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The final pass before a goal. It's become a major stat for measuring creativity alongside goals. Different competitions count it slightly differently - some include rebounds off your shot, others don't. There's also pre-assists (the pass before the assist) and expected assists (xA) for the analytics crowd. De Bruyne and Messi rack up assists at the same rate some players score.

The last line of defence and the only player allowed to use their hands in the box. Keepers need to stop shots, command the area, make quick decisions, and organize the defence. Modern keepers also have to be good with their feet to play out from the back and sweep up behind a high line. It's a lonely position - you get blamed for losses and rarely get credit for wins.

Getting under the ball with a short backswing to lift it over someone, usually a goalkeeper who's come off their line. You need a soft touch and good judgment of distance. When it works, you look brilliant. When it doesn't, you look like you should have just passed.

The cue that tells a team to start pressing. Common triggers: a back pass, a pass to their weakest player on the ball, the ball going into a certain zone, or a poor touch. Everyone recognizes the trigger and presses together instead of one player chasing alone. Without clear triggers, pressing falls apart and teams just pass around you.

The standard that VAR is supposed to use before overturning referee decisions. In theory, VAR should only intervene if the original call was clearly wrong. In practice, nobody agrees on what's clear or obvious, especially for handball and soft penalties. The phrase has become a punchline for whenever VAR makes a controversial call that seems subjective rather than definitive.