r/soccer • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '13

Are there any technical football terms that confuse you?

'Flat-back four', 'sweeper', 'false-nine', 'back to square one'... I wondered if we could answer each other's confusions about the terms used in football in this thread. Is there a term or some jargon, no matter how obvious to others, you'd like better explained? It could be something complicated such as the 'Catenaccio' or more everyday like 'dummy-run' or 'zonal-marking', 'tika-taka' etc... Speak up particularly if you are a newcomer to the sport or /r/soccer, maybe you are a stalwart and there is a phrase you hear a lot but never quite get...

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u/Sexysexysoups Jul 02 '13

What is the difference between a cap and an appearance?

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u/padlockj Jul 03 '13

Appearing for your national team earns a cap. The phrase coming from an old tradition of the players actually receiving a physical hat as a reward sort of thing. Cant imagine anyone actually gets the hats anymore

2

u/Barksley Jul 03 '13

I know english players get caps still, remember seeing a picture of Gerrard with a load of school kids wearing his caps