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Weekly Football Phrase: (to) Lob

lobThis week, languagecaster.com introduces the English for football phrase ‘to lob‘. You can understand 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.

This week, we look at a verb for a kind of shot – to lob, which can also be used as a noun, a lob. The verb to lob is usually used with an object, for example, ‘The player lobbed the keeper’ or ‘He lobbed it over the keeper’. To lob is to lift the ball in an arc over the head of an opposing player. It is usually done from a distance, for example from outside the box, as you need distance to get the ball high enough to go over the opposing player and still come down under the goal’s crossbar. When used as a noun, you can say, ‘The player scored with a clever lob over the onrushing keeper‘, for example.

Check out more football phrases by visiting our huge glossary page, where you can find hundreds of words, phrases and cliches connected to the world of football. If there is a phrase you need explaining send us a comment or email and we will try to explain it for you.

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I was born and brought up near Chester in the north west of England. I have always loved playing and talking about sport, especially football!
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2 comments
    • Izan,

      Thanks for the question. These are both related terms and mean to beat (or try to beat) the keeper over his/her head a€“ so this means that a player is trying to lift or raise the ball. If you do this when the ball is on the ground this is known as a chip; if the ball is off the ground when you hit it, it is a lob.

      Cheers,

      Damon
      languagecaster team

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