What is it?
A technique, requiring considerable cunning and timing, used in football, basketball and hockey to evade pressure. The ball or puck is skilfully kicked (or pushed) through the opponent’s legs and collected on the other side by the original player.
Used famously by
Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo, who are the masters of the manoeuvre in modern football. Suarez has done it so often and so successfully that it spawned the saying, “Suarez could nutmeg a merman”.
Where did the term originate?
Writer Peter Seddon suggests it came from the adulteration in the nutmeg trade between America and England in the 1800s. “Being nutmegged soon came to imply stupidity on the part of the victim and cleverness on the part of the trickster,” he says.
Not to be confused with
The spice itself, although a really good nutmeg could be just what a game needs to be elevated from interesting to delicious. It’s the kind of move you can watch over and over again – especially when it’s done by a player from the team you are rooting for.
