Carioca Crash Course: Football Edition

Carioca Crash Course: Football edition

Two opposing times (teams) and a group of jogadores (players) with the same objective: scoring goals. Football matches always provide unforgettable moments at the Olympic Games.

While Canadian women’s team is getting prepared for great battles at Rio 2016 with the last of the two-game series against Brazil, in Ottawa, it’s time to start improving your Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary and learning some football terms.

Ready?

Ball

Ball phonetic, Carioca Crash Course series

Bola, the sacred element of football. Interesting fact: did you know that the first use of the word “ball,” in English, was in the 1205 poem The Chronicle of Britain?

RELATED: Rio 2016 football co-host cities

Goal

Goal phonetic, Carioca Crash Course series

The greatest moment in football is the gol – or goal. The spelling is pretty similar to English, even the pronunciation is not that different. Be prepared to yell “gooooooool” during the matches of Rio 2016.

RELATED: Rio 2016 qualification tracker

Final score

Final Score phonetic, Carioca Crash Course series

The final score – placar final – determines the outcome of each match and each team’s Olympic fate. The winning team gets three points, while the loser leaves empty-handed. In a draw, each team gets one point, although that’s only in the group stage. 

RELATED: Brazil head coach praises Canada

Referee

Referee phonetic, Carioca Crash Course football edition

The official authority responsible for presiding over the game, known as referee or simply “ref,” in English, is called árbitro (formal term) or juiz (popular term), in Brazilian Portuguese. In the early years, there was no juiz during the matches and the fouls used to be agreed between both teams. The need for referees grew when games began to grow more competitive.

Corner kick

Corner Kick phonetic, Carioca Crash Course football edition

A corner kick – cobrança de escanteio – is awarded to the attacking team when the ball leaves the field by crossing the goal line. That creates a great goalscoring opportunity for the attacking side. 

RELATED: 9 Magical Maracana moments

Offside

Offside phonetic, Carioca Crash Course football edition

Impedimento, in Brazilian Portuguese. That’s the name of one of the most confusing and controversial football law – the offside.

RELATED: Canada’s group stage opponents at Rio 2016

Foul

Carioca Crash Course, Football edition. Foul (falta), Portuguese phonetic

An act committed by a player and deemed by the referee to be unfair is called falta, in Brazilian Portuguese. Kicking or striking an opponent, handling the ball or colliding with another player – all those acts may be considered a foul, which results in a direct or indirect free kick.

Free kick

Free Kick phonetic, Carioca Crash Course football edition

The cobrança de falta – free kick – may be a good chance to score. But do you know who are the best football free kickers of the world now? According to Fox Sports reporter Thomas Hautmann, they are Dimitri Payet (France and West Ham), Willian (Brazil and Chelsea), Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey and Bayer Leverkusen) and Miralem Pjanic (Bosnia and AS Roma). Agreed? 

RELATED: The best soccer flicks

Penalty shoot-out

Penalty shoot-out phonetic, Carioca Crash Course football edition

If a knockout (not group stage) match is still tied after extra time, the match goes to a penalty shoot-out. Love it or hate it, the disputa de pênaltis is a super exciting moment of the game. Early match reports have shown that the origin of penalty kick in football probably lies in rugby football.

MORE: Carioca Crash Course – Olympic terms