Nutmeg (association football)

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Diego Maradona's (centre) famous nutmeg against rival Juan Cabrera (left), the day he debuted in Argentine Primera Division playing for Argentinos Juniors, 20 October 1976 Maradona cano debut.jpg
Diego Maradona's (centre) famous nutmeg against rival Juan Cabrera (left), the day he debuted in Argentine Primera División playing for Argentinos Juniors, 20 October 1976

A nutmeg, also known by dozens of national and regional variations, is a skill used mainly in association football, but also in field hockey, ice hockey, and basketball. The aim is to kick, roll, dribble, throw, or push the ball (or puck) between an opponent's legs (feet). This might be done to pass or when shooting the ball, but a nutmeg is more commonly associated with the skill of dribbling where it enables a player to get behind a defender.

Contents

Exponents in football

Mural of Ronaldo nutmegging an opposing player, with the legend "Joga bonito" (beautiful game) at bottom. The work in Berlin was commissioned by Nike prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Ronaldo mural.jpg
Mural of Ronaldo nutmegging an opposing player, with the legend "Joga bonito" (beautiful game) at bottom. The work in Berlin was commissioned by Nike prior to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Kicking the ball through an opponent's legs in order to get the ball past them and back to the original player is a dribbling skill that is commonly used among football players. Owing to its effectiveness and being visually impressive, it is very popular among players and can be frequently seen being attempted multiple times throughout a game, whether by a single player or many different players. Some of the most notable practitioners include Riquelme, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Luis Suárez, Lionel Messi, and Eden Hazard. [1] [2] Suárez in particular is known for having a penchant for executing it constantly, which led to the banner and saying "Suárez can nutmeg a Mermaid" during his time at Liverpool. [3]

Street football game

There is also a street football game, originating in the Netherlands, which is called panna (Sranan Tongo for gate). This game depends on usage of this technique. [4] [5]

In France and other french-speaking regions, children, (mainly boys) sometimes play a game called petit pont massacreur or "petit pont-baston" (= nutmeg slaughter or nutmeg rumble). During this game, any player that gets a nutmeg becomes the target of all other players, who are then allowed to kick the player, until he touches a predefinite object in the game area. The violence of this game got it to be highly mediatised during the 2000s, after children were hospitalized because of it.

Etymology

An early use of the term is in the novel A bad lot by Brian Glanville (1977). [6] 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". [7] The use of the word nutmeg to mean leg, in Cockney rhyming slang, has also been put forward as an explanation. [8]

Another theory, supported by the OED, was postulated by Peter Seddon in his book, Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game. [9] The word, he suggests, arose because of a sharp practice used in nutmeg exports in the 19th century between North 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. [8]

In other sports

In the National Basketball Association, Manu Ginóbili and Jamaal Tinsley employ the pass between the legs variant.[ original research? ] Some commentators also use the term "five-hole" when this happens; the term arose in ice hockey for when the puck passes between the goalie's legs into the goal. [10] [11]

In cricket, England's Nat Sciver had the "Natmeg" shot named after her, [12] when she hit a cricket ball through her legs during a game. [13] [14]

In cricket, if ball goes through the legs of a fielder, in Kashmiri language it's said to be a taharat of the fielder. Taharat is the equivalent of Istinja.

In other languages

Nutmeg is the British English name for this technique. [8]

See also

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References

  1. Collins, Neil (5 July 2014). Make Us Dream: A Fan's View of the 2013/14 Season. Lulu. p. 108.
  2. "WATCH: Luis Suarez nutmeg David Luiz twice in Barcelona's win at PSG". Sky Sports. 16 April 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
  3. "Liverpool fans coming up with the 'Suarez could nutmeg a Mermaid' banners." Savile Rogue. January 29, 2014
  4. "Nye street-spil indtog Aarhus".
  5. "Mølleparken | CADO".
  6. 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.."
  7. Alex Leith Over the Moon, Brian - The Language of Football
  8. 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.
  9. Seddon, Peter. "Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game"
  10. "Official hockey lingo: Merriam-Webster adds 'five-hole' to the dictionary". Star Tribune .
  11. "Why Do They Call It the Five Hole?". 15 October 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  12. "White Ferns' tormentor Natalie Sciver credited with inventing 'Natmeg' cricket shot". Stuff. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  13. "'Natmeg' in her range, Sciver goes from strength to strength". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  14. "The 'Nat-meg': Natalie Sciver's inventive shot against the yorker". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  15. Leventhal, Adam. "Watford: The best team in Europe... at nutmegs". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

Further reading