LEILA FADEL, HOST:
After hearing about the Team USA soccer captain, some of us might fall into the same trap as the original Ted Lasso character. Jason Sudeikis played an American football coach who takes a job with an English soccer team. Here he is in a 2013 NBC commercial.
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JASON SUDEIKIS: (As Ted Lasso) They're going to play hard for all four quarters, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As reporter) Right. Two halves.
SUDEIKIS: (As Ted Lasso) What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As reporter) Two halves.
SUDEIKIS: (As Ted Lasso) OK, halves.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
If you're going to a watch party and don't want to sound like that, we have a guide to the lingo, and we'll start with an easy one. Is it soccer or football?
TOM LUTZ: When football or soccer was in its infancy and was played in English private schools, and to differentiate it from rugby football, they'd call it soccer.
FADEL: Tom Lutz is a sports editor for The Guardian US.
LUTZ: So actually, if you're saying soccer, some people may say you're being an idiot. But actually, you may be being more genuine than the average fan.
FADEL: What about the dreaded offside rule? And note that I said offside, not off sides.
LUTZ: When the ball is played through to an attacker, you need to have at least two people between you and the goal. And that can be a defender and a goalkeeper, two defenders.
FADEL: Now, you might be frustrated by players throwing themselves to the ground. Just don't call it flopping, which Lutz says is more commonly used in basketball.
LUTZ: Diving, I'd say, is used more in soccer. I mean, it's kind of simulating like you've been fouled when you perhaps haven't been. If you want to kind of try and win a foul and you've been barely touched, you kind of dive to the ground, pretend you're in agony.
INSKEEP: Oh, it hurts so much. Now, let's take it up a level and throw in some of the game's more colorful terms, like squeaky bum time.
LUTZ: That is towards the end of the game, it's close, and you're nervous about whether your team is going to win or not. And that comes from the legendary Man United manager, one of the greatest coaches of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson.
INSKEEP: Fans squirming in their plastic stadium seats would make them squeak.
FADEL: Another phrase you may hear is nutmeg.
LUTZ: Nutmeg is when you put the ball between a defender's legs. So you're running at them. You knock the ball between their legs and then run around the other side and carry on running. And it's kind of seen as being a nice little bit of skill. It's also seen as humiliating the opposing defender.
FADEL: There's also parking the bus.
LUTZ: When you're trying not to concede a goal and you just put all your defenders in front of the goal, it's like parking a bus in front of the goal mouth.
INSKEEP: The...
FADEL: Sounds like...
INSKEEP: ...Goal mouth.
FADEL: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Anyway, go on. Go on.
FADEL: Sounds like the perfect play for squeaky bum time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OLE")
THE BOUNCING SOULS: (Singing) Ole. Ole, ole, ole. Ole. Ole. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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