World Cup 2018: Our bizarre glossary of footie phrases you must know — including rude German word for red card
Do you know your 'botineras' from your 'caballo'? If not start learning up on phrases fans at the 2018 World Cup will be saying, including why Dundee United is a rude insult in Nigeria
ENGLAND fans know what “handbags” and “parking the bus” are – but how about “kattepote”, the dreaded “mata- mata” or “arsch karte”?
In time for the World Cup kicking off on June 14, a new book lists odd football expressions used by fans around the globe.
We have picked out some of the best to use in Russia, so supporters who eat, drink and sleep the sport will be able to talk it, too.
Start brushing up on your terrace talk here, with The Sun on Sunday’s goal-bound glossary . . .
ARGENTINA
BOTINERAS (wives and girlfriends): The word comes from botin (“boot”), which can refer to a boot of either the high-heeled or football variety.
GOLAZO (great goal): Term for a stunning strike, roared by commentators.
HACER LA CAMA (to make the bed): When a squad of players is believed to be conspiring to get their coach the sack, they will be accused of making the bed.
MANOS DE MANTECA (butter hands): Yelled at a dodgy ’keeper.
AUSTRALIA
SHOOT FARKEN (f***ing shoot): An example of the mangled English spoken by immigrants who moved to the country from southern Europe in the second part of the 20th century.
BELGIUM
PISBALLETJE (pee shot): A dribbly attempt that doesn’t find its target.
BRAZIL
CHAPÉU (hat): Having the ball breezily lifted over your head by an opponent, a la Peléen route to scoring the first of his two goals in the 1958 final.
CRAQUE (ace): Think Pele, Zico, Ronaldo, Neymar. The word derives from the English military term “crack”, once used to denote an elite soldier.
DE TRÊS DEDOS (with three toes): To swerve the ball with the outside of the foot, like Roberto Carlos’s incredible free-kick against France in 1997.
FICAR SEM PAI NEM MAE (to be left without father or mother): When a defender is torn to pieces by the silky skills of an attacker.
MATA-MATA (kill-kill): Hopefully England will not face this torture – “sudden death” in the penalty shootout.
COLOMBIA
EL SCORPION (the scorpion): Acrobatic save, as demonstrated by Colombian keeper Rene “El Loco” Higuita against England at Wembley.
COSTA RICA
CABALLO (horse): A physically imposing player happy to dish out painful kicks.
CROATIA
PROMAŠIO VEČERU (to miss one’s dinner): When a player squanders an easy chance.
DENMARK
BUNDESLIGAHAR (mullet): Germany in the 1980s may have been the football era that fashion forgot, but its legacy lives on across the border in Denmark.
KATTEPOTE (cat’s paw): A player with velvet technique, such as Michael Laudrup.
ENGLAND
WET WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN STOKE: The World Cup has so far eluded him but Lionel Messi has won just about everything else there is to win in the game.
But until he tears up the opposition on a rainy evening in the Potteries, there will always be an asterisk beside his name.
FRANCE
PATATE (potato): The name given to a thunderous, long-range goal.
CAFE CREME (coffee with cream): A top-drawer piece of skill.
FERMER LA BOUTIQUE (close the boutique): When a team decide to defend a lead. The French equivalent of “shut up shop”.
FESSEE (spanking): A heavy defeat.
GERMANY
ARSCH KARTE (arse card): Red card, known as an arsch karte because the referee keeps it in his back pocket.
BLUTGRATSCHE (blood tackle): A dangerous, studs-up tackle – the sort that would make brutal 1982 goalie Harald Schumacher proud.
ELFMETER (penalty): The word that haunts England fans every time Germans mention it.
WEMBLEY-TOR (Wembley goal): The name for dubious goals, in honour of England’s controversial third effort in their 4-2 victory over West Germany in 1966.
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ICELAND
KLOBBI (crotchy): A nutmeg. Iceland is one of several countries where nutmegs are associated with the genital region, which reflects the violating nature of the skill.
ITALY
GOLLONZO (comedy goal): The opposite of a golazo, a gollonzo is a goal scored in farcical circumstances, usually after a defensive mix-up.
VIVA IL PARROCO (long live the parson): The cry when the ball is hoofed into the air in uncultured fashion in an Italian football match. Burnley fans might be familiar with this tactic.
JAPAN
SHUGOSHIN (guardian deity): A particularly inspired performance from a goalie.
MEXICO
LA OLA (Mexican wave): Given its association with celebration, it is usually a sign fans are bored to tears.
NIGERIA
DUNDEE UNITED (idiot): Dates back to 1972 when a visiting United lost to a bunch of part-timers.
PERU
AMARRABOLA (ball lover): When a player gets so attached to the ball he decides he would rather not pass it to anyone else.
POLAND
PODANIE NA ZAPALENIE PLUC (pneumonia pass): A poor pass.
SEDZIA KALOSZ (welly referee): An old insult that dates back to 1931, when a hockey ref had boots thrown at him.
PORTUGAL
BANHO DE BOLA (shower of balls): When a team has completely wiped the floor with the opponents.
CUECA (undies): What the Portuguese call a nutmeg. Saucy bunch.
FICAR NA MAMA (stay at the teat): Describes a striker who’s reluctant to leave the penalty area for fear of missing out on a scoring chance.
POR A CARNE TODA NO ASSADOR (put all the meat on the barbecue): When a coach throws on all his attacking players and goes for broke.
RUSSIA
DEREVO (tree): A technically inadequate player, typically one who’s tall and doesn’t move around very much.
NA VTOROM ETAZHE (on the second floor): If a team concedes a lot of headed goals they might be said to have problems “on the second floor”.
SUDYU NA MILO (ref on soap): The chant for referees who were felt to be treating a team unfairly.
It refers to the old Soviet practice of culling stray dogs and using their fat to make soap.
SERBIA
OTRESTI GA KAO SLINU (to shake someone off like saliva): When a player dominates an opponent in a physical duel.
SOUTH KOREA
DDONG-BALL (poop ball): Slang term for a mishit pass, shot or clearance.
SPAIN
CAGÓMETRO (crapping-yourself-ometer): When your team is under extreme pressure.
DONDE ANIDAN LAS ARANAS (where the spiders nest): A shot that finds the top corner.
PINTALO DE AMARILLO (paint him yellow): When a player implores the ref to dish out a caution.
TUERCEBOTAS (twisted boots): A player with two left feet. An equivalent term is paquete, or “lump”.
SWITZERLAND
VERYOUNGBOYSE (to Young Boys): Bern team Young Boys have become so famous for agonising near-misses that this describes any team that falls short in calamitous circumstances.
- Do You Speak Football?: A Glossary Of Football Words And Phrases From Around The World, by Tom Williams (Bloomsbury, £12.99).