We don't understand you! Take that whatever way you'd like!
By Kim DeRaedt
It was a Bombenschuss, but the Torjäger is no stranger to sniffing out the back of the net. Each Anhänger stood and cheered when the Angreifer beat the Schlussmann to lead the Heim to the Meisterschaft. Gooooooool! Ole!
Well, minus the latter exclamations, this German-American statement reads, “It was a difficult (long-distance) shot, but the (frequent) goal-scorer is no stranger to sniffing out the back of the net. Each fan stood and cheered when the striker beat the goalkeeper to lead the home time to the championship.” With the 2006 World Cup having passed through Deutschland, this summer’s Women’s World Cup plopping on German soil, and the inevitable dominance of the country’s squads across age and gender divides, the Germans can certainly walk the talk in the globe’s greatest game. It’s about time we learn to talk a bit of their talk too! (Note: Studies have shown that talking the German talk does not correlate with walking the German soccer walk i.e. don’t expect the USNT to be confused with Die Mannschaft, “The Team”, anytime soon!)
Here’s a bit of lingo likely to (not) impress the Fußball -loving German public:
People
Soccer player: Kicker
Spectators/Fans: Anhänger (s.), Zuschauer, Publikum
Referee: Schiedsrichter, Schiri (sl.)
Positions
Goalkeeper: Torhüter, Torwart, Schlussmann (sl.)
Sweeper: Libero
Defender: Verteidiger
Midfielder: Mittelfeldspieler
Forward/Striker: Angreifer, Stürmer, Spitze
On the Field
Field/Pitch: Feld
Ball: Ball (Bälle)
Bench: Bank
Essential Expressions
Throw-in: Eckstoß
Free kick: Freistoß
Corner kick: Eckstoß
Offside: abseits (adj.)
Penalty kick: Strafstoß, Elfmeter
Halftime: Halbzeit
Verbs
To kick: kicken, bolzen, treten, schlagen
To substitute: auswechseln
To win: gewinnen
To lose: verlieren
Neat Nomenclatures
Bombenschuss: a difficult shot, usually from a long distance
Hexenkessel: an unfriendly stadium (“witch’s cauldron”), usually the opponent’s home stadium
Joker (sl.): substitute who comes in and scores goals
Strafraumschwalbe: “penalty box swallow”, i.e. diver
Torjäger: goal scorer (who scores often)
Torschützenkönig leading goalscorer (“goal king”)
We say foosball (Fußball); they say kicker. But really, isn’t it just /təˈmɑːtoʊ/ or /təˈmeɪtoʊ/ in the end. Same difference!
The turned-to tutor: http://german.about.com/library/blsport_fussb.htm
SPSL FLASH 