Vocab for soccer, Noob-style

Noob will be continually adding more; wip

2. Bundesliga – Germany’s second-highest league

10 to Track – per Noob, the ten most important games to watch on any given calendar date from the new-ish American global soccer fan perspective.  Sometimes games featuring “adopted” teams wriggle in.

A-League – see “Australian A-League”

AFC  – see “Asian Football Confederation”

AFC Champions League – top postseason club tournament in Asia

adoption Noob status for a team to get cheered for indefinitely

aggregate how many goals each team has scored, usu. used when two teams play each other home and away as part of a specific competition

Allsvenskanliga – Sweden’s highest league

apertura – the opening half of a full season in many Latin countries.  It has its own champion.

Ascenso MX – Mexico’s second-highest league

Asian Football Confederation – the governing body of club and national soccer in Asia

association football – for Americans: soccer.  This is as distinct from rugby football.

Australian A-League – Australia’s highest league

Austrian Bundesliga – Austria’s highest league

away-goals – the number of goals a team scored in a match away from home; nearly always in the context of a tournament home-and-away series (“tie”) with another team and used as a tiebreaker if the “aggregate” is even after both matches

Bundesliga – Germany’s highest league

CAF – see “Confederation of African Football”

CAF Confederation Cup – the second-most prestigious club tournament in Africa

CL – champions league

CONCACAF – see “Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football”

CONCACAF League a continental tournament of Central American and Caribbean national teams

CONCACAF Champions League – top postseason club tournament of North, Central America and the Caribbean

CONMEBOL – see “South American Football Confederation”

Canadia – Canada. If you must. (also adj. “Canadiaian”)

Champions League – also referred to as UEFA Champions League. The best club teams from each European nation qualify for this postseason continental tournament

Championship – as proper noun, usu. refers to the “English Football League Championship”

Cherries – AFC Bournemouth of the English Premiere League.  Noob hearts them.

clausura – the second half of a full season in many Latin countries.  it has its own champion

club – a team franchise

competition proper – usu. the Group Stage of a non-league competition, as compared to its earlier “qualifying rounds”

Confederation of African Football – the governing body of club and national soccer in Africa

Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football – the governing body for club and national soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean region

continental confederation – an organization that governs the league and national soccer for a continent

copa – see “cup”

Copa Aguila – Copa Colombia. For some reason, Colombia’s main soccer sponsor name is more ubiquitous in place of the nation’s name compared to most other places.

Copa Sudamericana – the second-best postseason South American club tournament; equiv. to Europa League

coupe – see “cup”

Coupe de la Ligue club competition in France open to teams in the highest three leagues there cup a club tournament competition in a country other than league play

Cup – a type of tournament in which the loser of a single game or bracket is eliminated from the event, or at least being able to win;  also called “knockout”

D-Twosday – Noob’s weekly celebration of American division two (second highest leagues) soccer

Division Two – (oft. lowercase) Noob nomenclature for collectively the two second-highest American leagues

draw – 1) result of a game in which both tams end with the same score (see “tie” for it’s wholly different definition).  2.) the random determination method by which teams in a competition are placed in which groups or pods

EFL1)  “English Football League”; 2)  see “English Football League Championship

EFL Championship – see “English Football League Championship”

EFL Cup – club competition in England open to teams in the top four highest leagues there

EFL Trophy – club competition in England open to teams from the third and fourth-highest leagues there, plus reserve and U21 from the top two leagues

Eerste Divisie – Netherlands’ second-highest league

Ekstraklasa – Poland’s highest league

Eliteserien – Norway’s highest league

English Football League – organization of English (and some Welsh) teams, comprised of the second through fourth-highest leagues there

English Football League Championship – the second-highest league in England and the highest league in the English Football League

English Premiere League – perhaps worldwide even more often referred to as “The Premiere League”, it is England’s highest league. Also often abbreviated EPL

Eredivisie – Netherlands’ highest league

Europa League – Europe’s second-highest postseason club tournament. The best teams that don’t qualify for UEFA Champions League are invited.

FAI – see “Football Association of Ireland”

FIFA – see “Federation Internationale de Football Association”

FIFA World Cup – international association football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams under FIFA

Fall Season – the autumnal half of NASL’s full season; similar to Clausura

Federation Internationale de Football Association – international governing body of football (and futsal, and beach soccer)

football – soccer

Football Association of Ireland – the governing body for football in the Republic of Ireland; not to be confused with the Irish Football Association

Football League One – the third-highest league in England and the second-highest in the English Football League

Football League Two – the fourth-highest league in England and the third-highest/lowest in the English Football League

friendly – a match that isn’t a part of any larger competition

futsal – a variant of association football, usu. five-on-five, played on a hard court

GD – see “goal differential”

goal differential – number of goals scored by a team versus the number given up over the course of a league season or other competition

ground – stadium

group – a subset of teams in a tournament; also a pod

group stage – round of a tournament in which all teams are divided into groups or pods, in which typically each team will play a home-and-away series with each other team in its group

gym-tan-sushi! – Noob and The Management’s battle cry for Urawa Red Diamonds, a former name for a very New Jersey shore-like part of the greater Tokyo metro area

Hex, the – see “Hexagonal”

Hexagonal, the – the six-team final Group Stage of CONCACAF WCQ

inter-confederation playoffs – two games played by teams from different continental confederations which determine qualification for the final two World Cup berths

Irish Football Association – the governing body for football in Northern Ireland; not to be confused with the Football Association of Ireland

J1 League – Japan’s top highest league.

J2 League – Japan’s second-highest league

Japanese J-League – see “J1 League”

kit – uniform

knockout tournament– see “Cup”

La Liga – Spain’s highest league

league – can refer to what we think of as a league in America, or what we’d call a tournament

league system – a nation’s hierarchy of leagues, among which there is usually a system of “promotion and relegation”

leg – a match; a game, when in the context of a “tie” (see “tie)

Liga MX – Mexico’s highest league

Liga Aguila – Colombia’s highest league. For some reason, their main soccer sponsor’s name is more ubiquitous than in other countries

Ligue 1 – France’s highest league

Ligue 2 – France’s second-highest league

MLS – see “Major League Soccer”

Major League Soccer – America’s (and Canadia’s) highest soccer league

Man – usu. Manchester (England)

Management, The – see “The Management”

Meistriliiga – Estonia’s highest league

NASL – see “North American Soccer League”

NWSL – see “National Women’s Soccer League”

National League (division) – the top league of the National League (organization); the fifth level of the English “league system”

National League (organization) – the fifth and sixth levels of England’s “league system”; the lowest of the nationwide organizations

National League North – part of the sixth level of England’s “league system”; it is part of the National League (organization)

National League South – part of the sixth level of England’s “league system”, it part of the National League (organization)

National Women’s Soccer League – the highest women’s soccer league in America

Noob – 1)  me, the primary site writer.  2)  the site at large

Noober – me again muahahaha

Noobite – you!

Noobstradmus – Noob as predictor

North American Soccer League – one of America (and Canadia’s) two second- highest leagues

OCF – see “Oceania Football Confederation”

Oceania Football Confederation – the governing body of club and national football in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, and a host of other Pacific Island countries (though not Australia)

pitch – field of play

pod – a subset of teams in a tournament; also a group

points – the units from which competition standings are ordered. A team gets three points for winning a match, one for getting a draw in a match, none for losing a match

premier/e – designates any country’s highest league

pro-rel – see “promotion-relegation”

promotion – when a team is moved to the next-highest league in a country

promotion-relegation – promotion-relegation; a nation’s system in which club teams in a country are moved to the next-highest or lowest league in a based on merit at the end of a season

pyramid – see “league system”

qualifying round – typically an early stage of a non-league competition in which lesser teams vie for slots in the “competition proper” with better teams, which is usually a Group Stage

relegation – when a team is moved down to the next-lowest league in a country

result – a win or a draw; earning at least one point in a match

rugby – a game similar to soccer

SEA Games – see “Southeast Asian Games”

Serie A – Italy’s highest league

Scottish Challenge Cup – knockout tournament for leagues tier 2-4, some lower teams, and sometimes select Northern Irish and Welsh teams.

Scottish Communities League Cup – see “Scottish League Cup”

Scottish League Cup – a knockout tournament for the top four leagues’ teams

side – a team, though as opposed to a historical club

South American Football Confederation – the governing body of club and national football in South America

Southeast Asian Games – a biennial, multi-sport event that includes specifically national (not club) U23 soccer teams

Spring Season – the spring half of NASL’s full season; similar to Apertura

stage – a round of a competition

Supporters’ Shield – annual award given to the MLS team with the best record at the end of a regular season

swamp city – a city that was first built on a swamp

T2T – see “Ten to Track”

table – league or tournament standings

The Management – the site admin. A cretinous yahoo is ever there was one. He is never referred to without the definite article.

tie – usually a two-game set between two teams; usu. used in a tournament

U+[#] – U means under, the # refers to players’ ages

UEFA – see “Union of European Football Associations”

USL – see “United Soccer League”

Union of European Football Associations – the governing body of club and national soccer in Europe

United Soccer League – one of the two second-highest league in America

Urvalsdeild – Iceland’s highest league

Veikkusliga – Finland’s highest league

WC – see “FIFA World Cup”

WCQ – see “World Cup Qualifier

woodwork – the goal posts and crossbar; an attempted shot that hits either

World Cup – see “FIFA World Cup”

World Cup qualifier – may refer a tournament used to qualify trams for entrance into the Group Stage of the World Cup; may also refer to a single match within such a tournament