Nutmeg (football)

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A nutmeg (or tunnel or panna) is a technique used in football (soccer), in which a player plays the ball through an opponent's legs. This can be whilst passing to another player, shooting or occasionally to carry on and retrieve it himself. Only if the ball is received on the other side by one of the above will the move be classed as a nutmeg.

1 Overview
2 Nutmeg in other languages
3 Further reading
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Overview

The origins of the word are a point of debate. 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. The most likely source, however, was postulated by Peter Seddon in his book "Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game". He states that 'to nutmeg' was a Victorian verb meaning 'to trick' or 'to fool' and arose after the nutmeg trade gained a reputation for duplicitous goings-on, with vendors selling fake nutmeg. It soon caught on in football, implying that the player whose legs the ball had been played through had been tricked, or, nutmegged.

To be nutmegged by a nutmegger performing a nutmeg is commonly seen as showing the opponent is lacking in footballing skill, and therefore amongst amateur players (particularly children) nutmegs are frequently tried so as to embarrass the opposition player and prove your own skill. The player that performs the nutmeg would sometimes say "Olé!" In northern England the term nutmeg is often shortened to "megs" in informal use. For example, if one player nutmegs another, as he runs past to retrieve the ball, he may call "megs!". However in other parts of the country, players have been known to call "nuts!". In the United States "meg" is frequently used as a verb.

In recent times, the Panna has become prevalent in the highly regarded Dutch Street Football scene. The Panna itself is considered an ultimate humiliation and competitions are held for people to Out-Panna each other. For this reason many regard Dutch Street Footballers as the best exponents of the Panna.

[edit] Nutmeg in other languages

In Argentina, the nutmeg is called "caño" ("pipe" in English)
In Australia, the nutmeg is colloquially referred to as a "nutty".
In Bahrain, to nutmeg someone is to bayedh them, which means 'egg' them in Arabic.
In Brazil, such move may be called a caneta ('pen', referring to the player's legs) or a janelinha ('little window')
In Denmark the nutmeg is called "tunnel", because of the "tunnel" between the other player's legs. It's also called "nælle" between younger kids
In Ethiopia the nutmeg is known as a loc' ei.
In Finland nutmegging somebody is called "pistää puikoista/längeistä". The word puikot means "pins" or "sticks", and länget is a word derived from the word "legs".
In France, when you nutmeg someone it's called "Petit Pont" which means "Little Bridge". Alternatively to pass the ball around a player to yourself is known as the "Grand Pont", or "Great Bridge" in English.
In Germany, performing a nutmeg is called "tunneln", typically as a verb.
In Ghana the nutmeg is known as suulia.
In Hungary, to nutmeg someone is "kötényt ad neki", which means "he gives him an apron".
In Template:Country data Imdia India, to nutmeg someone is "potti", means "box".
In Iran, when you nutmeg someone its called "Laiye" which means "between".
In Italy, the nutmeg is called "busta".
In Jamaica, to nutmeg someone is to salad them; to put the ball through his "salad". Perhaps the reference is to the ease with which one slices through a tomato used to make a salad which in Jamaica is called a "salad tomato" or simply a salad.
In the Republic of Macedonia, to nutmeg someone is called "cevka" (pipe in the Macedonian language).
In Kenya, the nutmeg is called "chobo" like the sound of a peddle dropping in a pond of water.
In Malaysia, it's called "kangkang".
In Spain, it's called "caño".
In Mexico, it's called "túnel" or "agujero" (hole)
In Nigeria, to nutmeg someone is called "kolo" (piggy bank or coin box in Yoruba), because putting the ball between someone's legs is similar to slotting a coin into a piggy bank.
In Norway, the nutmeg is called "luka", which translates into "the hatch".
In Peru, a nutmeg is called "huacha" or "huachita"
In Poland, it's called "dziurka" (buttonhole) or "siatka" (net) or "kanał" (sewer)
In Portugal, it's called cueca which means 'Boxer' (Boxer from underwear) or rata which means 'Rat'.
In Romania, the nutmeg is called "craci" (a slang term for legs) or "urechi" (ear, referring to the hole in a sewing needle)
In Russia, the nutmeg is called "гамак" (hammock). Probably because the two legs of a defender look like two trees between which you can hang a hammock. It is also called "домик" (little house).
In Saudi Arabia, when you nutmeg someone it is called kubree, which means "tunnel" in Arabic.
In South Africa to nutmeg someone is Shibobo.
In Southeast Asia, where Malay is one of the influential languages, to nutmeg someone in football is to lubang, which means 'hole' in Malay.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the nutmeg is called a "breed" or "sex" , as it goes through the legs. The recipient is sometimes said to have a child for the giver.
In Turkey, the nutmeg is called "beşlik" (low five), because a goal scored with a nutmeg is worth five points in some street games.

[edit] Further reading

The Nutmeg dribbling trick. Expert Football. Retrieved on 2005-12-20. — 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
"Nutmeg earns O'Shea praise", Manchester United, 2003-04-26. — John O'Shea's nutmeg on Luís Figo
Finishing and Scoring. Expert Football. Retrieved on 2005-12-20. — A well-positioned goalkeeper may be vulnerable to a nutmeg.