free

Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring.

2011 September 21, Sam Lyon, “Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham”, in BBC Sport:


Wednesday

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Wednesday.wav

From Middle English Wednesday, Wednesdai, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdinas dag also attested in Old Frisian wednesdei and Middle Dutch wenesdach. In any case, a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Mercuriī (“day of Mercury”) and Koine Ancient Greek ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”) Ἑρμοῦ (Hermoû, “of Hermes”), via an association of the god Odin (“Woden”) with Mercury and Hermes.
Cognate with West Frisian woansdei (“Wednesday”), Afrikaans Woensdag (“Wednesday”), Dutch woensdag (“Wednesday”), Limburgish woonsdig (“Wednesday”), Dutch Low Saxon woonsdag (“Wednesday”), German Low German Woonsdag (“Wednesday”), dialectal German Wodenstag (“Wednesday”), Danish onsdag (“Wednesday”), Norwegian Bokmål onsdag (“Wednesday”), Norwegian Nynorsk onsdag (“Wednesday”), Swedish onsdag (“Wednesday”).
See also Japanese 水曜日 (Mercury's day).

cog

(UK, soccer) Nickname of Sheffield Wednesday of the Football League.


libero

From Italian libero (literally “free one”). So called because he has no direct opponent to mark and is therefore free to join in the offensive. The volleyball use is younger.

Nicknamed “Der Kaiser”, Beckenbauer was as elegant as he was dominant, and such was his assurance in possession that he came to master the modern sweeper role, or libero. More so, he is credited with creating it.

2024 January 8, Sachin Nakrani, “Franz Beckenbauer, World Cup-winning captain and manager, dies aged 78”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(soccer) A central defender to whom no forward is assigned for marking, forming the last line of defence and often initiating the offensive play.


BBC

en-noun

BBC (countable and uncountable, plural BBCs)

(soccer, informal) Initialism of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, the forward of Real Madrid between 2013 and 2018.


relegate

en-verb

relegate (third-person singular simple present relegates, present participle relegating, simple past and past participle relegated)

relegates (present singular third-person)
relegating (participle present)
relegated (participle past)
relegated (past)
religate (alternative)

First attested in 1561, borrowed from Latin relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

After finishing second-bottom in the table, United were relegated from the division.

(transitive, in extended use) Consign or assign.

(sports, chiefly soccer) Transfer (a sports team) to a lower-ranking league division.


wall

From Middle English wal, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff”), from Proto-West Germanic *wall (“wall, rampart, entrenchment”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”).
Perhaps conflated with waw (“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), from Middle English wawe, from Old English wāg, wāh (“an interior wall, divider”), see waw.
Cognate with North Frisian wal (“wall”), Saterland Frisian Waal (“wall, rampart, mound”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”). More at wallow, walk.

cog

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

Blackburn were the recipients of another dose of fortune when from another Thomas pass Odemwingie was brought down by Jones inside the penalty area, but referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a free-kick which Chris Brunt slammed into the wall.

2011 January 23, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2-0 West Brom”, in BBC:

(soccer) A line of defenders set up between an opposing free-kick taker and the goal.


scrimmage

/ˈskɹɪmɪd͡ʒ/

/ˈskɹɪməd͡ʒ/

Merchandise sales surged. The spring scrimmage, usually a yawn of an afterthought at Colorado, was packed.

2024 October 4, John Branch, “What Does College Football Have to Do With College?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(US, athletics, soccer) In some team sports, especially soccer, a practice game which does not count on a team's record.


eleven

elevens (plural)
Arabic numerals (alternative)
Roman numerals (alternative)

From Middle English elleven, enleven, eleven, from Old English endleofan; from Proto-Germanic *ainalif (“one left”) (i.e., one left over after having already counted to ten), a compound of *ainaz and *-lif, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Compare West Frisian alve, Low German ölven, Dutch elf, German elf, Icelandic ellefu, Danish and Norwegian elleve.

der

(soccer) A football team of eleven players; the starting lineup.


bomb

From French bombe, from Italian bomba, from Latin bombus (“a booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “booming, humming, buzzing”), imitative of the sound itself. Doublet of bombe. Compare boom.

onomatopoeic

imitative

(social) Something highly effective or attractive.

(rugby, soccer, slang) A high kick that sends the ball relatively straight up so players can get under it before it comes down.


square

en-verb

square (third-person singular simple present squares, present participle squaring, simple past and past participle squared)

squares (present singular third-person)
squaring (participle present)
squared (participle past)
squared (past)

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.
Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

подравнявам

to adjust so as to align with or place at a right angle

jalustaa poikittain

nautical: to place at right angles with the keel

First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert.

2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) To make a short low pass sideways across the pitch

syöttää poikittain

soccer: to make a short low pass sideways across the pitch


league

From Middle English liege, ligg, lige (“a pact between governments, an agreement, alliance”), from Middle French ligue, from Italian lega, from the verb legare, from Latin ligō (“I tie”).

(British, soccer) Playing in the The Football League or the Premier League, the top four divisions of English football


rainbow

Sranan Tongo: alenbo

From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”). Cognate with West Frisian reinbôge (“rainbow”), Dutch regenboog (“rainbow”), German Regenbogen (“rainbow”), Danish regnbue (“rainbow”), Swedish regnbåge (“rainbow”), Icelandic regnbogi (“rainbow”).

(soccer) A trick in which the player makes the ball arc over the opponent's head using both feet; rainbow kick


hack

hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked)

hacks (present singular third-person)
hacking (participle present)
hacked (participle past)
hacked (past)

Spanish: jaquear

From Middle English hacken, hakken, from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hoe; hew”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; peg; hook; handle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian häkje (“to hack”), West Frisian hakje (“to hack”), Dutch hakken (“to chop up; hack”), German hacken (“to chop; hack; hoe”), Danish hakke (“to chop”), Swedish hacka (“to hack; chop”), French hacher (“to chop”).
The computer senses date back to at least 1955 when it initially referred to creative problem solving. By 1963, the negative connotations of “black hat” or malicious hacking had become associated with telephone hacking (cf. phreaking).

اِخْتَرَقَ

to gain illegal access to a computer network

Barcelona had been harried and hurried and stretched thin by the midway point in the second half. Tackles flew in. Toes were crushed, shins barked, ankles hacked.

8 May 2019, Barney Ronay, “Liverpool’s waves of red fury and recklessness end in joyous bedlam”, in The Guardian:

(soccer and rugby) To kick (a player) on the shins.


bent

en-adj

bent (comparative benter or more bent, superlative bentest or most bent)

benter (comparative)
more bent (comparative)
bentest (superlative)
most bent (superlative)

From Middle English bent-, preterite stem (as in bente, benten, etc.), and Middle English bent, ibent, ybent, past participle forms of Middle English benden (“to bend”). Equivalent to bend + -t.

That shot was so bent it left the pitch.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

Blackpool were not without their opportunities - thanks to their willingness to commit and leave men forward even when under severe pressure - and they looked very capable of scoring on the break.

2010 December 28, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool”, in BBC:

(sports and games):
(soccer) The counter-attack.


drive

en-noun

drive (countable and uncountable, plural drives)

[d̠ɹ̠ ̝ʷaɪv]

From Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan (“to drive, force, move”), from Proto-West Germanic *drīban, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots drive (“to drive”), North Frisian driwe (“to drive”), Saterland Frisian drieuwe (“to drive”), West Frisian driuwe (“to chase, drive, impel”), Dutch drijven (“to drive”), Low German drieven (“to drive, drift, push”), German treiben (“to drive, push, propel”), Norwegian Bokmål drive, Danish drive (“to drive, run, force”), Norwegian Nynorsk driva, Swedish driva (“to drive, power, drift, push, force”), Icelandic drífa (“to drive, hurry, rush”).

cog

And after Rodallega missed two early opportunities, the first a header, the second a low drive easily held by Lukasz Fabianski, it was N'Zogbia who created the opening goal.

2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:


attack

en-verb

attack (third-person singular simple present attacks, present participle attacking, simple past and past participle attacked or (obsolete) attackt or (obsolete, dialectal) attackted)

attacks (present singular third-person)
attacking (participle present)
attacked (participle past)
attacked (past)
attackt (obsolete participle past)
attackt (obsolete past)
attackted (dialectal obsolete participle past)
attackted (dialectal obsolete past)
attack (infinitive)
attack (first-person present singular)
attacked (first-person past singular)
attack (present second-person singular)
attackest (archaic present second-person singular)
attacked (past second-person singular)
attackedst (archaic past second-person singular)
attacks (present singular third-person)
attacketh (archaic present singular third-person)
attacked (past singular third-person)
attack (plural present)
attacked (past plural)
attack (present subjunctive)
attacked (past subjunctive)
attack (imperative present)
attacking (participle present)
attacked (participle past)

Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakka (“stick”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Old English on rǣsan (“to attack”) and onrǣs (“an attack”).

Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.

2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) To move forward in an active attempt to score a point, as opposed to trying not to concede.

hyökätä

soccer: to move forward in an attempt to score point


slide

slide (third-person singular simple present slides, present participle sliding, simple past slid, past participle slid or slidden)

slides (present singular third-person)
sliding (participle present)
slid (past)
slid (participle past)
slidden (participle past)

→ Japanese: スライド (suraido)

From Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan (“to slide”), from Proto-West Germanic *slīdan, from Proto-Germanic *slīdaną (“to slide, glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sléydʰ-e-ti, from *sleydʰ- (“slippery”). Cognate with Old High German slītan (“to slide”) (whence German schlittern), Middle Low German slīden (“to slide”), Middle Dutch slīden (“to slide”) (whence Dutch slijderen, frequentative of now obsolete slijden), Vedic Sanskrit स्रेधति (srédhati, “to err, blunder”).

cog

slide into the DMs, slide into someone's DMs

England captain Harry Kane missed a great chance to give them the lead shortly after the break but it did not prove costly as Raheem Sterling crowned a smooth move involving Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Mason Mount to slide home his 16th goal in his past 24 international appearance after 55 minutes.

2021 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Hungary 0-4 England”, in BBC:

(soccer) To kick so that the ball slides along the ground with little or no turning.


box

en-noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

boxes (plural)
boxen (humorous nonstandard plural)

Tok Pisin: bokis

→ Afrikaans: boks

→ Bengali: বাক্স (bakśo)

→ Bulgarian: бокс (boks)

→ Crimean Tatar: boks

→ Danish: boks

→ Dutch: box m

→ Faroese: boks

→ French: box m

→ German: Box f

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: बकस m (bakas), बक्सा m (baksā)

Urdu: بکس m (baks, bakas)

→ Icelandic: box n

→ Indonesian: boks

→ Irish: bosca m

→ Italian: box m

→ Japanese: ボックス (bokkusu)

→ Korean: 박스 (bakseu)

→ Maori: pāka

→ Marwari: बकस (baks, bakas)

→ Nepali: बाकस (bākas)

→ Norman: bosc m

→ Norwegian: boks m

→ Pashto: بکس (baks)

→ Persian: باکس (bâks)

→ Polish: boks m

→ Portuguese: box m

→ Russian: бокс m (boks)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bogsa m, bocsa

→ Spanish: box m

→ Swedish: box c

→ Welsh: bocs

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

кутия

compartment or receptacle for receiving items

ramme

rectangular border around an image, text, etc.

квадратче

small area on a document for a tick mark

tofu

empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts

Poised link-up play between [Michael] Essien and [Frank] Lampard set the Ghanaian midfielder free soon after but his left-footed shot from outside the box was too weak.

2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 – 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 2017-12-16:

Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space


anchor

anchors (plural)
anchour (alternative archaic)

→ Chuukese: angko

From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora, anker, angora, and Ankara.

doublet

Phil Foden once again demonstrated his pedigree and will push for a start, while Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips will hope he has done enough to get a chance as a defensive midfield anchor if Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson fails to recover full fitness after groin surgery.

2021 March 31, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Poland: What shape are Gareth Southgate's side in?”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.


Europe

en-prop

Europe (countable and uncountable, plural Europes)

→ Hindi: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Korean: 유럽 (Yureop)

→ Marathi: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Nepali: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Sanskrit: यूरोप (yūropa)

→ Telugu: యూరప్ (yūrap)

→ Urdu: یُورَپ (yūrap)

→ Yoruba: Yúróòpù

Inherited from Middle English Europe, borrowed from Latin Eurōpa, borrowed from Doric Greek Εὐρώπα (Eurṓpa). Doublet of Europa.

etymon

Manchester City crashed out of Europe on Tuesday as Borussia Dortmund ended their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League.

“Man City out of Europe as Arsenal lose again”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), ESPN (UK), 2012 December 4, retrieved 2012-12-05

(soccer) International club competitions operated by UEFA, the sport's governing body for Europe.


handle

en-verb

handle (third-person singular simple present handles, present participle handling, simple past and past participle handled)

handles (present singular third-person)
handling (participle present)
handled (participle past)
handled (past)

→ Dutch: handelen

→ German: händeln, handeln

From Middle English handlen, from Old English handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”), from Proto-West Germanic *handulōn, from Proto-Germanic *handulōną (“to take, grip, feel”), equivalent to hand + -le. Cognate with West Frisian handelje, hanneljen, hanljen (“to handle, treat”), Dutch handelen (“to handle, deal, act, negotiate”), German handeln (“to act, trade, negotiate, behave”), Swedish handla (“to buy, trade, deal”), Icelandic höndla (“to handle”).

cog

(soccer, intransitive) To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball.

kezez

soccer: to illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball


stop

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (“to stop, close”), *stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-, *(s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from *(s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump.
Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

cog

The Foxes were indebted to two crucial saves from keeper Kasper Schmeichel, who turned former Leicester defender Ben Chilwell's header on to a post then produced an even better stop to turn Mason Mount's powerful shot wide.

2021 May 15, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A save; preventing the opposition from scoring a goal


pass

en-verb

pass (third-person singular simple present passes, present participle passing, simple past and past participle passed)

passes (present singular third-person)
passing (participle present)
passed (participle past)
passed (past)
passe (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English passen, from Old French passer (“to step, walk, pass”), from Vulgar Latin *passāre (“step, walk, pass”), derived from Latin passus (“a step”), from Proto-Italic *pat-s-tus, from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread, stretch out”). Cognate with Old English fæþm (“armful, fathom”). More at fathom.
Displaced native Old English genġan.

مَرَّ

medicine: to eliminate (something) from the body by natural processes; to go through the intestines

اِجْتَازَ

to go through any inspection or test successfully

20 June 2010, The Guardian, Rob Smyth
Iaquinta passes it coolly into the right-hand corner as Paston dives the other way.

(sports) To make various kinds of movement.

(transitive, soccer) To kick (the ball) with precision rather than at full force.


home

From Middle English hōm, from Old English hām, from Proto-West Germanic *haim, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“home, village”), from Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos (“village, home”), from the root *tḱey-. Doublet of heyem.
Cognates
Germanic cognates: see *haimaz.
Cognate with Irish caoimh (“dear”), Lithuanian kaimas (“village”), šeima (“family”), Albanian komb (“nation, people”), Old Church Slavonic сѣмь (sěmĭ, “seed”), Ancient Greek κώμη (kṓmē, “village”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie”) (compare Hittite [script needed] (kittari, “it lies”), Ancient Greek κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie down”), Latin civis (“citizen”), Avestan 𐬯𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬈 (saēte, “he lies, rests”), Sanskrit शये (śáye, “he lies”)).

cog

2004, Tottenham 4-4 Leicester, BBC Sport: February,
Walker was penalised for a picking up a Gerry Taggart backpass and from the resulting free-kick, Keane fired home after Johnnie Jackson's initial effort was blocked.


drag

en-verb

drag (third-person singular simple present drags, present participle dragging, simple past and past participle dragged or (dialectal) drug)

drags (present singular third-person)
dragging (participle present)
dragged (participle past)
dragged (past)
drug (dialectal participle past)
drug (dialectal past)

From Middle English draggen (“to drag”), early Middle English dragen (“to draw, carry”), confluence of Old English dragan (“to drag, draw, draw oneself, go, protract”) and Old Norse draga (“to draw, attract”); both from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, drag”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to draw, drag”).
Verb sense influenced due to association with the noun drag (“that which is hauled or dragged”), related to Low German dragge (“a drag-anchor, grapnel”). Cognate with Danish drægge (“to dredge”), Danish drage (“to draw, attract”), Swedish dragga (“to drag, drag anchor, sweep”), Swedish draga (“to draw, go”), Icelandic draga (“to drag, pull”). Doublet of draw.

cog

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards

Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second.

2012, David Ornstein, BBC Sport, "Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham" http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20278355, November 17


penalty

penalties (plural)
pœnalty (alternative archaic)

→ Gulf Arabic: بلنتي (balanti)

→ Portuguese: pênalti, penálti

→ Spanish: penalti

→ Swahili: penalti

From Middle French pénalité, from pénal, from Latin poenālis, from poena, borrowing of Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ), from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂, comprising *kʷey- + *-néh₂.

(soccer) A direct free kick from the penalty spot, taken after a defensive foul in the penalty box; a penalty kick.


kick

en-noun

kick (countable and uncountable, plural kicks)

→ German: Kick

→ Irish: cic

From Middle English kyken (“to strike out with the foot”), from Old Norse kikna (“to sink at the knees”) and keikja (“to bend backwards”) (compare Old Norse keikr (“bent backwards, the belly jutting forward”)), from Proto-Germanic *kaikaz (“bent backwards”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kī-, *kij- (“to split, dodge, swerve sidewards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH- (“to sprout, shoot”). Compare also Dutch kijken (“to look”), Middle Low German kīken (“to look, watch”). See keek.

cog

(soccer) A pass played by kicking with the foot.

a long kick up the field.

(soccer) The distance traveled by kicking the ball.


CFC

Chelsea Football Club
w:Chelsea Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Chelsea Football Club.


dummy

dummies (plural)
dumbie (alternative rare)
dumby (alternative rare)

From dumb + -y. Pacifier sense from dummy teat where dummy is in the sense of a nonfunctional replica.

мор

bridge: the partner of the winning bidder, who shows his or her hand

(sports, chiefly rugby, soccer) A feigned pass or kick or play in order to deceive an opponent.

финт

a feigned pass or play to deceive others in sport


wand

From Middle English wand, wond, from Old Norse vǫndr (“switch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, twist, wind, braid”). Cognate with Icelandic vendi (“wand”), Danish vånd (“wand, switch”), German Wand (“wall, septum”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wandus, “rod”).

der

Without question, he is the best left-footed player I've ever played with. Along with his wand of a left foot he also has great pace and can be as hard as nails.

2013 October 17, Lee McCulloch, Simp-Lee the Best: My Autobiography, Black & White Publishing, →ISBN:

Shortly afterwards, Thomas lined up a corner and with his wand of a right foot, landed it on the head of Campbell to get Everton's second.

2019 February 15, Chris Sweeney, Mad Dog Gravesen, eBook Partnership, →ISBN:

Cresswell also had a wand of a left foot, which was a threat from open play and set-pieces – though his quality in the latter category wasn't used as often in 2015/16 due to Payet's presence.

2021 May 10, Danny Lewis, Boleyn's Farewell, eBook Partnership, →ISBN:

(UK, soccer, figurative, informal) A player's foot used especially skillfully in football.


line

→ Scottish Gaelic: loidhne

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”).
Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen.
The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.

lyn

path through two or more points, threadlike mark

lyn

single horizontal row of text on a screen, printed paper, etc.

linja

measure of length, the main division of an inch or its local equivalent

St Johnstone's Liam Craig had to clear off the line before Steven Anderson sent a looping header into his own net for the equaliser on 36 minutes.

2011 October 1, Clive Lindsay, “Kilmarnock 1-2 St Johnstone”, in BBC Sport:

A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.


area

Bendtner's goal-bound shot was well saved by goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi but fell to Arsahvin on the edge of the area and the Russian swivelled, shaped his body and angled a sumptuous volley into the corner.


MSN

(soccer, informal) Initialism of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, the forward of FC Barcelona between 2014 and 2017.


WSW

Western Sydney Wanderers FC
w:Western Sydney Wanderers FC

(soccer) Initialism of Western Sydney Wanderers FC.


screw

en-verb

screw (third-person singular simple present screws, present participle screwing, simple past screwed, past participle screwed or (rare, nonstandard) screwn)

screws (present singular third-person)
screwing (participle present)
screwed (past)
screwed (participle past)
screwn (nonstandard participle past rare)

From Middle English screw, scrue (“screw”); apparently, despite the difference in meaning, from Old French escroue (“nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole”), from Latin scrōfa (“female pig”) through comparison with the corkscrew shape of a pig's penis. There is also the Old French escruve (“screw”), from Old Dutch *scrūva ("screw"; whence Middle Dutch schruyve (“screw”)), which probably influenced or conflated with the aforementioned, resulting in the Middle English word.
more on the etymology of screw
Old French escroue (whence Medieval Latin scrofa (“nut, screwhole”)), is believed to be an adaptation of Latin scrōfa (“sow, female pig”); but this development is not found in other Romance languages. (For change in meaning, compare also Spanish puerca, Portuguese porca, both ‘sow; screw nut’, and is based on the fact that a boar's penis has a screw-like tip, making the sow's vulva equivalent to a screw nut by analogy).
Old Dutch *scrūva possibly derives from Proto-Germanic *skrūbō (“screw”), from *skru- (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keru-, *(s)ker- (“to cut”), and is related to German Schraube (“screw”), Low German schruve, schruwe (“screw”), Dutch schroef (“screw”), West Frisian skroef (“screw”), Danish skrue (“screw”), Swedish skruv (“screw, peg”), Icelandic skrúfa (“screw”).
Compare also Occitan escrofa (“screw nut”), Calabrese scrufina (“screw nut”), which may be borrowings of the Old French word, or parallel developments.

gloss

"screw"; whence Middle Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="dum">schruyve</i> (“screw”)

cog

have one's head screwed on the right way

would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on

The visitors could have added an instant second, but Rooney screwed an ugly attempt high into Hennessey's arms after Berbatov cleverly found the unmarked England striker.

2011 February 5, Chris Whyatt, “Wolverhampton 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC:

(soccer, transitive) To miskick (a ball) by hitting it with the wrong part of the foot.


XI

From translingual XI (“eleven”, Roman numeral).

bor

Not since Coventry in 1992 has a Premier League side kicked off a campaign with an all-English XI but things have reached the point where, of the 61 signings who have cost the elite division's 20 clubs a transfer fee this summer, only 12 have involved Englishmen.

2013 August 20, Louise Taylor, The Guardian:

(soccer) A football (soccer) team of eleven players.


hook

en-verb

hook (third-person singular simple present hooks, present participle hooking, simple past and past participle hooked)

hooks (present singular third-person)
hooking (participle present)
hooked (participle past)
hooked (past)

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

koukata

hockey: to engage in the illegal maneuver of hooking

The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards.

2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:

(soccer, bowling) To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.


net

net (third-person singular simple present nets, present participle netting, simple past and past participle netted)

nets (present singular third-person)
netting (participle present)
netted (participle past)
netted (past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *neHd-
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Germanic *natją
Proto-West Germanic *nati
Old English nett
Middle English net
English net
From Middle English net, from Old English net, nett, from Proto-West Germanic *nati, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).
Cognate with West Frisian net, Low German Nett, Dutch net, German Netz, Danish net, Swedish nät.

der

Evans netted the winner in the 80th minute.

Romeu then scored a penalty, Torres netted a header and Moses added the sixth from substitute Oscar's cross.


center

centers (plural)
centre (alternative Australia Canada Commonwealth Ireland New-Zealand South-Africa UK including usually)

From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
* (group theory): In the notation Z(G), the letter Z derives from the German Zentrum (“center”).

sentrum

point equidistant from all points on the perimeter of a circle

مَرْكَز

point in the interior of figure with mean coordinates

Bent twice sent efforts wide of the far post after cutting in from the left, Wellbeck missed his kick from an inviting centre and failed to get on the end of a looping pass when six yards out.

(sports) A player in the middle of a playing area.

(soccer) A pass played into the centre of the pitch.

centr

soccer: pass into the center of the pitch


Christmas tree

Christmas trees (plural)
Christmas's tree (alternative)
X-mas tree (alternative)
Xmas tree (alternative)

PIE word
 *dóru
[[File:Emoji u1f384.svg|thumb||200px|The emoji for Christmas tree: see the entry at 🎄.]]
From Christmas + tree, a calque of German Weynacht Baum (obsolete, 17th c.), Weihnachtsbaum, from Weynacht, Weihnacht (literary or poetic variant of Weihnachten (“Christmas”)) + -s- (genitive interfix) + Baum (“tree”). The custom of Christmas trees was adopted in the United Kingdom from Germany in the 19th century, having been popularized by their use by the royal family during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901.
Sense 3 (“Christmas party”) refers to the fact that there is usually a Christmas tree (sense 1) at the event.

joulukuusi

something which resembles a Christmas tree in appearance or shape

That or, in the name, something given a title to cover up the fact that all it was, was a football formation. But then the Christmas Tree came along.

2015 August 20, Edward Couzens-Lake, Mapping the Pitch: Football Formations Through The Ages, Meyer & Meyer Sport, →ISBN:

We ended up inventing the Christmas tree formation. It came about as a practical necessity but it married perfectly to the philosophy of the president.

2016 May 26, Carlo Ancelotti, Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

Even when Terry Venables' Christmas tree tactics has him playing with his back to goal, holding the ball up, taking a bruising from centre-backs, Shearer stays physically strong.

2016 June 2, Henry Winter, Fifty Years of Hurt: The Story of England Football and Why We Never Stop Believing, Random House, →ISBN:

(by extension) Something which resembles a Christmas tree (sense 1) in appearance (for example, in having coloured lights) or shape.

(soccer) A 4-3-2-1 formation, with four defenders, three centre midfielders, two attacking midfielders and a striker in a triangular pattern.


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

Composed play then saw Sam Ricketts nutmeg Ashley Cole before Taylor whipped a fine curling effort over Petr Cech's bar.

2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:


cross

→ Japanese: クロス (kurosu)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
Cognates
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”)
*Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”)
*West Frisian krús (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)
*German Low German Krüüz (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)

And Stamford Bridge erupted with joy as Florent Malouda slotted in a cross from Drogba, who had stayed just onside.

(soccer) A pass in which the ball is kicked from a side of the pitch to a position close to the opponent’s goal.


cross

en-verb

cross (third-person singular simple present crosses, present participle crossing, simple past and past participle crossed)

crosses (present singular third-person)
crossing (participle present)
crossed (participle past)
crossed (past)
cross (infinitive)
cross (first-person present singular)
crossed (first-person past singular)
cross (present second-person singular)
crossest (archaic present second-person singular)
crossed (past second-person singular)
crossedst (archaic past second-person singular)
crosses (present singular third-person)
crosseth (archaic present singular third-person)
crossed (past singular third-person)
cross (plural present)
crossed (past plural)
cross (present subjunctive)
crossed (past subjunctive)
cross (imperative present)
crossing (participle present)
crossed (participle past)

He crossed the ball into the penalty area.

(sports) Relative movement by a player or of players.

(soccer) To pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other side.

centrar

soccer, football: pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other side


skin

skin (third-person singular simple present skins, present participle skinning, simple past and past participle skinned)

skins (present singular third-person)
skinning (participle present)
skinned (participle past)
skinned (past)
skinne (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), from which derives hide.
Cognate with Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”); also Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish cenn (“covering, shell”), Irish scáin (“to tear, burst”), Latin scindō (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “to split”).

een skin gebruiken

to use a replacement image for the graphical user interface of

The Russian, sometimes out of sorts in recent weeks, was seeing plenty of the ball on the left-hand side up against Hunt, a 20-year-old right-back making his first Huddersfield start. Arshavin skinned the youngster at the first opportunity and crossed for Bendtner, who could not direct his close-range effort on target.

2011 January 30, Kevin Darlng, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Huddersfield”, in BBC:

(UK, soccer, transitive) To use tricks to go past a defender.

финтирам

soccer: to use tricks to go past a defender


turn

en-verb

turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)

turns (present singular third-person)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turned (past)
turnt (obsolete participle past)
turnt (obsolete past)
turn (infinitive)
turn (first-person present singular)
turned (first-person past singular)
turn (present second-person singular)
turnest (archaic present second-person singular)
turned (past second-person singular)
turnedst (archaic past second-person singular)
turns (present singular third-person)
turneth (archaic present singular third-person)
turned (past singular third-person)
turn (plural present)
turned (past plural)
turn (present subjunctive)
turned (past subjunctive)
turn (imperative present)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turnt (archaic participle past)

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.

lyödä kierre

in cricket, make the ball move sideways when it bounces

kiertää

of a cricket ball, move sideways when it bounces

Liverpool introduced Carroll for Spearing and were rewarded after 64 minutes when he put them back in contention. Stewart Downing blocked Jose Bosingwa's attempted clearance, which fell into the path of Carroll. He turned John Terry superbly before firing high past Cech.

2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

(transitive, soccer) Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.

peipata

soccer: go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control


turn

→ Japanese: ターン (tān)

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

دَوْرَة

movement about an axis ending up with the same orientation

360° turn

movement about an axis returning to the original orientation

the first turn of the screw pays all debts

(soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.

peippaus

soccer: instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control


turn in

en-verb

turn in (third-person singular simple present turns in, present participle turning in, simple past and past participle turned in)

turns in (present singular third-person)
turning in (participle present)
turned in (participle past)
turned in (past)

At that point Leicester were playing with drive and ambition but they were undone by two goals in three minutes. First, Vieira turned in a rebound after the defender Souleymane Bamba had blocked David Silva's shot on the line.

2011 January 18, Daniel Taylor, “Manchester City 4 Leicester City 2”, in Guardian Online:

(soccer) To convert a goal using a turning motion of the body.


knock

knock (third-person singular simple present knocks, present participle knocking, simple past and past participle knocked)

knocks (present singular third-person)
knocking (participle present)
knocked (participle past)
knocked (past)

From Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian, ġecnocian, cnucian (“to knock, pound on, beat”), from Proto-West Germanic *knokōn, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną (“to knock”), a suffixed form of *knu-, *knew- (“to pound on, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnew-, *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (“to hit”), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (“to pound, knock”), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (“to squeeze”), Swedish knocka (“to hug”)).

knock someone into the middle of next week

(transitive, soccer) To kick a ball towards another player; to pass.


nutmeg

en-noun

nutmeg (countable and uncountable, plural nutmegs)

→ Irish: noitmig

→ Japanese: ナツメグ (natsumegu)

→ Maori: natimeke

→ Welsh: nytmeg

From Middle English notemege, notemuge, a partial translation of Medieval Latin nux muga, a variant of Medieval Latin nux muscata (“musky nut”). Compare also Old French nois mugede.
For the term used in various ball sports, see Wikipedia.

der

The same applied to Loftus-Cheek, who grew into the game after a quiet start and even had the impudence to slip the ball through Marcel Halstenberg’s legs in the first half. Nutmegs aside, Loftus-Cheek also came up with one of England’s best passes of the night, sending Jamie Vardy through the middle at the end of the first half.

2017 November 10, Daniel Taylor, “Youthful England earn draw with Germany but Lingard rues late miss”, in The Guardian (London):

(soccer, field hockey or ice hockey, basketball) The playing of the ball between the legs of an opponent.


hitman

→ Cebuano: hitman

(soccer) A goalscorer; someone who scores goals.


double

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

(soccer) Two competitions, usually one league and one cup, won by the same team in a single season.


poker

→ Armenian: պոկեր (poker)

→ Catalan: pòquer

→ Chinese: 撲克 /扑克 (pūkè; pok³ hak¹)

→ Czech: poker

→ Danish: poker

→ Dutch: poker

→ Esperanto: pokero

→ Finnish: pokeri

→ French: poker

→ Georgian: პოკერი (ṗoḳeri)

→ German: Poker
→ Estonian: pokker

→ Greek: πόκερ (póker)

→ Hungarian: póker

→ Icelandic: póker

→ Italian: poker

→ Japanese: ポーカー (pokā)

→ Korean: 포커 (pokeo)

→ Luxembourgish: Poker

→ Macedonian: покер (poker)

→ Polish: poker

→ Portuguese: pôquer, póquer (Portugal)

→ Russian: покер (poker)

→ Serbo-Croatian: poker / покер

→ Slovene: poker

→ Spanish: póquer

→ Swedish: poker

→ Turkish: poker

American English, perhaps from first element of German Pochspiel, from German pochen, perhaps from French poque. First appeared in the 19th century.

2021 September 20, Ratul Ghosh, "THE BEST MOMENTS FROM JIMMY GREAVES' LEGENDARY FOOTBALLING CAREER FootTheBall
Greaves hit three hat-tricks, two pokers and five goals against West Brom on his way to a record-setting 41 league goals.

2022 April 17, Dylan Butler, "Recap: NYCFC 6, Real Salt Lake 0" MLS.com
Poker Face: Taty Castellanos strikes FOUR times for NYCFC vs. RSL

Ibra has scored a "poker" on four separate occasions during his career: twice with Paris Saint-Germain and twice for Sweden. The most famed example must surely be his single-handed crushing of England in a friendly back in 2012, when the striker rounded off a 4-2 victory for the Swedes with a truly immense long-range overhead kick in the final minute.

2023 January 24, Chris Wright, "Mbappe scored career-high five goals in one game. What about Messi, Ronaldo and world's other top strikers?" Toe Poke (ESPN)

The only player who scored a poker at Nou Camp is Milinko Pantić. Curiously, despite his 4 goals, his team (Atlético Madrid) lost the game.

2023 April 6, "THE 11TH HAT TRICK SCORER AT NOU CAMP" International Federation of Football History and Statistics

2023 April 30, "Europa League's fastest goals and quickest hat-tricks" UEFA
Daka also became only the fifth player to score four or more in a Europa League match, and the second fastest after Willian José, whose 'poker' came in the space of 26 minutes for Real Sociedad at Vardar in 2017.

(soccer, rare) [a player's] scoring four goals in one match


glut

Inherited from Middle English glotien /glotten, probably derived from Old French gloter /glotir /glotoiier (“to eat greedily”) [compare French engloutir (“to devour”), French glouton (“glutton”)], derived from Latin gluttiō, gluttīre (“to swallow”). Compare Russian глота́ть (glotátʹ, “to swallow”).

cog

Four goals scored by a single player in a match can be described as a 'haul', while five goals is unofficially a 'glut'.

2020 October 23, “What is a brace in soccer?”, in Goal:

(British, soccer) Five goals scored by one player in a game.


cup

→ Farefare: kɔpɩ

→ Hebrew: קאפ (kap)

→ Japanese: カップ (kappu)

desc

→ Kashubian: kopsa (Canada, United States)

→ Korean: 컵 (keop)

→ Maori: kapu

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

Until it was disbanded in 1999, the European Cup-Winners Cup was contested annually by the winners of Europe's national cups.

2002, Rob Dimery, Peter Watts, Guinness world records, Gullane Children's Books, →ISBN:

Wallace had the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Scottish Cups in the same season.

2011, Michael Grant, Rob Robertson, The Management: Scotland's Great Football Bosses, Birlinn, →ISBN:

One week earlier, they had lost 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal [the German cup] final in Berlin.

2014, Martí Perarnau, Pep Confidential: Inside Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich, Birlinn, →ISBN:

(soccer) The main knockout tournament in a country, organised alongside the league.


toss

From Middle English tossen (“to buffet about, agitate, toss; to sift or winnow”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Norse (compare dialectal Norwegian tossa, dialectal Swedish tossa (“to strew, spread”)), or perhaps from an alteration of Middle English tosen (“to tease, pull apart, shred; to wound, injure”). Compare also Dutch tassen (“to pile or heap up, stack”).
The Welsh tos (“a quick jerk”) and tosio (“to jerk, toss”) are probably borrowed from the English.

cog

(cricket, soccer) The coin toss before a cricket match in order to decide who bats first, or before a football match in order to decide the direction of play.


spot

→ Catalan: espot

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”). Cognate with North Frisian spot (“speck, piece of ground”), Low German spot (“speck”), Old Norse spotti (“small piece”). See also splot, splotch.

cog

The Gunners dominated for long periods but, against the run of play, Denilson fouled Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass put Leeds ahead from the spot.

2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds”, in BBC:


advantage

en-noun

advantage (countable and uncountable, plural advantages)

advantages (plural)
advauntage (alternative obsolete)

/əɖˈvaːɳˌʈeːd͡ʒ/

From Middle English avantage, avauntage, from Old French avantage, from avant (“before”), from Late Latin ab ante. The spelling with d was a mistake, a- being supposed to be from Latin ad (see advance). For sense development, compare foredeal.

Webb played an advantage that enabled Cazorla to supply a low cross from the left for Giroud to sweep home first time, despite Gallas and Vertonghen being in close attendance.

2012 November 17, “Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) The continuation of the game after a foul against the attacking team, because the attacking team are in an advantageous position.


layoff

(British, soccer) A short pass that has been rolled in front of another player for them to kick.


treble

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English treble, from Old French treble, from Latin triplus. Doublet of triple.

(sports) Three goals, victories, awards etc. in a given match or season.

(soccer) A win in the top league, top national cup and top continental cup in the same season.


manager

→ Albanian: menaxher

→ Burmese: မန်နေဂျာ (mannegya)

→ Catalan: mànager

→ Cebuano: manedyer

→ Dutch: manager

→ French: manager
→ Turkish: menajer

→ German: Manager

→ Greek: μάνατζερ (mánatzer)

→ Hungarian: menedzser

→ Italian: manager

→ Japanese: マネージャー (manējā)

→ Korean: 매니저 (maenijeo)

→ Polish: menedżer

→ Romanian: manager

→ Russian: ме́неджер (ménedžer)

→ Scottish Gaelic: manaidsear

→ Spanish: mánager

→ Swahili: meneja

→ Tagalog: manedyer

→ Ukrainian: ме́неджер (ménedžer)


AFC

Asian Football Confederation
w:Asian Football Confederation

(soccer) Initialism of Asian Football Confederation.

Arsenal Football Club
w:Arsenal Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Arsenal Football Club.


AFC

AFC (countable and uncountable, plural AFCs)

Association Football Club
w:Association Football Club

(soccer) Initialism of Association Football Club.


Celtic

en-proper noun

Celtic (countable and uncountable, plural Celtics)

Celtics (plural)
Keltic (alternative rare)

Borrowed from French celtique or Latin celticus. First attested in the 17th century.

(soccer) Celtic F.C., a football club from Glasgow, Scotland.


sub

en-verb

sub (third-person singular simple present subs, present participle subbing, simple past and past participle subbed)

subs (present singular third-person)
subbing (participle present)
subbed (participle past)
subbed (past)

* Shortened form of any of various words beginning with sub-.

switch

one who is willing to take either a sadistic or a masochistic role

He never really made a contribution to the match, so it was no surprise when he was subbed at half time.

(British, informal, soccer) To replace (a player) with a substitute.

He was subbed on half way through the second half, and scored within minutes.

(British, informal, soccer, less common, often as "sub on") To bring on (a player) as a substitute.


forward

forwards (plural)
foreward (alternative)
forrard (alternative)
forrad (alternative)
forred (alternative)

From Middle English foreward, from Old English foreweard (“forward, inclined to the front, fore, early, former”), from Proto-Germanic *fura- (“fore-”), *warþaz (“turned”), equivalent to fore + -ward. Cognate with Dutch voorwaarts (“forward”), German vorwärts (“forward”).

der

(soccer) A player on a team in football (soccer) in the row nearest to the opposing team's goal, who are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals.

rojník

players nearest to the opposing rugby team

مُهَاجِم

player nearest to the opposing soccer team


Olyroos

(soccer) The Australian Olympic soccer team.


blast

en-verb

blast (third-person singular simple present blasts, present participle blasting, simple past and past participle blasted)

blasts (present singular third-person)
blasting (participle present)
blasted (participle past)
blasted (past)

⇒ Italian: blastare

From Middle English blasten, blesten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).

noncog

A Ricketts and Stuart Holden one-two around the box then created a decent chance for an almost instant equaliser - but Welsh full-back Ricketts blasted over when a calmer finish could have been rewarded.

(soccer) To shoot; kick the ball in hope of scoring a goal.


through

From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognate with Scots throch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), German durch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.

thoo (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
thorough (alternative)
thorow (alternative obsolete)
thorugh (alternative common)
thro' (alternative archaic poetic)
throughe (alternative obsolete)
thru (alternative US informal)
thrue (alternative obsolete)

With the Swifts calling for offside the striker was through and only a great save from McIlravey prevented the opener.

2015, Steve Grossi, SWFL1: Missed Chances See Swifts Relinquish Top Spot:

(soccer) In possession of the ball beyond the last line of defence but not necessarily the goalkeeper; through on goal.


postage stamp

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-postage stamp.wav

[…] got in on the act himself, firing in an unstoppable shot that arced into the postage stamp top corner of Andy Goram's goal.

2011, Alistair Aird, Ally McCoist - Rangers Legend:

(soccer, slang) The upper left- or right-hand corner of the goal.


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

So it was against the run of play that their London rivals took the lead two minutes before the interval through Drogba. He rolled William Gallas inside the area before flashing a stunning finish high past keeper Carlo Cudicini.

2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:

Rolled far too easily by Marc-Antoine Fortuné, Demichelis compounded his error by standing on the striker's foot. In the absence of the injured Watson, Gómez converted the penalty.

2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, soccer) To slip past (a defender) with the ball.


Tim

(slang, soccer) A supporter of the Scottish football team Celtic F.C..


simulation

en-noun

simulation (countable and uncountable, plural simulations)

→ Japanese: シミュレーション (shimyurēshon)

→ Korean: 시뮬레이션 (simyulleisyeon)

First attested in 1340 as Middle English symulacioun, from Middle French simulation, from Old French simulation/simulacion, from Latin simulātiōnem, from simulō (“imitate”).
Morphologically simulate + -ion.

"Players are very good at simulation," said Premier League referee Graham Poll. "I'm not saying they do practice, but I find it hard to believe they are so good at something without practicing. We have to issue more cards because it is the only way we can stop simulation spoiling the game. It is a cancer."

2004 April 19, Ravi Ubha, “Inside Soccer: FIFA gives Cameroon short(s) shrift”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

In the build-up to the second spot-kick, André Villas-Boas felt United striker Danny Welbeck had deliberately tripped over the leg of Branislav Ivanovic rather than an intentional foul being committed. "Referees have pretty clear orders on simulation, but it is difficult for them to assess the difference between simulation and fouls in those situations," he said.

2012 February 11, “AVB wants action on simulation”, in Belfast Telegraph:

(soccer) The act of falling over in order to be awarded a foul, when no foul has been committed.


delivery

delivery (countable and uncountable, plural deliveries)

From Middle English deliveri et al., from Anglo-Norman, from Old French delivrer.

The win was secured with another moment of significance four minutes from time when captain Harry Kane, who had once again struggled to influence the game, headed in from substitute Jack Grealish's perfect delivery for his first goal of Euro 2020.

2021 June 29, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Germany”, in BBC Sport:


convert

en-verb

convert (third-person singular simple present converts, present participle converting, simple past and past participle converted)

converts (present singular third-person)
converting (participle present)
converted (participle past)
converted (past)

[kʰə̥ɱˈvɜːt]

From Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).

Hinton, inevitably, converted the penalty.

2011, Jonathan Wilson, Brian Clough: The Biography, →ISBN:

However, the lead was doubled after the break, when Branislav Ivanovic converted from close range after Fernando Torres had flicked on.

2013, Mark Worrall, Kelvin Barker, David Johnstone, Making History, Not Reliving It: A Decade of Roman's Rule at Chelsea, →ISBN, page 225:

This time Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski was Saints' penalty shootout hero, saving three spot kicks before centre-back Wayne Thomas converted from 12 yards to seal a 6-5 win.

2016, Alex Crook, Alex Smith, Southampton Greatest Games: Saints' Fifty Finest Matches, →ISBN:

(transitive or intransitive, soccer) To score (especially a penalty kick).


Liverpudlian

Blend of Liverpool + puddle (as a pun on a puddle being a small pool) + -ian.

(soccer) someone connected with Liverpool Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Newcastle

[ˈnjʉˌkʰɑːsɫ̩]

From new + castle. Doublet of Neuchâtel.


rondo

en-noun

rondo (countable and uncountable, plural rondos)

Borrowed from Italian rondo, from French rondeau. Doublet of rondeau.

And four years after Pep from Catalonia first clapped eyes on Phil from Stockport across a crowded rondo, here finally was the consummation.

2020 August 7, Jonathan Liew, “Phil Foden stars to offer Manchester City glimpse of multiple futures”, in The Guardian:

(soccer) A game resembling keep-away, used to train soccer players: one group is tasked with completing a number of passes while the other smaller group tries to take possession of the ball.


brace

From Middle English brace, from Old French brace (“arm”), from Latin bracchia, the nominative and accusative plural of bracchium (“arm”).

The Manchester United midfielder’s late brace against Cyprus at the weekend was welcome, but will become no more than a footnote of his Scotland career. His brace here to down the mighty Spanish will go down in history.

28 March 2023, Graeme McGarry, “Scott McTominay earns place in history as Scotland stun Spain”, in The Herald:

To score a 'brace' means that you have scored two goals in a game.

2020 October 23, “What is a brace in soccer?”, in Goal:

(soccer) Two goals scored by one player in a game.


caution

caution (countable and uncountable, plural cautions)

Recorded since 1297 as Middle English caucioun (“bail, guarantee, pledge”), from Old French caution (“security, surety”), itself from Latin cautiō, from cautus, past participle of caveō, cavēre (“be on one's guard”).


caution

en-verb

caution (third-person singular simple present cautions, present participle cautioning, simple past and past participle cautioned)

cautions (present singular third-person)
cautioning (participle present)
cautioned (participle past)
cautioned (past)


foul

foul (third-person singular simple present fouls, present participle fouling, simple past and past participle fouled)

fouls (present singular third-person)
fouling (participle present)
fouled (participle past)
fouled (past)
foule (alternative obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English foulen, fulen, from Old English fūlian (“to become foul; rot; decay”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlēn, from Proto-Germanic *fūlāną (“to rot; decay”).

der

Smith fouled him hard.

The Gunners dominated for long periods but, against the run of play, Denilson fouled Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass put Leeds ahead from the spot.

(transitive, basketball, soccer) To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.

фаулирам

Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.

State begins fouling and UCLA misses a couple of front-end free throws on one-and-ones.

2009, Brandon Lang, Stanley Cohen, Beating the Odds: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Sports Handicapper, →ISBN:

(intransitive, basketball, soccer) To commit a foul.


release

en-verb

release (third-person singular simple present releases, present participle releasing, simple past and past participle released)

releases (present singular third-person)
releasing (participle present)
released (participle past)
released (past)

From Middle English relesen, relessen, from Old French relaisser (variant of relascher).

With the Gunners far too lightweight in midfield, Mikel Arteta dropped back into a deeper-lying role. This freed Yossi Benayoun to go further forward, a move that helped forge a rare Arsenal chance on 30 minutes when the Israeli released Van Persie, only for the Dutchman's snap-shot to be tipped around the post.

2011 September 13, Sam Lyon, “Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Arsenal”, in BBC:

(transitive, soccer) To set up; to provide with a goalscoring opportunity.


shy

From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
Etymology tree
Middle English shy
English shy

etymon

(Scotland, soccer) A throw-in from the sidelines, using two hands above the head.


slice

en-verb

slice (third-person singular simple present slices, present participle slicing, simple past and past participle sliced)

slices (present singular third-person)
slicing (participle present)
sliced (participle past)
sliced (past)

From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīzan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

der

no matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney

Chris Brunt sliced the spot-kick well wide but his error was soon forgotten as Olsson headed home from a corner.

2011 October 22, Sam Sheringham, “Aston Villa 1 – 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(transitive, soccer) To kick the ball so that it goes in an unintended direction, at too great an angle or too high.


zone defense

en-noun

zone defense (countable and uncountable, plural zone defenses)

Outside shooting is essential to beating a zone defense.

(basketball, soccer) A defense in which each player covers an area of the court.


Bayern

Clipping of Bayern Munich from German Bayern (“Bavaria”) (clipping of Bayern München).

(soccer) Bayern Munich (a German football club based in Munich)

F.C. Bayern Munich
de:F.C. Bayern München


nod

en-verb

nod (third-person singular simple present nods, present participle nodding, simple past and past participle nodded)

nods (present singular third-person)
nodding (participle present)
nodded (participle past)
nodded (past)

From Middle English nodden, probably from an unrecorded Old English *hnodian (“to nod, shake the head”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnodōn, from Proto-Germanic *hnudōną (“to beat, rivet, pound, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *kendʰ-, from *ken- (“to scratch, scrape, rub”). Compare Old High German hnotōn (“to shake”), hnutten (“to shake, rattle, vibrate”) (> modern dialectal German notteln, nütteln (“to rock, move back and forth”)), Faroese njóða (“to clench a nail”), Icelandic hnjóða (“to rivet, clinch”), Faroese noða (“to double by bending”), Icelandic hnoða (“to clinch, rivet”).

inh

Jones nods the ball back to his goalkeeper.

With the hosts not able to find their passes - everything that went forward was too heavy or too short - Terry once again had to come to his side's rescue after Davies had brilliantly nodded into the path of Elmander, who followed up swiftly with a deflected shot.

2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:

(transitive, intransitive, soccer) To head; to strike the ball with one's head.


pinball

en-noun

pinball (countable and uncountable, plural pinballs)

→ Portuguese: pinball

→ Spanish: pinball

The opener came from a Jarvis ball which struck Aleksandar Kolarov en route to a lively round of pinball between City players before it was poked in by Milijas.

2011 January 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 4 - 3 Wolves”, in BBC:

(figuratively, soccer) A situation where a ball is frantically kicked between many players.


rush

en-verb

rush (third-person singular simple present rushes, present participle rushing, simple past and past participle rushed)

rushes (present singular third-person)
rushing (participle present)
rushed (participle past)
rushed (past)

Perhaps from Middle English ruschen, russchen (“to rush, startle, make a loud rushing noise”), from Old English hrysċan (“to jolt, startle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurskijan, from Proto-Germanic *hurskijaną (“to startle, drive”), from *hurskaz (“fast, rapid, quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run, hurry”).
Cognate with Old High German hursken (“to hurry, speed, incite, accelerate”), Old English horsc (“quick, quick-witted, clever”).
etymology note
An alternative etymology traces rush via Middle English rouschen (“to rush”) from Old English *rūscian (“to rush”) from Proto-Germanic *rūskōną (“to rush, storm, be fierce, be cruel”), a variant (with formative k) of Proto-Germanic *rūsōną (“to be cruel, storm, rush”) from Proto-Indo-European *(o)rewə- (“to drive, move, agitate”), making it akin to Old High German rosc, rosci (“quick”), Middle Low German rûschen (“to rush”), Middle High German rūschen, riuschen (“to rush”) (German rauschen (“to rush”)), North Frisian ruse (“to rush”), Middle Dutch ruuscen (“to make haste”), Middle Dutch rūsen (“to rush”) (Dutch ruisen (“to rush”)), Danish ruse (“to rush”), Swedish rusa (“to rush”). Compare Middle High German rūsch (“a charge, rush”). Influenced by Middle English russhen (“to force back”) from Anglo-Norman russher, russer from Old French ruser, rëuser.
Alternatively, according to the OED, perhaps an adaptation of Anglo-Norman russher, russer (“to force back, down, out of place, by violent impact", "to pull out or drag off violently or hastily”), from Old French re(h)usser, ruser (although the connection of the forms with single -s- and double -ss- is dubious; also adopted in English ruse; French ruser (“to retreat, drive back”)), from an assumed Vulgar Latin *refūsāre and Latin refundō (“I cause to flow back”), although connection to the same Germanic root is also possible. More at rouse.

der

(intransitive, soccer) To dribble rapidly.


dribble

en-verb

dribble (third-person singular simple present dribbles, present participle dribbling, simple past and past participle dribbled)

dribbles (present singular third-person)
dribbling (participle present)
dribbled (participle past)
dribbled (past)

→⇒ Czech: driblovat

→ Dutch: dribbelen

→ French: dribbler

→ German: dribbeln

→ Portuguese: drible, driblar

→ Spanish: driblar

(basketball, soccer) In various ball games, to move (with) the ball, controlling its path by kicking or bouncing it repeatedly.

dribloj

to move (with) a ball by kicking or bouncing it


corner

→ German: Corner

→ Japanese: コーナー (kōnā)

From Middle English corner, from Anglo-Norman cornere (compare Old French cornier, corniere (“corner”)), from Old French corne (“corner, angle”, literally “a horn, projecting point”), from Vulgar Latin *corna (“horn”), from Latin cornua, plural of cornū (“projecting point, end, horn”). The sense of "angle, corner" in Old French is not found in Latin or other Romance languages. It was possibly calqued from Frankish *hurnijā (“corner, angle”), which is similar to, and derived from *hurn, the Frankish word for "horn". Displaced native cognate Middle English hirn, herne, from Old English hyrne, from Proto-Germanic *hurnijǭ (“little horn, hook, angle, corner”), whence modern English hirn (“nook, corner”), itself related to horn.

nurkka

business: interest that is sufficient for price manipulation

(heading) Relating to the playing field.

Relating to the playing field.
A corner kick.


strip

en-noun

strip (countable and uncountable, plural strips)

Brill Publishers
en:strip (disambiguation)

From alteration of stripe or from Middle Low German strippe, of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps derived from a lost strong verb Proto-Germanic *strīpaną, with no clear cognates outside of Germanic except for Irish sríab (“line, stripe”).

(UK, soccer) The uniform of a football team, or the same worn by supporters.


shank

en-verb

shank (third-person singular simple present shanks, present participle shanking, simple past and past participle shanked)

shanks (present singular third-person)
shanking (participle present)
shanked (participle past)
shanked (past)

From Middle English schanke, from Old English sċanca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skankō, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (compare West Frisian skonk, Dutch schenkel, Low German Schanke, German Schenkel (“shank, leg”), Danish skank, Norwegian skank, Swedish skänkel), from *skankaz (compare Old Norse skakkr (“wry, crooked”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (compare Middle Irish scingim (“I spring”), Ancient Greek σκάζω (skázō, “to limp”).

Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal.

2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:

(transitive, chiefly tennis, soccer, gridiron football) To hit or kick the ball in an unintended direction.


dismiss

dismiss (third-person singular simple present dismisses, present participle dismissing, simple past and past participle dismissed)

dismisses (present singular third-person)
dismissing (participle present)
dismissed (participle past)
dismissed (past)

Middle English, from Latin dimissus (“sent away, dismissed, banished”), perfect passive participle of dīmittō (“send away, dismiss”), from dis- + mittere (“to send”).

der

Kalinic later saw red for a rash tackle on Paul Scharner before Gabriel Tamas was dismissed for bringing down Diouf.

2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1-3 Blackburn”, in BBC:

(transitive, sports, soccer) To give someone a red card; to send off.


clearing

en-noun

clearing (countable and uncountable, plural clearings)

(soccer) The act of removing the ball from one's own goal area by kicking it.


FA

Football Association
w:Football Association

(soccer) Initialism of Football Association, especially the English Football Association. See also Scottish FA and Welsh FA.


haul

From Middle English hālen, hailen, haulen, halien (“to drag, pull; to draw up”), from Old French haler (“to haul, pull”), from Frankish *halōn (“to drag, fetch, haul”) or Middle Dutch halen (“to drag, fetch, haul”), possibly merging with Old English *halian (“to haul, drag”); all from Proto-Germanic *halōną, *halēną, *hulōną (“to call, fetch, summon”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, cry, summon”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Cognates
The word is cognate with Danish hale (“to haul”), Middle Dutch halen (“to draw, fetch, haul”), Dutch halen (“to fetch, bring, haul”), Old Frisian halia, Saterland Frisian halen (“to draw, haul, pull”), Low German halen (“to draw, pull”), Old High German halôn, holôn, German holen (“to fetch, get”), Norwegian hale (“to haul”), Old Saxon halôn (“to fetch, get”), Swedish hala (“to hale, haul, pull, tug”), and related to Old English ġeholian (“to get, obtain”).

cog

Four goals scored by a single player in a match can be described as a 'haul', while five goals is unofficially a 'glut'.

(British, soccer) Four goals scored by one player in a game.


assist

From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister (“to assist, to attend”), from Latin assistō (“stand at, bestand”, verb).

der

Özil has 16 assists in the Premier League and three goals; he has two more goals in the Champions League. On Monday, he took Bournemouth apart in the 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium, setting up the first for Gabriel and scoring the second himself.

2016 January 1, David Hytner, “Mesut Özil has Arsenal daring to dream of Premier League glory”, in The Guardian:

(sports) The act of helping another player score points or goals

(soccer) A decisive pass made to the goal scorer

асистенция

statistical recognition of making a pass

assist

(soccer): a pass that is decisive in scoring a goal


MLS

Major League Soccer
w:Major League Soccer

(soccer, US) Initialism of Major League Soccer, the top league of men's soccer in the US.


Grand Slam

(British, soccer) winning in each of the three UEFA cups - UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and Cup Winners' Cup (defunct).


hat trick

hat tricks (plural)
hattrick (alternative)
hat-trick (alternative)

From hat + trick (“element of a magician’s or variety entertainer’s act; entertaining and difficult physical action”, noun). Sense 2 (“achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls”)—the original sporting sense—refers to the commemorative hat formerly given as a prize to the bowler by his club.

driekuns

three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc.

שלושער m (shloshá'ar, literally “three-gate or goal”)

གསུམ་སྦྲགས (gsum sbrags, literally “pack-of-three”)

In ice hockey, it’s customary for fans to throw their hats on to the rink after a player scores a hat trick.

(cricket) An achievement of a bowler taking three wickets in three consecutive balls.

(by extension, sports) Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins.

(specifically, ice hockey, soccer) Three goals scored by one player in a game.


sweeper

From Middle English swepere, swepare, equivalent to sweep + -er. Cognate with Middle Low German swēpære, swēper (“broom for sweeping up debris”).

(soccer) A defender who is the last line of defence before the goalkeeper.


knockdown

en-noun

knockdown (countable and uncountable, plural knockdowns)

Pires, a three-time Cup winner with Arsenal who scored the Gunners' winner against Southampton in the 2003 final, has been a largely peripheral figure at Villa Park since joining in November - but the 37-year-old rolled back the years with a fine finish from Delfouneso's knockdown.

2011 January 29, Chris Bevan, “Aston Villa 3 - 1 Blackburn”, in BBC:

(soccer) a short pass played downwards, for example from the head onto someone's feet.


semicircle

(soccer) An arc whose center is the penalty spot, extending from the top of the penalty area.


punt

en-verb

punt (third-person singular simple present punts, present participle punting, simple past and past participle punted)

punts (present singular third-person)
punting (participle present)
punted (participle past)
punted (past)

Possibly a dialectal variant of bunt. Rugby is the origin of the sports usage of the term.

Australian rules football
Australian rules football

To dropkick; to kick something a considerable distance.

(rugby, American football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, soccer, transitive, intransitive) To kick a ball dropped from the hands before it hits the ground. (This puts the ball farther from the goal across which the opposing team is attempting to score, so improves the chances of the team punting.)

Australian rules football; Gaelic football; Australian rules football; Gaelic football

With five minutes remaining Hennessey was down well to block another Vukcevic shot, while Gunter was smartly in to punt away the dangerous loose ball.

2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC:

(soccer) To kick a bouncing ball far and high.


punt

(rugby, American football, soccer) A kick made by a player who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.


ultra

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
Latin ūls
Proto-Indo-European *-teros?
Latin -ter
Latin -ā
Latin ultrābor.
English ultra
From Latin ultra.

etymon

A similar view is expressed by a Turin supporter in Segre's study, but in this case it is more specifically addressed to how powerful teams, such as Juventus, get preferential treatment in reports on the negative aspects of the ultras world.

2012, ALINA BERNSTEIN, Neil Blain, Sport, Media, Culture: Global and Local Dimensions, Routledge, →ISBN, page 183:

If a member of an official football club can be said to be a citizen of the football world, an ultra has to be considered as a militant.

2013, Richard Guilianotti, Football, Violence and Social Identity, Routledge, →ISBN, page 77:

Although the intention initially was to distribute tickets and arrange travel to away matches, ultras quickly became actively organised and developed an overtly passionate cultural and political identity inside each curva

2015, Jamie Cleland, A Sociology of Football in a Global Context, Routledge, →ISBN, page 30:

(soccer) An especially devoted football fan, typically associated with the intimidating use of extremist slogans, pyrotechnics and sometimes hooligan violence.


flank

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.

cog

The hosts also had Paul Robinson to thank for a string of saves, three of them coming against Jerome Thomas, who gave Michel Salgado a torrid time down the left flank.

2011 January 23, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom”, in BBC:

(soccer) The wing, one side of the pitch.


fullback

For long, awkward spells, City looked out of their depth. Dani Alves and Jordi Alba attacked like whippets from the full-back positions.

2015 February 24, Daniel Taylor, “Luis Suárez strikes twice as Barcelona teach Manchester City a lesson”, in The Guardian (London):

(soccer) A player who plays on the left or right side of defence.

һаҡсы

(soccer) a player who plays on the left or right side of defence


football player

en-noun

football player (plural football players)

football players (plural)
football-player (alternative rare)

association football
association football

(soccer, UK) One who plays association football, aka soccer.


header

headers (plural)
hdr (alternative abbreviation)

His header for the goal followed a perfect corner kick.

The Black Cats had a mountain to climb after James Morrison's header and Shane Long's neat side-foot finish gave Albion a 2-0 lead five minutes in.

2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) The act of hitting the ball with the head.

رَأْسِيَّة

soccer: act of hitting the ball with the head


QPR

Queens Park Rangers
w:Queens Park Rangers F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Queens Park Rangers: a British football club based in London.


SSL

Società Sportiva Lazio
w:Società Sportiva Lazio

(soccer) Abbreviation of Società Sportiva Lazio.


linesman

A linesman replaced injured referee Rebecca Welch after 50 minutes and with no other official present, qualified referee Pattison, 60, ran the line.

2015 November 18, “Steven Pattison: Carlisle United director runs line in FA Youth Cup”, in BBC Sport:

As the linesman raised his flag, Neville played on, crossing for Piovaccari to net.

2015 November 13, “Western Sydney Wanderers romp to victory at hapless Melbourne City”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):


overhead

en-adj

overhead (comparative more overhead, superlative most overhead)

more overhead (comparative)
most overhead (superlative)

From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede (adverb), from Old English oferhēafod (adverb), equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt.

It was Rooney, however, who produced a moment of inspiration to score a stunning overhead kick that will live forever in the memory of United's fans and extended City's dismal sequence of only one league win in their last 27 visits to Old Trafford.

2011 February 12, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 2 - 1 Man City”, in BBC:

despeses generals

of, or relating to the operating expenses of a business


assistant referee

en-noun

assistant referee (plural assistant referees)

Maccabi's Yoan Ziv also saw red in the second half for kicking a boot at the assistant referee.

2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, British): One of the two officials at an association football match, previously known as linesmen, who assist the referee.


Ajax

(soccer) The Amsterdam football club AFC Ajax


Athletic

(soccer, uncountable) Short for Athletic Club, a Spanish professional club more often known in English as Athletic Bilbao.


Barca

2000 April 19, BBC Online, "Football News":

There's only one Barca

Chelsea and Barca clash once again

Giovani committed to Barca

(informal, soccer) FC Barcelona, a prominent Spanish association football club.


Blues

In reference to the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine racing faction, a calque of Latin venetī (“Sea-Blues”) or factio veneta (“the sea-blue faction”) and Byzantine Greek Βένετοι (Bénetoi, “Blues”).

bor

(informal) Any of several sports teams whose uniform is predominantly blue, such as:


Brewer

(soccer) A player, supporter or other person connected with Burton Albion Football Club.


Cherry

(soccer) someone connected with AFC Bournemouth, as a fan, player, coach etc.


City

City will reportedly look to have a fee for Aguero.

(soccer, informal) Manchester City Football Club, an English football club.


D

From the shape of the upper case letter "D".

Johnson, a late substitute, applied the finishing touch but it was move kickstarted by the again-impressive Neco Williams, who skedaddled forward from halfway with the ball in tow before feeding Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the D.

2022 June 11, Ben Fisher, “Brennan Johnson’s late goal denies Belgium and extends the Wales party”, in The Guardian:

(soccer) The penalty arc on a football pitch.


Euro

England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.

2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, usually followed by the year) The UEFA European Football Championship, a European football competition held between the international teams of Europe every four years.


Gill

* As an English surname, converged from variants of Giles (sometimes through Dutch), Julian, and William.
* As a northern English surname, from Middle English gil (“ravine, glen”), from Old Norse gil. The Old Norse is also a source of the Norwegian surname.
* As an Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, variant of McGill.
* Also as an Irish surname, variant of Gall.
* As a Jewish/Israeli surname, from Hebrew גיל (“joy”).
* As a German surname, variant of Gilger.
* As an Indian/Sikh/Punjabi surname, from ਗਿੱਲ (gill, “moisture”).

(soccer) Someone connected with Gillingham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Hammer

Shortened West Ham + -er, with a pun on hammer.

(soccer) someone connected with West Ham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Lion

(soccer) A player for the England football team.


O

en-noun

O (countable and uncountable, plural Os)

(soccer) Someone associated with Leyton Orient Football Club, as a player, coach, supporter etc.


PK

PK (countable and uncountable, plural PKs)

(US, soccer) Initialism of penalty kick.


Ram

From ram the animal of the mascot for the sports team.

(UK, soccer) Someone connected with Derby County Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Robin

* (masculine given name): From Middle English Robin, from Old French, diminutive of Robert.
* (feminine given name): From the bird, robin, or from Germanic.

(soccer) Someone connected with any number of sports teams known as the Robins, as a fan, player, coach, etc.


Spur

English surname, variant of Spurr. Compare the noun spur.

(soccer) someone connected with Tottenham Hotspur FC, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Swan

The Swans will doubtless recover, but they will head home this evening knowing that they didn't do themselves justice in a game that means so much to supporters.

2013 November 3, Delme Parfitt, “Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win”, in Wales Online:

(soccer) someone connected with Swansea City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.


Tiger

(soccer) Someone connected with Hull City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.


Tyke

Perhaps a derogatory nickname from Old Norse tík, 'bitch, female dog' (compare English tyke, Icelandic tík). Less likely to be from Old Norse þýzkr, 'of one's nation' or an Old English cognate (compare German deutsch, Swedish tysk).

(slang, soccer) someone connected with Barnsley Football Club, as a fan, player, coach, etc.


Villa

Olsson and Herd tussled off the ball at a free-kick before Olsson fell to the ground. Assistant referee Darren Cann signalled for a penalty and Dowd sent Herd off to the amazement of the Villa faithful.

2011 October 22, Sam Sheringham, “Aston Villa 1 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) Aston Villa Football Club, a football club based in Birmingham


Wanderer

(soccer) someone connected with any number of soccer clubs known as the Wanderers.


CB

CB (countable and uncountable, plural CBs)

(soccer) Initialism of centre-back, a defensive position.


take on

en-verb

take on (third-person singular simple present takes on, present participle taking on, simple past took on, past participle taken on)

takes on (present singular third-person)
taking on (participle present)
took on (past)
taken on (participle past)

He drifted past four Palace players and took on two more before crossing to the far post, where Fellaini touched on for Mata to score. It was a momentum-shifting moment.

2016 May 22, Phil McNulty, “Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United”, in BBC:

(soccer) To (attempt to) dribble round (an opposition player).


meg

meg (third-person singular simple present megs, present participle megging, simple past and past participle megged)

megs (present singular third-person)
megging (participle present)
megged (participle past)
megged (past)

(colloquial, soccer, transitive) To nutmeg an opponent.


snapshot

Yet Revell misjudged his promising position in the area to put his point-blank snapshot wide from only six yards out.

2011 March 2, Chris Whyatt, “Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient”, in BBC:

(soccer) A quick, unplanned or unexpected shot.


silver goal

(soccer) The first goal scored during the first half of extra time, giving victory to the scoring side if this rule is in effect.


bicycle kick

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bicycle kick.wav

Yaya Toure sent over a hopeful cross-field pass that Warnock attempted to clear with a bicycle kick, only to calamitously set Johnson up for a low finish past Given.

2011 October 15, David Ornstein, “Man City 4 - 1 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) A kick in which the kicker leans backwards and kicks the ball back over his head.

bicicleta

not in dictionaries, but a more common spelling in practice


LFC

(soccer, now obsolete) Initialism of ladies' football club.


LFC

Liverpool Football Club
w:Liverpool F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Liverpool Football Club.


HSV

en-noun

HSV (countable and uncountable, plural HSVs)

BHV

bovine herpes virus or bovine herpesvirus

CeHV

cercopithecine herpes virus or cercopithecine herpesvirus

EHV

equine herpes virus or equine herpesvirus

FHV

feline herpes virus or feline herpesvirus

KSHV

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

MaHV

macropodid herpes virus or macropodid herpesvirus

OsHV

oyster herpes virus or oyster herpesvirus


PL

(soccer, UK) Initialism of Premier League.


hacking

hacking (usually uncountable, plural hackings)

From Middle English hackynge, hakkynge, hacckinge, equivalent to hack + -ing.

(sports, chiefly American football, soccer, rugby) A kick in the shins.


dink

Imitative. Originally US. Attested since the 1930s.

sound-symbolic

Imitative

The forward passed to Fernandes and, as Pau López advanced, the Portuguese fashioned a sand‑wedge dink over the goalkeeper.

2021 April 29, Jamie Jackson, “Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes help Manchester United hit Roma for six”, in The Guardian:

(soccer) A light chip; a chipped pass or shot


dink

en-verb

dink (third-person singular simple present dinks, present participle dinking, simple past and past participle dinked)

dinks (present singular third-person)
dinking (participle present)
dinked (participle past)
dinked (past)

sound-symbolic

Imitative

The forward dinked the ball over the goalkeeper to score his first goal of the season.

But the visitors started the game in stunning fashion when Morten Gamst Pedersen dinked forward a clever looping pass and Kalinic beat the offside trap, surged into the box and beautifully placed the ball past goalkeeper Scott Carson.

2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC:

A dinked pass intended for De Bruyne from the impressive Oscar Bobb then deflected off Jackson and looped into the net early in the second half before Foden smashed in his second.

2024 January 7, Gary Rose, “Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) To chip lightly, to play a light chip shot.


penalty box

At times, Swindon's penalty box resembled a pinball machine.

2000 March 12, Stuart Barnes, “Swindon stunner for Curbishley”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


marksman

In what was a characteristic Bent display, he made only an occasional impact - but proved once again in front of England coach Fabio Capello that he is one of the most reliable marksmen in the domestic game.

2011 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man City”, in BBC:


testimonial

From French testimonial, from Late Latin testimonialis (“of or pertaining to testimony”), from Latin testimonium (“testimony”). See testimony.

der

(soccer) A match played in tribute to a particular player (who sometimes receives a proportion of the gate money).

проща́лен мач

football: match played in tribute to a player


striker

lyöjä

someone or something that hits someone or something else

Olympiakos had barely been in the Arsenal half but should have levelled in the 14th minute. A low corner was not dealt with and the ball fell to the feet of striker Rafik Djebbour, who saw his close-range effort brilliantly cleared from the goalline by Arteta.

2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer) One of the players on a team in football (soccer) in the row nearest to the opposing team's goal, who are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals.


play in

en-verb

play in (third-person singular simple present plays in, present participle playing in, simple past and past participle played in)

plays in (present singular third-person)
playing in (participle present)
played in (participle past)
played in (past)

Zubar played in Doyle down the Wolves left and his ball into the box evaded several players before falling for Mujangi Bia to finally drive in a second past Neil Sullivan.

2011 January 18, “Wolverhampton 5 - 0 Doncaster”, in BBC:

Salah bamboozled Lisandro Martinez to play in Gakpo for another classy finish three minutes later before the Egyptian resumed his long-time role of United tormentor by getting on the scoresheet himself.

2023 March 5, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport:

(soccer, transitive) To pass (someone) the ball into an attacking position.


incision

en-noun

incision (countable and uncountable, plural incisions)

From Middle English inscicioun, from Middle French incision, from Late Latin incisiō from the verb incidō (“I cut into”) + action noun suffix -iō.

Riyad Mahrez also dragged wide after a De Bruyne incision.

2021 March 7, David Hytner, “Manchester United catch City cold as Fernandes and Shaw end winning run”, in The Guardian:


attacker

مُهَاجِم

(soccer) movement of the team in possession of the ball


VAR

VAR (countable and uncountable, plural VARs)

[Harry] Kane was the victim in incidents plucked straight from the world of wrestling in each half, and on neither occasion did any of the officials – on the pitch or in the VAR booth – see fit to intervene in what were obvious penalties.

2018 June 18, Phil McNulty, “Tunisia 1 – 2 England”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 2019-04-21:

video assistant referee
video assistant referee#English

(soccer) Initialism of video assistant referee.


rearguard

rearguards (plural)
rear guard (alternative)
rear-guard (alternative)

/ˈɹɪəɹˌɡɑɹd/

From rear + guard. Attested in The Song of Roland c. 1150 (rereguarde). Doublet of retrogarde.

Mancini's side only showed enough ambition when it was too late and by then battle lines were drawn as James Collins and former City captain Richard Dunne fought a magnificent rearguard action at the heart of Villa's defence.

(soccer) The defence, collectively the defenders.


right back

(soccer) a defender who normally plays on the right side of the field