Nutmeg (football)

Mural of Ronaldo nutmegging an opposing player. The work in Berlin was commissioned by Nike prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany

A nutmeg (or tunnel, sometimes just meg in British English slang), is a playing technique used in association football, field hockey or basketball. The aim is to kick, roll or throw the ball between an opponent's legs (feet). This can be done in order to pass to another player, to shoot on goal, or to carry on and retrieve it.[1]

Exponents in football

Kicking the ball through an opponents legs in order to get past them is a dribbling skill commonly used among football players, with some of the most notable exponents in the modern game including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Dele Alli, Ryan Giggs, and Luis Suárez.[1][2] Suárez became so skilled at nutmegging opponents it led to the saying: "Suárez could nutmeg a mermaid."[3]

Origin of the term

Luis Suárez (in red) has a penchant for nutmegging opponents

The origins of the word are a point of debate. An early use is in the novel A bad lot by Brian Glanville (1977).[4] According to Alex Leith's book Over the Moon, Brian - The Language of Football, "nuts refers to the testicles of the player through whose legs the ball has been passed and nutmeg is just a development from this".[5] The use of the word nutmeg to mean leg, in Cockney rhyming slang, has also been put forward as an explanation.[6]

Another theory was postulated by Peter Seddon in his book, Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game.[7] The word, he suggests, arose because of a sharp practice used in nutmeg exports between America and England. "Nutmegs were such a valuable commodity that unscrupulous exporters were to pull a fast one by mixing a helping of wooden replicas into the sacks being shipped to England," writes Seddon. "Being nutmegged soon came to imply stupidity on the part of the duped victim and cleverness on the part of the trickster." While such a ploy would surely not be able to be employed more than once, Seddon alleges it soon caught on in football, implying that the player whose legs the ball had been played through had been tricked, or, nutmegged.[6]

A similar term, "5-hole," is used in ice hockey when the puck goes between the goalie's legs into the goal.[8]

In other languages

Nutmeg is the British English name for this technique.[6]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Lionel Messi was king of the nutmeg as Barcelona outclassed Manchester City... and he joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Luis Suarez in our top 10". Daily Mail. 19 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "WATCH: Luis Suarez nutmeg David Luiz twice in Barcelona's win at PSG". Sky Sports. 16 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Collins, Neil (5 July 2014). Make Us Dream: A Fan's View of the 2013/14 Season. Lulu. p. 108.
  4. ↑ Page 57 "He nutmegged him ! ' 'He did,' said Peter Bailey, wonderingly, 'he did. A proper nutmeg.' What Jack had done, in fact, was to slip the ball between the legs.."
  5. ↑ Alex Leith Over the Moon, Brian - The Language of Football
  6. 1 2 3 Ingle, Sean (2005-09-07). "Where does the term nutmeg come from - the final word". The Knowledge (London: The Guardian). Retrieved 2006-08-01.
  7. ↑ Seddon, Peter. "Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game"
  8. ↑ "Why Do They Call It the Five Hole?". 15 October 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
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