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Today’s football phrase comes from another question on our Forum page by @Hyuna_27g and is ‘first time‘. 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.
First time
First time is used in football to describe when a player gives a pass or hits a shot without having to control the ball beforehand. A first-time shot can often catch the defence out as they are not ready, while a first-time pass can also open up a defence. Players who use this skill often have good technique as they need to rely on their touch, their control and their vision. So, you will often hear this phrase collocating with the words pass or shot but hardly ever with tackle or header: first-time shot or first-time pass. First time.
- Example: The player hit a first-time volley to open the scoring
- Example: The team opened up their opponent’s defence with a series of first-time passes
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
Hi all. Could you explain what do the words in bold mean?
Rooney gets the better of Kane and wins a corner for his team.
Martin Odegaard opened his account for the club with a stunning strike before goals from Gabriel and Mo Elneny put us in control of our Europa League last-16 tie with Olympiacos.
GOAL! Spurs 4-1 Crystal Palace, Kane, 76 mins
Again, it’s just mouth-watering football from Spurs’ attack. Kane bags his second. He’s assisted or scored every goal tonight. The complete package.
Hi Sandar,
Apologies for the delay in responding to this!
To get the better of
To get the better of someone or to get the better of a team means to win. So in the first example, Rooney has won the duel or tackle with Kane and has won the corner. We can also hear the phrase when one team beats another team, for example, Spain got the better of Slovakia in the 2020 Euros for example.
Open his account
This phrase is used to describe when a player scores their first goal in a match, a season or a tournament. Here Odegaard has scored his first goal for Arsenal.
The complete package
This refers to the fact Harry Kane is a complete player – he can both assist and score goals. He was involved with all four of the goals in Tottenham’s 4-1.
Hope that helps
Damian