In squeaky-ass time, False 9 pulled out the nutmeg and scored worlds in the top jar.
Does it mean anything?
Soccer fans from all over the world will be heading to North America for this match. world cup — and they bring their own vocabulary to describe the beautiful game.
Here’s a look at some of the phrases locals might hear from supporters traveling in and out of the stadium, and where they might have originated.
squeaky ass time
Picture it: It’s the World Cup final, and Argentina and Brazil The game was tied 1-1 with 5 minutes left. We are officially in “squeaky butt time.” The phrase, coined by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, describes the final stages of a match, season or tournament, when players and fans are tense and nervous. The word is recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines the proverb as “the sound of someone shifting restlessly on a plastic chair during the tense final stages of a contest.”
park the bus
This has nothing to do with traveling to the stadium. In fact, you’ll probably hear these words when the big losers of the World Cup play against the top teams. If a weaker team, or a team that has had a player sent off, shows no offensive intent and plays extremely defensively to prevent the opponent from scoring, that team is said to be “parking the bus” in front of the goal. The phrase has since become a broader term in the soccer world. Jose MourinhoThe great Portuguese coach complained that Premier League rivals Tottenham “could have been better off putting the team bus in front of the goal” when he was managing Chelsea in 2004.
fake 9
I have no problem with the fake number 9. A player is said to be playing as a ‘false number 9’ if he enters the match as a nominal striker, a typical number 9, but constantly moves deeper into the field to make himself harder to mark and cause confusion for opposition defenders. In modern football, this role was mastered by Lionel Messi at Barcelona under Josep Guardiola, and Cesc Fabregas with the Spanish national team that won the 2012 European Championship title. Harry Kane may play in a similar position for England at the World Cup.
people of the world
Usually refers to a long-range shot that flies into the top corner of the net. The word “worldie” (from British slang) refers to goals that are in the “world class” category.
total football
This is a tactical ideology used by the Dutch national team in the 1970s, in which outfield players do not have a fixed position and can feel comfortable on the field wherever they are. Nowadays, the phrase is always used loosely, even jokingly, by soccer fans to describe long periods of possession leading to a goal via a complex, fluid pass. “Liquid football” is an alternative.
nutmeg
This is one of the simplest tricks in soccer, and it’s humiliating for the recipient. “Nutmeg” is the act of kicking the ball between your opponent’s legs and running around to collect it yourself or pass it to a teammate. It has derivatives all over the world, from the French “petit pont” (“little bridge”) to the Spanish “caño” to the Scandinavian “tunnel.”
sitter
If you saw a striker at the World Cup hunched over with his head in his hands, he probably missed his sitter. It’s usually very easy chances from right in front of the goal that players try to miss. This may have originated from cricket. In cricket, we use “sitter” to describe a catch that seems impossible to drop. In fact, it’s so easy that you can sit down and take it.
Panenka
You know that thing when a player takes a slow, cheeky penalty kick straight into the middle of the goal, or worst of all, when it ends up in the hands of an appreciative goalkeeper? Well, there’s a name for it. The term “Panenka” was born in 1976 when Czech player Antonin Panenka scored the title-clinching penalty kick in the European Championship final against West Germany. He ran to the ball at normal speed and chose to float the ball softly up and down toward the net, accurately anticipating that the goalkeeper would dive in one direction. It’s dangerous and can make the person imposing the penalty look foolish if it fails.
clean sheet
World Cup goalkeepers can sleep well if they keep a clean sheet. In the United States, it’s called a shutout, which simply means a team doesn’t allow a goal. The use of “clean sheets” dates back to the days when reporters used only paper notebooks to record various events such as goals during games. If the team does not score a goal, the paper becomes clean.
top bin
It’s obvious that the top two corners of the goal have a special name for fans, as they are ideal targets for shots. The usage of “top bin” has crept into this century’s football lexicon, and even into the Oxford English Dictionary, and may have originated from the use of targets in each corner of the goal during practice sessions to resemble bins (British term for trash can). The other is a “stamp” that is placed on the top corner of the envelope. Many languages have their own derivatives, and one language that conjures up wonderful images is the one heralding Brazil, where the top corner is said to be “onde a coruja dorme” (“where the owl sleeps”).
12th person
Each team will have 11 players participating in the World Cup. There is a way to get 12. “12th man” refers to the team’s fans, who can act as an additional player if they are too loud or intimidating. That’s what the coach says, anyway.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
