Some good to know Football/Soccer Terms
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 |
