Panenka
The Panenka is the name for a penalty kick that is chipped delicately into the back of the net. Named after Czech footballer Antonin Panenka, the technique has been deployed by the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Andrea Pirlo among others.
Parking the bus
When a team ‘parks the bus’ it means that they played a completely defensive game with little or no intent of attacking. The term was coined by Jose Mourinho in his first stint as Chelsea manager when he accused Tottenham of ‘bringing the bus’ and leaving it in front of goal. Ironically, the term would later come to define Mourinho’s tactical style.
Example: Mourinho talking about his Inter team beating Barcelona in 2010: “We won the tie in Barcelona but everyone talks about Barcelona winning and says we parked the bus in front of the goal. We didn’t park the bus, we parked the plane and we did it for two reasons. One, because we only had 10 men and two, because we beat them 3-1 at San Siro, not by parking the bus, or the boat or the airplane but by smashing them.”
Play on
A potentially controversial possession where the referee does not blow their whistle after concluding there’s no reason to stop the game.
Poacher
A ‘poacher’ in football is a striker who is opportunistic and takes their chances. Similar to the ‘fox in the box’, a goal poacher scores a lot of goals in the box, but is generally not very active in other areas of the pitch.
The Poznan
The Poznan, also known as The Grecque, is a dance performed by supporters in order to taunt the opposition. The supporters turn their backs to the pitch, link arms and proceed to jump up and down while chanting their preferred song. The implication is that their team is so good that they are dead sure they will win – they do not need even to watch.
The Poznan celebration video
Professional foul
A professional foul is when a player deliberately obstructs an opponent in order to prevent them from scoring a goal or initiating a counter attack. It is a cynical pre-meditated tactic which is punished by a yellow card and sometimes a red card, depending on the severity of the foul.
Put it on a plate
To ‘put it on a plate’ for a team-mate is to create an easy chance for them to score.
Example: “Lionel Messi dribbled past four players before putting it on a plate for Luis Suarez to tap in.”
Top great assists in football
Rabona
Rabona is the Spanish term for skipping school and the move involves a level of deception (hacer raboba – to skip classes). A ‘rabona‘ is a skill move which involves kicking the ball with one’s legs crossed by wrapping the kicking leg behind the standing leg.
Top rabona goals video
Remontada
Remontada is the Spanish word for ‘recovery’ or ‘comeback’ and it is used to describe a remarkable turnaround in fortunes by a team that had been on course to lose.
“Manchester United” – “Bayern Munich” (1999), “Manchester City” – “QPR” (2012), “Germany” – “Sweden” (2012), “Paris Saint-Germain” – “Manchester United” (2019), “Reading” – “Arsenal” (2012) and other matches in the second part of the greatest comebacks in football history. Hope you enjoy!
