In this football language post we explain the adjective ‘flighted‘ , which is often used with the nouns ball and cross. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary and we also have a page full of football cliches. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Football Language: (a) Flighted ball
We often discuss passing in these posts, as it is a key area of football. One kind of pass, or cross, is often delivered a long way and over opposition players. We can whip in a cross for example, we can hoof the ball upfield to clear some danger and hope your team receives the ball. But if we want to describe a cross that is high and also accurate, we can use the adjective flighted to describe it – a flighted cross or ball is passed high and usually into the box from the sides of the pitch, from the wings. A flighted ball could also be a direct ball down the middle of the pitch over the opposition defense for an attacker to run on to.
A little less often you can hear the word used as a verb, to flight a cross into the box for example. Either as an adjective – a flighted ball – or as a verb – to flight a cross – the image is of a ball passed high and accurately to a teammate.
Example: ‘Maguire rose highest to meet a perfectly flighted Fernandes cross in the middle of the box.’ (Feb. 2020 goal.com)
Example: ‘And Juvea€™s class told in the second half, as Andrea Pirloa€™s delightful flighted ball over the top was converted first-time by Marchisio in the 56th minute to put the league leaders in front.’
‘ (April 2014 The National)
Related Vocabulary
- Wayward pass
- Loose pass
- Quiz: Language of passes
- Crossword: The language of passing and tackling
- No-look pass
- Hospital pass
- Rusty
- (to) Whip
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