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Weekly Football Phrase: One for the Team
In this football phrase of the week we look at the cliche, ‘one for the team‘, a phrase used alongside yellow cards. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us here.
DB: Welcome to the Learn English Through Football’s weekly football phrase. On this show, we take a look at a phrase used to describe some action in the London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea. The phrase is, ‘one for the team’. My name’s Damon, how are you listener? It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Tokyo, but rain is on the way. I hope you have some good weather where you are and that you are enjoying the football this week.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (from a Korean listener)
DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast, or as we were known before, Languagecaster, and that message was in Korean.
One for the Team
DB: So, today’s phrase is ‘one for the team‘ which is combined with the verb ‘take‘, ‘to take one for the team‘. This phrase is used when a player commits a deliberate foul and knows they will be booked, that they will be given a yellow card.
In the Arsenal versus Chelsea game, Chelsea had a corner, but nothing came of it. Instead, Arsenal tried to break quickly and Bukayo Saka was held and brought down by Chelsea player Cole Palmer. Palmer fouled Saka deliberately and was booked, given a yellow card. However, his actions stopped a dangerous break. If Saka was allowed to run, Arsenal had a good chance of a dangerous attack with four on three.
In this situation, Palmer decided to stop the attack but be punished with a yellow card – he took one for the team. The ‘one‘ means a booking or the punishment. This action is often praised by fans as a good thing to do; to make a sacrifice for the good of the team.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (from a Korean listener)
Tactical Foul
DB: The foul you make when you take one for the team, is also known as a tactical foul. And again, this kind of foul is often thought of as sensible. It isn’t a dangerous foul, or a nasty challenge, instead it is a logical decision to try to help the team.
A tactical foul doesn’t automatically result in a yellow card. But if enough tactical fouls are committed by the same player, the referee may reach for his or her pocket (to give a yellow card). Tactical fouling is all part of ‘the dark arts‘. The dark arts involve time wasting, needle, and tactical fouling. Check out podcast on this by clicking on the link in the show notes.
Blatant foul
DB: Another phrase you may hear with taking one for the team, is ‘blatant foul‘. A blatant foul is an obvious foul. Ironically, this phrase may be used as a complaint when a referee does NOT award a foul: ‘Ref! That was a blatant foul‘, fans might shout, thinking that the foul is so obvious they can’t understand why no free kick was awarded.
Wrap Up & Good bye
DB: So on today’s weekly football language podcast, we looked at a moment in the Arsenal versus Chelsea match last weekend, where Cole Palmer took one for the team by committing a tactical foul on Saka. It was a blatant foul.
Let us know if there is any football language you would like explaining or that you find interesting. enjoy all of the football and we’ll be back next weekend with our Learn English Through Football podcast.
Ta-ra!
Related Links
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
