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Weekly Football Phrase: (to) Sky It
In this football phrase of the week we look at the verb phrase ‘to sky it’. This phrase can be used to describe shooting or a shot. 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: Hello there and welcome to the Learn English Through Football’s weekly football phrase. My name’s Damon, and I’m based in Tokyo, which is grey and rainy, which has really spoilt the cherry blossom viewing season. Sorry I couldn’t join you for our weekly podcast where Damian looked at the phrase ‘to reach the final’ , but I’m back solo today with a football phrase I heard when watching the Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy World Cup qualifying match. Now, you probably know that the home side, Bosnia and Herzegovina, reached the final after a penalty shootout. And I’ll be talking about a phrase from that match and the penalty shootout. The phrase is ‘to sky it‘.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (Italian)
DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast, or as we were known before, Languagecaster, and that message was in Italian.
(to) Sky a Shot
DB: OK, today’s phrase is ‘to sky it‘. The ‘it‘ in this phrase refers to the ball or a shot – to sky the ball or to sky your shot. Of course, the sky is high up above us, so to sky a shot is to hit the ball high over the crossbar, missing the goal. This is what the Italian player, Esposito, did in the penalty shootout against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here is the description from the minute-by-minute match report in the Guardian: ‘Esposito first for the Azzurri. He does the tippy-toes … then skies it. Advantage Bosnia and Herzegovina!‘
Bosnia and Herzegovina went on to win the penalty shootout 4-1, denying Italy a spot in the World Cup for the third time on the bounce!
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (from a Japanese fan)
Examples
DB: Here are a few more examples of its use.
When he eventually took the first-half penalty he skied it high over the crossbar with United going on to draw 1-1 with Fulham. (The Telegraph)
Humphreys skied the ball over the bar following a cross from Kyle Edwards, but the visitors struck in the 29th minute with Hannant firing into the back of the net following Harper’s misplaced pass. (The BBC)
Row Z
DB: So, if a player skies their shot it goes high over the crossbar. It doesn’t miss by a little, it misses by a lot. To emphasise that a shot has gone very high over the bar and has been hit hard, we say the ball ended up in Row Z or the player smashed it into Row Z. Row A is usually closest to the pitch side and Row Z is used to mean the furthest away from the pitch. West Ham fans even have a chant using this phrase – “When you’re sitting in row Z / and the ball hits your head / that’s Zamora…”
Row Z is also used to describe defender’s clearances. So, it is not only used with failed shots. Sometimes, defenders decide not to try to keep possession of the ball but instead decide to clear it by kicking it as hard as they can out of the field of play, into Row Z.
Wrap Up & Good bye
DB: Right, that’s about it on today’s weekly football language podcast. Let’s just review the phrases we talked about. The main focus was on ‘to sky it‘. Remember, it refers to the ball or a shot. And we also talked about ‘Row Z‘ and how it is used to emphasise that a shot missed by a long way and ended up at the back of the stands or how a defender blasted the ball out of play.
Thanks for listening. Enjoy all of the football, and we’ll be back at the weekend with our main football language podcast. Take care, and ta-ra!
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
