's instep
A midfielder who pushes into the attack
A style of play
Tiki-taka is the name given to a style of play popular in Barcelona and Spain. Specifically, tiki-taka involves retaining possession of the ball by frequent, quick passing of the ball from player to player.
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A long-legged player
A type of dive made by goalies
A ref who breaks up fights
A kind of defensive player
When most of defence is dedicated to marking players from the other side, one player must remain free to catch the mistakes that slip through. The player tasked with "sweeping up" after these failures is the "sweeper." The job of sweeper is perhaps one of the most important defensive jobs in the game.
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It's a game involving a lot of running and little scoring.
It's a game between two very fast teams.
It's a game involving cross-town rivals.
A derby is a game in which the two teams playing come from the same place, but have very different fan bases, as they are rivals. Derbies are often heated affairs, even when little is at stake aside from bragging rights.
It's a game in the rain.
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A talented player
Spain has produced some of the most peculiar slang in the beautiful game, some perhaps a result of Spanish players living in the UK. In describing a cracking player, Spanish players may refer to that player as a "crack." This is always meant in a nice way.
An injured player
A terrible player
A player who cheats
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When the players are very sweaty
When the game is nearly over but not yet decided
"Squeaky bum time" is an expression having to do with the perspective of the fans. It means the time toward the end of the game when the game is almost over but not yet decided. Anything can happen at any time in football, and the tide may turn in even the final seconds of a game. Squeaky bum time.
When the fans are very sweaty
When a player falls to the ground after the pitch is soaked by rain
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It's when a ball is kicked on six sides by different players.
It's when someone kicks a trapped ball.
It's when two players kick the ball at the same time, in opposite directions.
It's a lateral pass.
A square ball is not a kind of ball, but a kind of pass. There are times when players who have the ball may want to pass it to a teammate, but not want to move the ball forward or backward, for strategic reasons. At this time, a lateral pass (right angle, therefore square) is used.
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A team's coach
A team's owner
The best player in Spain
A kind of Italian player
Few countries love football quite like Italy. Italy's Serie A football is especially loved, for it is where some of the best players test their skills against their rivals. When Italy's Serie A names its best player, that player is referred to by the nickname "Capocannoniere."
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Mowing grass
Chasing a ball without catching it
Joining a wall
Guiding an opposing player to a defender
As in all things, it is possible for a football player to influence the choices of other football players. Shepherding is a perfect example of this. Like a herding dog, the player guides the attacking player toward another defender, thus creating a more advantageous defensive scenario.
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Someone deceiving a defender
A "dummy run" is a kind of play made to break a hole in a team's defence by means of deception. More specifically, a striker would suddenly move as though they have the ball, an act that in the chaos of the pitch, may draw the attention of a defender, even for a moment, creating an opening for whoever really has the ball.
A very stupid player
Someone who mistakenly sees the ball moving
The ball itself
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It's when a player falls, breaking something.
It's when a player takes a dive.
A goal made from a great distance
A deceptive kick
A rabona is a kind of kick used by a player in possession of the ball. It is done to confuse the defenders and to show off just a bit. This type of kick is made by kicking the ball from behind the player's weight-bearing leg, meaning kicking the ball from behind the standing leg.
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It's a pass made to another player without the opposing team trying to interfere.
It's a player who leaves a team for another team without warning.
It's a player who leaves a team for another and the first team isn't compensated.
When players transfer from team to team whilst under contract, the team they leave is usually compensated financially in the form of a transfer fee. If this move from team to team takes place after a player's contract ends, then there is no fee paid, and the transfer is deemed "free."
It's when the ball is passed to the wrong player, but it works out.
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Three goals scored: with head and with each foot
A perfect hat-trick is a term for a special kind of achievement in football: a player must score three times in a game in three ways. In any particular order, the player must score a goal with a header, with a left kick, and with a right kick.
Three goals scored: from within the box, just outside of the box, and from the other end of the pitch
Three goals scored: all done with one's head
Three goals scored past three different defenders
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A goal scored from the opposite end of the pitch, with one kick
A goal scored from a corner kick
Akin to the Beckham special, an Olympic kick is a kind of bending kick that is extraordinarily difficult to do. An Olympic kick is a kick made from the corner that bends in the air and scores a goal. Doing this requires incredible control and tremendous spin.
A kick made in the air
A kick made with one's heel
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Someone who scores the opening goal of a game
Someone who scores a deciding goal with seconds remaining on the clock
Someone who scores a deciding goal in overtime
When games go into overtime, the stakes are raised. Players will become more worn out and prone to mistakes as the game drags on. A single goal could decide everything. A golden goal is such a goal: a goal made in overtime that decides the game.
A goalie who saves his team from the deciding score
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The best bad player from Argentina
A way of passing the ball using only headers
A formation
A deceptive kind of penalty kick
When players take penalty kicks, they are usually done with great force. A panenka is a penalty kick in which the kicker's body language signals a strong kick, but in the final moment before the kick, the energy goes down and the kicker softly kicks the ball, usually as part of a strategy to pass it to someone else.
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I can. It's a player who trips on the ball, injuring him or herself.
I can. It's when a player tries to kick the ball, missing, and injuring themselves.
I can. It's a bad pass resulting in potential for injury.
Poor play on the pitch can lead to accidents, collisions and other dangerous circumstances. A hospital pass is a kind of badly executed pass that puts the receiver in position to be injured in the play resulting from the pass. Dangerous indeed.
I can. It's a ball kicked directly into the face of another player.
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Cheating by holding the ball with their hands
Pushing other players back with their hands
Holding each others' arms as though holding handbags
Having a slap fight
Handbagging is one of the most delightful expressions in football. It is when players fight on the pitch, but the fight isn't a real fight, but more of a slap fight. This type of combat is called handbagging because it resembles elderly ladies fighting each other with their handbags as weapons.
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I can! It's a ball bending toward the goal.
An "in-swinger" is a kicked ball that bends toward the goal instead of away from it. In-swingers, which would include the Beckham special, are difficult to execute, and players who are good at them tend to specialise in the play.
Yes, I can! It's a player positioning him or herself behind the goalie, to complete a score.
Yes. It's a player rushing toward the goalie, with the ball.
Indeed. It's a ball kicked to one side of the goal.
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