Ever wondered what some of those terms used by the on air commentators mean when watching your favorite soccer team playing? Whether you are new to the game or a seasoned fan, the below list of football/soccer terms should be helpful in better understanding the Beautiful Game’s lingo.
Soccer Terms
| Agent | Person who represents players and negotiates contracts and transfer moves |
| Assist | A pass that releases a player to score a goal. The pass can be on the ground, a flick or a cross |
| Away goals rule | In cup competitions if scores are tied over two legs, the team with the most away goals wins |
| Back-pass rule | Law stating that deliberate passes from a player to their goalkeeper may not be handled |
| Cap | Appearance by a player for their country |
| Caution | Yellow card |
| Chip | A pass propelled into the air from a player to a teammate or as a shot on goal |
| Counter-attack | A quick attack by a team after it regains possession of the ball |
| Cross | To send the ball in to the center for a wide area of the field |
| Cushion the ball | Use of your body to bring the ball under control by reducing its speed |
| Derby | A game between two rival teams, usually from the same town or city. i.e. Liverpool and Everton |
| Direct free kick | A free kick from which a goal can be scored without anyone else on either team touching the ball |
| Dissent | When a player uses words or actions to disagree with a referees decision in a disrespectful manner |
| Distribution | The manner in which the ball is released by a goal keeper or player to teammates |
| Final third | Assuming the field is divided into the back, middle and front, the final third for an attacking team is the front third |
| Game of two halves | A popular phrase describing a game in which one half is vastly different from the other in terms of attacking impetus or possession |
| Golden goal | A system used to decide a winner of a game tied after regulation time. If a team is ahead at the end of the first period of extra time they win the game |
| Hat trick | The scoring of three goals by one player in a single game |
| Offside trap | A defensive tactic used by teams to lure opposing attacking players into offside positions |
| Overlap | To run ahead of a teammate with the ball in order to give them passing options |
| Professional foul | An intentional foul by a defender on an opposing attacker about to be clear on goal |
| Reserve team | A team made up mostly of a club’s youth and fringe players |
| Route one | Slang for a style of playing that involves long balls kicked up the field from the defence in search of teammates. Popularized by many English teams in the 80s |
| Silver goal | A system used to decide a winner of a game tied after regulation time. The first team to score in extra time wins the game |
| Sixes and Sevens | A British phrase used in soccer to usually describe chaotic defending e.g. “…their defence was at sixes and sevens.” |
| Square pass | To pass the ball to a teammate who is across the field but on the same line |
| Stoppage time | Time added on by the referee at the end of the regular 90 minutes. Usually for injuries, substitutions and time wasting |
| Total football | A style of play popularized by Johan Cruyff’s Dutch team in the 70s where every player on the team seamlessly switched positions |
| Volley | A ball kicked by a player when it is off the ground |
| Wingback | A defender on the side of the field given the freedom to carry the ball up the wing |
| Zonal marking | A defensive system in which players are responsible for areas of the field as opposed to marking specific opponents |
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