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One for football fans and vocab nerds

I was watching a match in France recently and thought I'd have a careful listen to the commentators. So I took some notes and then did a bit of searching online to beef up my list. It is interesting to note that French commentators have a greater tendency to use nouns when English commentators would use verbs. e.g. "la montée de Rooney dans l'axe" (Rooney coming forward down the middle) or "centre de Giggs" (Giggs crosses). I couldn't find a good English translation for "centre en retrait" (where a ball is crossed, but in a backwards direction).

I like the word "footballistiques" which I saw used by Laurent Blanc when talking about Spanish players' "footballing" skills as opposed to their physical presence. (Médiapart accused the FFF of using quotas to limit the number of black and north-African players. Blanc vehemently denied this, but did say that French football should look to develeop skilled players who are not just powerful.)

Here's the list. Sorry about dodgy formatting. Any additions?


VOCABULAIRE DU FOOT

off side                                  (en position d’)hors jeu
midfield(er)                            le milieu de terrain
a good move                         une bonne action
in possession                         en possession
Chelsea being in control        la maîtrise de Chelsea      
Rooney coming forward        la montée de Rooney
spring, leap                           le jaillissement
first leg                                   le premier manche, le match aller
return leg                                le match retour
volley                                      la reprise de volley
throw-in                                 la remise en jeu
the outside of the foot             l’extérieur du pied   
up against                               face à
to clear the ball                     dégager le ballon
clearance                              le dégagement
to caution, book                    averter
to bend                                 faire dévier
to chase down                      traquer
a good finish                         une bonne finition
linking play                           un enchaînement
free kick                                le coup franc
to shoot                                 tirer
shot on goal                          le tir au but
shot on target                        le tir cadre
shot off target                        le tir non-cadré
moment of brilliance              un exploit
to go wide                             passer à côté
to be two up                         avoir deux buts d’avance
a turn                                    un pivot
down the middle                   dans l’axe
Too straight                           trop axial
unmarked                             démarqué
good covering by..                bon retour de…
a nutmeg                              un pont
to nutmeg                             faire un pont
it’s a foul                              il y a faute
overhead kick                      un ciseau (en arrière), un coup de pied retourné
a crossfield pass                   une transversale
he’s got space                      il a du champ
shot                                     la frappe
nice shot                              belle frappe
back-heel                            la talonnade
near post                             le premier poteau
back/far post                        le deuxième poteau
the bar                                  la barre (transversale)
the top corner                       la lucarne
to tackle                               tacler
a tackle                                une intervention, un tacle
slide tackle                           un tacle glissé
to dribble                             dribbler
dribbling                               la conduite du ballon
to trap                                  amortir
pass                                      la passe, passer
to intercept                           contrer
header                                  une tête
they’re in it                           ils y sont
a break                                un débordement
counter-attack                      une contre-attaque
a cross                                 un centre
yellow card                           un carton jaune
red card                                un caton rouge
a chance                               une occasion (de but)
good chance                         une belle occasion
penalty area                          la surface de reparation
corner                                   le corner
to qualify                              se qualifier
touchline                               la ligne de touché
to send off                            expulser
winger                                  un ailier
left back                               le lateral gauche
striker                                  un attaquant, un avant
goalscorer                            un buteur
defender                               un défenseur
penalty                                 le penalty
corner                                   le corner
home                                    chez eux
away                                     à l’extérieur
centre forward                      un avant-centre
centre-back                           un arrière-centre
half                                        la période, la mi-temps
half-time                                la mi-temps
time added-on                      les prolongations, les arrêts de jeu
sweeper                                le libéro
normal time                           le temps réglementaire
playmaker                             le meneur de jeu
assistant referee                    un arbitre assistant
manager, coach                    un antraîneur
substitute                               un remplaçant
bench                                     le banc
studs                                     les crampons
shinguard                              un protège-tibia
pitch                                     le terrain (de jeu)
to award a free kick               accorder un coup franc
kick-off                                 le coup d’envoi
to obstruct                             faire obstruction
handball                                une faute de main
to handle the ball                   manier le ballon
faire un croc-en-jambe          to trip up
goal line                                la ligne de but
half way line                          la ligne médiane
six yard line                           la ligne des six mètres
penalty spot                          le point de penalty
restart                                    la reprise de jeu
goal kick                                la sortie de but
tackle from behind                une charge par derrière
hat trick                                 le coup du chapeau, un hat-trick
to get past                            déborder
dummy                                 une feinte
one-touch passing                 le jeu en deviation
one-touch football                style de jeu en une touche de balle
to mark                                marquer
good save                            une belle parade
long forward pass                une passé en profondeur
dive                                      une plongeon
to dive                                  plonger
one-two                                une une-deux
cap                                       une titularisation
capped                                 titularisé
to come on                            rentrer
to allow a goal                      valider un but
to anticipate a pass                aller au devant du ballon
away-goal rule                      la règle du but à l’extérieur
out of play                            la sortie en touche
breakaway                            une échappée
to concede a goal                 encaisser un but
final whistle                           le coup de sifflet final
flying tackle                  tacle avec les deux pieds décollés du sol
to knock out                        éliminer
to lose your marker              se démarquer
penalty shoot-out                 les tirs au but
set-piece                              le coup de pied arrêté
footballing qualities               des qualités footballistiques

Comments

  1. Anonymous16 May 2011 at 11:56

    Brilliant! Thank you so much for this - hope to use some of it to engage an apathetic group of Y10's (mostly boys).

    Fiona Joyce
    MFL teacher in Stockton-on-Tees
    (@wizenedcrone on Twitter)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helen Myers3 July 2016 at 21:58

    Superbe! Merci beaucoup Monsieur!

    ReplyDelete

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