The Beautiful Game: Exploring football slang and terms

It has been a great few months for sports fans around the world, we have seen many significant highlights in the sporting calendar with international events taking place. Last month saw the Olympics in Paris, and in July there were international football tournaments in both the Americas and Europe. In Europe, the Spanish were crowned champions, while in the United States Argentina lifted the Copa America trophy.

There is an abundance of language that we can pick up from following our favourite sports, and this therefore feels like the perfect time to take a look at some sporting vocabulary. Personally, as both an avid football fan and language learner I have a keen interest in the intricacies and nuances that it provides.

Here are some common slang and terms used in English to talk about football, and football matches themselves:

FOOTBAL TERMS

SCREAMER: GOLAÇO
Neymar marcou um golaço afora da área. O goleiro não podia parar de nenhum jeito.
Neymar scored a screamer from outside of the box. There was nothing the keeper could do to stop it.

GOAL FEST: GOLEADA
The team won 5-4 in a goal fest for both sides. It was an exhilarating game.
O time ganhou 5-4 numa goleada. Foi um jogo muito empolgante.

TALISMAN: CRAQUE
In recent years, Vinicius Junior has become the Brazilian national team’s talisman.
Nos últimos anos, Vinicius Junior já virou o craque da seleção brasileiro.

HOWLER: FRANGO
The goalkeeper let in a bizarre howler. All the fans could do was laugh.
Esse foi um frango bizarro do goleiro. A torcida só podia rir.

ZEBRA: UNDERDOGS 
Georgia were the clear underdogs against Portugal, not even their own fans expected them to get a result.
Georgia foi zebra no jogo contra Portugal, nem a própria torcida esperava ganhar.

Types of matches

DEAD RUBBER: CUMPRIR A TABELA
The match between Uruguay and Canada was a dead rubber. Both teams had already been eliminated.
O jogo entre Uruguai e Canadá só foi para cumprir a tabela. Os dois times já tinham sido eliminados.

DERBY: CLÁSSICO 
The biggest local derby in Rio is Flamengo vs Fluminense, it is a key date in both sets of supporter’s calendars.
O maior clássico no Rio é Flamengo contra Fluminense, é uma data importante para as duas torcidas.

CRUNCH MATCH: JOGO DECISIVO 
When Barcelona face Real Madrid later in the year, it will be a crunch match for the Spanish league title.
Quando Barcelona e Real Madrid se enfrentarem esse ano, será um jogo decisivo para o título espanhol.

KNOCKOUT: MATA-MATA 
The team won all their group games, but unfortunately, they were eliminated in their first knockout match.
O time ganhou todos os jogos na fase dos grupos, mas infelizmente foi eliminado na primeira mata-mata.