Nutmeg (association football)

A nutmeg (or tunnel, nut, megs, megnuts, panna, brooksy, codling) 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).

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

Exponents in football

Mural of Ronaldo nutmegging an opposing player, with the legend "Joga bonito" (play nice) 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, Robihno, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard and Tobin Heath. [1][2][3] Suarez in particular is known for having a penchant for executing it constantly, which led to the banner and saying 'Suarez can nutmeg a Mermaid.' during his time at Liverpool.[4]

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.[5][6]

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).[7] 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".[8] The use of the word nutmeg to mean leg, in Cockney rhyming slang, has also been put forward as an explanation.[9]

Another theory was postulated by Peter Seddon in his book, Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game.[10] The word, he suggests, arose because of a sharp practice used in nutmeg exports 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.[9]

In other sports

In the National Basketball Association, Manu Ginóbili and Jamaal Tinsley employ the pass between the legs variant. Some commentators also use the term "five-hole" whenever this happens. The term "five-hole" is used in ice hockey when the puck goes between the goalie's legs into the goal.[11][12]

In other languages

Nutmeg is the British English name for this technique.[9]

In Spanish speaking countries like Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain and Mexico, it is called "túnel" or "caño".
In Albania it is called "Kaush" (Cornet) or "Mes Shalëve" (Between the Thighs).
In Argentina it is called "caño" or "túnel".
In Australia it is called a "nutmeg".
In Austria it is called "Gurkerl", meaning "small cucumber".
In Brazil it is called a "caneta" (pen), "janelinha" (little window), "rolinho" (little roll), "ovinho" (little egg) or tabaca.
In Cape Verde it is called "lavagem" meaning wash.
In Czech Republic it is usually called "jesle" (hay rack) or "housle" (violin) or "baseny" (contrabass) or "párky" (sausages).
In Denmark, Sweden and Norway it is called "tunnel".
In Dutch it is known by the verb "poorten" (lit. 'gating') and the Surinamese word "panna".
In Egypt and Saudi Arabia it is called "kobry" (كوبري), meaning "bridge (n)".
In Ethiopia it is called "lochie", or "weled" in Tigrigna.
In Finland it is called "länget" (horse collar) or "puikot" (sticks).
In France it is called "petit pont" (little bridge).
In Germany it is called "Tunnel" (tunnel) or "Beinschuss" (leg shot).
In Ghana it is called "sulia".
In Greece it is called "podia" (ποδιά) meaning "apron".
In Hispanic America and Spain it is called "caño" (spout, pipe), "túnel" (tunnel), or "cocina" (kitchen).
In Hungary it is called "kötény" (apron), "szoknya" (skirt) or "bőr" (skin)
In India it is called "Galla" derived from ‘gali’ meaning narrow lane. In some parts of India it is also called "Pana" literally meaning a spanner
In Ireland it is called “megs”.
In Malayalam it is called as "nada" meaning "Through the middle" Eg: "Messi avante nada eduthu" means "Messi has nutmegged him"
In Indonesia it is called kolong meaning "pit".
In Iran it is called "laayee" (لایی) meaning "in between", or "the one that goes between (the legs)".
In Israel it is called "השחלת חוט במחט" (lit. "threading a needle") or הברשה (brushing).
In Italy it is called "tunnel".
In Jamaican English it is known as "salad".
In Japan it is called "Mata nuki" (lit. 'crotch punching').
In Jordan it is called "Balaha" بلحة, meaning "date (n)".
In Kenya it is commonly known as "chobo" or "chobwe" - kupigwa chobo (nutmegged)
in Libya it is called "bomshi" which is a kind of stones
In Lithuanian it is called "sijonas", which means skirt or "klynas", which means space between your legs.
In Malawi it is called Kalulu meaning "the hare" or "the rabbit"
In Nepal it is also called "अन्डा पार्नु" (lay egg).
In New Zealand, it is generally referred to as ''nutmegged'' or ''megged"
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 and ''okpuru'' in Igbo, a word which directly translates to under. In northern Nigeria, it is also called OC.
In Norway it is called "Tunnel". In the same meaning as in English. It can also be referred to as "luke" (hatch).
In Polish it is called "siata" (net) or "dziurka" (hole).
In Portugal it is usually called a "túnel" (tunnel), "cueca" (underpants), "rata" or "ova" (roe).
In Russia it is called "mezhdu nog" (между ног), "otverstiye" (отверстие) or "ochko" (очко), meaning "hole"
In Sweden it is called "tunnel" (noun) and "tunnla" (verb).
In Tanzania it is called "tobo" or more accurately "kupigwa tobo" (nutmegged).
In Trinidad & Tobago it is called "breed"
In Tunisia it is called "adma" (عظمة), meaning "egg".
In Turkey it is called "beşik" (cradle), "beşlik" (5-pointer), "bacak arası" ("from between the legs") or (for the defender) "yumurtlamak" (lay eggs).
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 them 50 cents.
In Zambia it is called a "pomo or Olilo"
In Zimbabwe it is called "deya, window or umbhoko"
In many other European/Latin and African countries it is called "panna", a Surinamese word.

References

"Lionel Messi was king of the nutmeg as Barcelona outclassed Manchester City... and he joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Luis Suarez in our top 10". Daily Mail. 19 March 2015.
Collins, Neil (5 July 2014). Make Us Dream: A Fan's View of the 2013/14 Season. Lulu. p. 108.
"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.
"Liverpool fans coming up with the 'Suarez could nutmeg a Mermaid' banners." Savile Rogue. January 29, 2014
http://jyllands-posten.dk/aarhus/sport/article6405076.ece
https://cado.dk/reference/moelleparken/
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.."
Alex Leith Over the Moon, Brian - The Language of Football
Ingle, Sean (2005-09-07). "Where does the term nutmeg come from - the final word". The Knowledge. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-08-01.
Seddon, Peter. "Football Talk - The Language And Folklore Of The World's Greatest Game"
http://www.startribune.com/official-hockey-lingo-merriam-webster-adds-five-hole-to-the-dictionary/413186373/
"Why Do They Call It the Five Hole?". 15 October 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2015.

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