If you’re an Italian football fan, you’ve probably caught some phrases by yourself, but it doesn’t hurt to know more of them. Those words will come in especially handy, if in your country not all of the Serie A meetings are broadcated in your native language (which is, pretty much, most – if not all – of the countries in the world, except for Italy itself). What words are the most important and thus, you should recognize them?
Why is it so important?
The biggest fans of Serie A will definitely tell you, that most of the people at the football stadium are Italians. Given their openness and the famous ability to make friends with pretty much everyone, we can bet they would be amazed if you could name at least some of the most important moves or positions in football. Among phrases and words you should definitely know, we can also find some that aren’t strictly connected to the game. For example, scommesse sportive means the sports bets, which are a common practice between Italians.
Game’s on!
Firstly, let’s talk about some of the most popular Italian words concering the gameplay itself. Among those, we can find calcio, which means just football – the sport. There is a whole family of words connected to calcio and among those, we can point out calcio d’angolo (corner) or club di calcio, which stands for sports club. The game itself (as in meaning of a football match) is gioco, to attack is attacco and if your favorite team strikes back, Italian fan would use word contrattacco. A word, which probably no one would like to hear in one sentence with their team’s player is sbaglio, which means a mistake. Sbaglio della difesa is a defense error. Those are many words you should remember and we’re not even halfway there! Ready to find out, how do we call specific football moves?
Vocabulary about Italian matches you should know!
Warm-up is a regular part of the whole team’s day before the match and in Italian, you’d call it riscaldamento. To warm up – riscaldarsi. When the whole team (or a single player) is training before the meeting, it’s called allenamento. One of the most exciting moments for each football fan is the beginning of the game: cominciare una partita. The meeting of two teams, as in meaning of a match, is called incontro. Do you like to watch them with your friends or solo? No matter what your preferences are, you are definitely waiting for the final results to come. In Italian, you’d call them risultato.
We can bet you have your favorito – favorite, the player you like and value the most. They tend to win the matched for their teams – giving them a vittoria (victory) or a success (successo). Which od the Italian players do you think is imbattibile (invincible)? Almost every person in Italy has their favorite player or a team and they value loyalty. It means if you like a team, you stick with it even if a winning streak isn’t an option for some reasons. So, even if they perdere (lose) – you can’t turn your back on your preferred team!
Who can we find at the field?
Obviously, the players, but not only them. There are also many people, which are crucial during the football matches. Among them, we can name the hated or adored football referees – arbitro in general, giudice for the main referee, guardalinee for linesman. They can fischiare (whistle) a foul or any other type of dirty play. The main referee can also give ammonizione (warning) to the player and honestly, it’s a pretty common practice in Italian meetings, as they are a bit hot headed. Both players and their fans love the sport with all their hearts, so no wonder they are equally passionate defending them.
There are two things Italians really hate (unless it concerns a player from the opposite team): punire con il cartellino giallo and punire con il cartellino rosso. First one stands for the yellow card punishment and the second – for the worst type of penalty for the player – to punish with a red card.
Fans are important
Last but not least, we would like to present you with a few words concerning you – the fans (tifoso). If you’re watching matches live, you are spettatore (spectator) and going to the match itself is andare alla partita. If an opposite team player fouls one of yours, don’t forget to fischiare (boo them)!
Even though the mentioned words aren’t all that can be used during a football match, we are pretty sure they will be enough for you to understand most of your fellow spectators. Have a great time!
