Our children have started playing football matches in the local school league and as you can imagine it's now Eat, Sleep, Football, Repeat during game season.
After match conversations have been liberally peppered with football terminology in Mandarin and English. Following some research we would like to share some of the common, general vocabulary that you can use when having a conversation about football in Mandarin.
Firstly, let's start with the basics:
Football: 足球 (zú qiú)
Football match: 足球赛 (zú qiú sài)
Friendly match: 友谊赛 (yǒu yì sài)
Playing football: 踢足球 (tī zú qiú)
Football field: 足球场 (zú qiú chǎng)
Football team: 球队 (qiú duì)
Referee: 裁判 (cái pàn)
Kick-off: 开球 (kāi qiú)
The four main player's positions are:
Goalkeeper: 守门员 (shŏuményuán)
Striker: 前锋 (qiánfēng)
Defender: 后卫 (hòuwèi)
Midfield: 中场 (zhōngchăng)
And for the after match conversations on the way home:
Score: 比分 (bǐ fèn)
Draw: 平局 (píng jú)
Half-time: 中场休息 (zhōng chǎng xiū xī)
Substitute: 替 补 (tì bǔ)
Tackle: 铲 球 (chǎn qiú)
Offside: 越 位 (yuè wèi)
Foul: 犯 规 (fàn guī)
Red card: 红牌 (hóng pái)
Yellow card: 黄 牌 (huáng pái)
Penalty kick: 任 意 球 (rèn yì qiú)
Extra time: 加 时赛 (jiā shí sài)
Other vocabulary that any respectable football fans (球迷 – qiú mí) should be familiar with:
Premier League: 英超 (yīng chāo)
FA Cup: 足总杯 (zú zǒng bēi)
European Champions League: 欧洲杯 (ōuzhōu bēi)
World Cup: 世界杯 (shìjiè bēi)
And lastly, some of the common football clubs team names:
Manchester United: 曼联 (Màn lián)
Liverpool: 利物浦 (Lìwùpǔ)
Arsenal: 阿森纳 (Ā sēn nà)
Real Madrid: 皇马 (Huáng mǎ)
Bayern Munich: 拜仁慕尼黑 (Bàirén mìníhēi)
Juventus: 尤文图斯 (Yóuwén tú sī)
Below is a short video clip introducing common football terminology in English and Mandarin.