Association Football Terminology - O

O

• Obstruction: illegal defensive technique, in which a defensive player who does not have control of the ball positions their body between the ball and an attacking opponent, or otherwise blocks or checks an opponent, in order to prevent that opponent from reaching the ball. When the defensive player has control of the ball, this technique is known as shielding, and is permitted under the laws of the game.
• OFC: initialism for the Oceania Football Confederation, the governing body of the sport in Oceania.
• Offside: Law 11 of the laws of football, relating to the positioning of defending players in relation to attacking players when the ball is played to an attacking player by a teammate. In its most basic form, a player is offside if they are in their opponent's half of the field, and is closer to the goal line than both the second-last defender and the ball at the moment the ball is played to them by a teammate.
• Offside trap: defensive tactical maneuver, in which each member of a team's defense will simultaneously step forward as the ball is played forward to an opponent, in an attempt to put that opponent in an offside position. An unsuccessful performance of this maneuver results in the opponent "beating the offside trap".
• Olympic goal: goal scored directly from a corner kick.
• One touch: style of play in which the ball is passed around quickly using just one touch. Also used for the same type of training which aims to improve the speed of players' reaction when receiving the ball. See also Tiki-taka.
• One-club man: player who spends their entire professional career at one club. Opposite of journeyman.
• One-on-one: situation where the only player between an attacking player and the goal is the opponent's goalkeeper.
• One-two: skill move between team mates to move the ball past an opponent. Player One passes the ball to Player Two and runs past the opponent, whereupon they immediately receive the ball back from Player Two, who has received, controlled, and passed the ball in one movement. Also known as a give-and-go.
• Open goal: where no player is defending the goal.
• Opportunity: see chance.
• Outfield player: any player other than the goalkeeper.
• Outside forward: position used in a 2–3–5 formation, in which they are the main attacking threat from the flanks. Similar to modern wingers.
• Overhead kick: see Bicycle kick.
• Overlap: move between teammates. An attacking player (who has the ball) is shadowed by a single defender; the attacker's teammate runs past both players, forcing the defender to either continue to shadow the player on the ball, or attempt to prevent the teammate from receiving a pass. The first player can either pass the ball or keep possession, depending on which decision the defender makes.
• Own goal: where a player scores a goal against their own team, usually as the result of an error.