Nutmeg

A nutmeg is a piece of football skill where a player pushes or rolls the ball through an opponent's legs, between their feet, and collects it on the other side. It is equal parts practical and humiliating: practical because the defender's own legs block them from intercepting, and humiliating because being 'megged' is one of the game's classic small embarrassments, often cheered by the crowd as loudly as a goal. The move goes by many names around the world — tunnel, panna, caño — and in street and futsal culture a nutmeg can count as a goal in itself. At the top level it is high-risk, high-reward: pull it off and you have beaten your man in the tightest possible space; get it wrong and the ball runs straight to the defender. The best dribblers use the mere threat of the nutmeg to freeze defenders, who dare not close their stance, which opens up other avenues to attack. BBC Sport regularly features the pick of them. It remains one of the purest expressions of individual flair in a team game.