In this post, we explain the football phrase ‘overhead kick’.overhead kick

  • Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
  • You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.

Football Language: Overhead kick

Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal in Real Madrid’s 3-0 away victory – an overhead kick–  has been hailed as one of the greatest of all time; it was so amazing that even the home fans from Juventus applauded him. Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal crossed from the right and the ball reached his teammate Ronaldo around the penalty spot but a little behind him. No problem for Cristiano who, with his back to goal, acrobatically volleyed the ball over his head and into the net leaving Juventus keeper Buffon rooted to the spot. An amazing goal indeed from Ronaldo. Sometimes this type of goal is known as a bicycle kick or maybe a scissors kick although this last one is describes a volley from the side rather than over the head.

Example: ‘…the 33-year-old Portuguese rising almost unnaturally high before acrobatically firing the ball into the corner of the net with an incredible bicycle kick.’ (BBC.co.uk, April 4th 2018).

Example: ‘Ronaldo’s iconic overhead kick reveals that, at 33, he’s better than ever’ (ESPN)

Other phrases

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Football GlossaryEpisode 779