Vocabulary

Football is an international language but it still helps if you know the local vocabulary when you’re having a discussion in a bar before the match or with the person sitting next to you in the stadium. Below is spanishfootball.info’s guide to Spanish football vocabulary.

The Basics:

portero: goalkeeper

defensa: defender

centrocampista: midfielder

delantero: forward

arbitro: referee

entrenador: manager

falta: foul

penalti: penalty

saque de esquina: corner

saque de banda: throw in

saque de puerta: goal kick

tarjeta (amarilla, roja): card (yellow, red)

fuera de juego: offside

un crack: a superstar

tiki taka: good, one touch football

el pichichi: the top goalscorer

el Zamora: best goalkeeper

la cantera: the youth system

Buying a ticket:

la grada: the stand   e.g. Grada Norte: north stand

fondo: behind the goals         lateral: at the side of the pitch

Puerta: literally “door” but meaning turnstile       Asiento: seat     fila: row

Stadium Chants:

Some of the translations below are not literal translations but their closest equivalent in English.

a por ellos ! : Get into them!

Directiva Dimision: Sack the board!

Manos arriba, esto es un atraco! : literally translates as, “hands up, this is a hold up!” (sung when one set of fans feel they are being robbed by bad referee decisions)

así así así gana el Madrid: literally, “like this, like this, this is how Madrid win” usually sung by Madrid fans when their team win by playing beautiful football but also sung by opposition fans in an ironic tone when they feel Madrid is getting all the decisions in their favour.