A Bluffers’ Guide to Global Football-speak
Nogomet (Croatia)
Britain’s role in bringing football to the world means the vast majority
of countries use variations of the words “football” or “soccer” as their names
for it, but that’s not the case in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia, where it’s
known as nogomet — a portmanteau of noga (“foot”) and met (“target”), the
target in question being a goal.
Derevo (Russia)
A technically inadequate player,
typically one who’s tall and doesn’t move around very much, is imagined in
Russia to have literally taken root on the pitch like a tree (derevo).
Palomita (Argentina)
When a footballer takes flight to score with a diving
header in Argentina it is known as a palomita (“little
pigeon”).
Amarrabola (Peru)
When a Peruvian footballer gets so attached to the
ball he decides he’d rather not pass it to anyone else, he’s known as an amarrabola (ball
lover).
Badya (Morocco)
Morocco is not alone
in likening a nutmeg, the act of poking the ball through a player’s legs, to an
egg (badya) popping out, with Brazil (ovinnho) and South Korea (r kkaghi),
which means “hatching an egg” among others to do it.
