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 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.

Exponents in football

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

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 and Luis Suárez. Suárez became so skilled at nutmegging opponents it led to the saying: "Suárez could nutmeg a mermaid."

Origin of the term

The origins of the word are a point of debate. An early use is in the novel A bad lot by Brian Glanville (1977). 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". The use of the word nutmeg to mean leg in Cockney rhyming slang has also been put forward as an explanation.

Another theory was postulated by Peter Seddon in his book Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game. The word 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." It soon caught on in football, implying that the player whose legs the ball had been played through had been tricked, or, nutmegged.

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

In other languages

Nutmeg is the British English name for this technique.

• In Uganda it is: "okuzaala abalongo" which is giving birth to twins.
• In Hispanic America this skill is known as "caño" (spout), or "cocina" (kitchen).
• In many other European/Latin and African countries it is called "panna", a Surinamese word.
• In Germany it is called "Tunnel" (tunnel) or "Beinschuss" (leg shot).
• In Korea it is called "Alggagi (알 까기)" (hatching an egg).
• In Turkey it is called "Beşik" (cradle).
• In Uzbekistan it is called "Чотакай" (groin).
• In Tanzania it is called "tobo" or more accurately "kupigwa tobo" (nutmegged).
• In France it is called "petit pont" (little bridge).
• In Finland it is called "puikot" (sticks).
• In Ukraine it is called "p'yatdesyat kopiyok" - (fifty cents), which is derived from the comedic idea that if a player nutmegs you, you owe him 50 cents.
• In South Africa it is also known as a "iShibobo".
• In Jamaican English it is known as "salad".
• In Dutch it is known by the verb "poorten" (lit. 'gating') and the noun "panna".
• In Cameroon it is referred to as "N'zolo"
• In Nigeria It is referred to as "Toros" or "Da Pata" or "Kolo" a Yoruba word which is used to refer to a local piggy bank.
• In Egypt and Saudi Arabia it is called "kobry" (كوبري), meaning "bridge (n)".
• In Jordan it is called الحمص, meaning "chickpea (n)".
• In Malaysia and Singapore it is known as an "olé" or "50sen".
• In Kenya it is commonly known as "chobo" or "chobwe" - kupigwa chobo (nutmegged)
• In Japan it is called "Mata nuki" (lit. 'crotch punching').
• In Australia it is called a "nutmeg ".
• In Iran it is called "lauyee" (لایی) meaning "gasket".
• In Brazil it is called a "caneta" (pen), "janelinha" (little window) or "rolinho" (little roll).
• In Polish it is called "założyć siatkę/dziurkę" (set up a net/a hole).
• In Hungarian it is called "kötény" (apron).
• In Malawi it is called Kalulu meaning "the hare" or "the rabbit"
• In Italy it is called "busta" or simply "tunnel".
• In Indonesia it is called kolong meaning "pit".
• In Ethiopia it is called "lochie". or "weled" in Tigrigna.
• In Denmark, Sweden and Norway it is called "tunnel".
• In Cantonese it is called "通坑渠" (drainage cleaning)
• In Zambia it is called a "pomo or Olilo"
• In Portugal it is usually called a "túnel" (tunnel), "cueca" (underpants) or in specific occasions a "rata".
• In Zimbabwe it is called "deya"
• In Ghana it is called "SULIA"
• In Tunisia it is called "adma" (عظمة), meaning "egg".
• In Morocco, Libya and Lebanon it is called "bayda" (بيضة), meaning "egg".
• In Mauritania it is called "Yali".
• In Russia it is called "otverstiye" (отверстие) or "ochko" (очко) , meaning "hole"
• In Austria it is called "Gurkerl", meaning "small cucumber".
• In Greece it is called "podia" (ποδιά) meaning "legs".
• In Romania it is called "urechi", meaning "ears", or "craci", meaning "crotch".
• In Israel it is called "השחלת חוט במחט" (lit. "threading a needle").
• In Vietnam it is called "xỏ háng" (lit. "pierced groin").
• In Thai is is called "ลอดดาก".
• In Peru it is called "huacha."
• In India it is called "bagga", meaning tunnel.
• In Mandarin it is called "通过裆" (Tōngguò dāng) meaning "through the crotch".
• In Namibia it is called "Junjie" or "Kootjie"
• In Pakistan it is called "Chadda" or "PANNA"
• In Sierra Leone it is called "under waise"
• In Spain it is called "caño" or "tubo", meaning "pipe" or "tube".
• In Bulgaria it is called "мрежичка", meaning "a small net".

Further reading

• — stills of a player executing a nutmeg, demonstrating the trick of pulling the ball back in order to force the defender to open his legs.
• — A well-positioned goalkeeper may be vulnerable to a nutmeg.

See also

• Dribbling