Kadiri Toluwalase Akorede
Football like every other sport has its own terms, slangs, definitions and rules. This article sheds more light on few football terms whose meanings may not be as straightforward as it appears.
'Panenka' penalty
The skill involves confidently chipping the ball down the middle taking advantage of most goalies propensity to potentially dive to either the left or right.
First debuted by former Czech international Antonin Panenka being the winning penalty in the 1967 Euro championship final between then Czechslovakia and Germany. Such was the beauty and swagger of the penalty that Panenka was named a 'poet' by the French media. Today the skill is nicknamed after Panenka himself, and what a time he chose to execute it.
The skill has since being tried out by stars like Francesco Totti, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane Andrea Pirlo smd Alexis Sanchez amongst others. With Sánchez being the second player to win a major tournament, the Copa Ameria, with the Panenka.
Hat-trick and Perfect hat-trick
A hat-trick implies when a player scores three goals (not necessarily consecutive) in a single game, whereas scoring two goals constitutes a brace. And it does not matter whether they are scored during normal regulation time or extra time.
Although its origin is rooted in cricked where it first appeared in 1858, to describe H.H Stephenson's taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. Afterwards fans held a collection for Stephenson and presented him with a hat bought with the proceeds. In football due to the relative rarity of the feat, it has become a tradition for players who score a hat-trick of goals to be given the match ball as a symbolic reward or memento, a gesture that could be traced back to its origin.
In Italy, a hat-trick is described as a 'tripletta' and in France it is known as a 'coup d chapeau' or 'triplé'. Interestingly, the English term hat-trick tends to be used in Germany and Spain.
Former Newcastle player, Alan Shearer, with 11 Premier league hat-tricks, ( a record for the division), ex Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo with 34 La liga hat- tricks, also a division record, Lionel Messi with 8 champions league hat-tricks - the highest, are some of players with proven track record of their adeptness in scoring hat-tricks.
A "perfect hat-trick" is achieved by scoring one goal with the right foot, one goal with the left foot and one goal with the head. Former Liverpool great, Robbie Fowler famously scored 3 perfect hat-tricks. The first in a 4–2 win against Southampton in 1993, the second against Arsenal in a 3–1 win back in 1995 and the last one was also against Southampton in a 7–1 rout in 1999.
Nutmeg
Normally a seed, but in football terms it is a dribbling skill in which the ball is kicked through an opponent's legs in order to get the ball past them and back to the original player. It's a popular skill amongst footballers like Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Eden Hazard, Luis Suarez, Delli Alli. Suarez became so skilled with the skill that it was said that "he could nutmeg a mermaid".
Although the skill bears little resemblance with 'Nutmeg', the seed. However its origin is fairly linked to the practice of stealing the seed by replacing it with wooden replicas implied being nutmegged by the duped victim, and smartness on the trickster. And what a way to be duped !
Rondo
Rondo also casually referred to as "piggy in the middle", or "man in the middle", is a soccer drill where a set of players have the ball with an overload advantage (3v1, 4v2, 5v2,6v3, etc.,) over another group of players. The basic objective of the set with the overload advantage is to keep possession of the ball while the objective of the group with fewer players is to win back the ball.
Initially instituted by the legendary Johan Cryuff in his all conquering Barcelona as part of his famed tiki-taka style, it has become increasing coveted amongst modern managers due to the simplicity and tactical discipline it ensures.
Nominally a training drill but also a tactical drill used to improve instant decision making in close quarters, technical ability and instil a fluid passing style. It's a style usually used by possession based teams like Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Arsenal to mention but a few.
Rabona
It is a method of kicking the football whereby the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg – effectively with one's leg crossed. The name was supposedly derived from the Spanish word rabo for tail, because the move resembled the swishing of a cow's tail between or around its legs.
The move was debuted on the world stage by Brazilian great, Pelé, in the São Paulo state championship in 1957. In Brazil, the move is also known as the chaleira (kettle) or letra (letter).
Since its debut on the world stage it has been used regularly by stars such as, Diego Maradona, Romário, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, David Villa, Robinho, Eden Hazard, Joe Cole, Ángel Di María, Rivaldo, Ricardo Quaresma ,Neymar, Suárez and Jay-Jay Okocha amongst others.
Dummy (feint)
As the name cheekily suggests it means a player deceiving the opposition into believing he is going to pass, shoot, move in a certain direction, or receive the ball and instead doing something entirely different, thus gaining an advantage.
It can come in the form of :
- Step over ; a dribbling move used to fool a defensive player into thinking the offensive player, in possession of the ball, is going to move in a direction he does not intend to move in. It's a common trick used by Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldo.
- Flip flap (also known as the elástico, snakebite and la culebrita) is a dummy trick performed by using the outside of their dominant foot to push the ball towards their dominant side, then quickly move the dominant foot around the ball and using the inside to push the ball to their non-dominant side. Although invented by the Japanese - Brazillian Sèrgio Echigo, but it was 'perfected' and used at the 1970 FIFA World Cup by Brazilian Rivellino who had learned it from Echigo during their time together at Corinthians.
It was made even more popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s by Ronaldinho with the skill furthermore nicknamed "Gaucho" after the Brazilian star.
In addition The Marseille turn (also "360"or "roulette" ) commonly used by Zinedine Zidane, the rainbow flick, and the Johan Cryuff turn named after Dutch legend, Cryuff, are other variables in which dummy could be performed.
Tiki - taka
It's a popular term used to describe the short, quick and crisp passing philosophy of football teams. It first came to prominence in the early 1990s during Johan Cryuff's tenure as manager of Barcelona. Its popularity grew more as it was the philosophy of Pep Guardiola's all conquering Barcelona side between 2008-2012. Also it was adopted by the Spanish national team first managed by Luis Aragonés and then later Del Bosque, with the latter winning the world cup in 2010.
Interestingly the term was first coined in a live commentary of the Spain vs Tunisia match in the 2006 World Cup by late Spanish broadcaster Andrés Montes. In a bid to describe Spain's precise, quick, elegant passing style he said : Estamos tocando tiki-taka tiki-taka. A term derived from a juggling toy named tiki - taka in Spanish (and clackers in English).
The style is not without its criticism but it's still used by top European teams like Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester City, and generally by attack minded teams.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain performing a Rabona during a warm up for Arsenal in 2013.
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