When England’s goalie Robert Green fumbled Mr. Dempsey’s weak shot, he committed what Brazilians call a “frango,” Portuguese for chicken. Minutes after the goal, Brazilian soccer commentators were already talking about the “biggest chicken in World Cup history.” Today, the front-page headline in the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo was simply “English Chicken.” In another usage, Mr. Green “swallowed a chicken.”
The Brazilian use of the word chicken shouldn’t be confused with American slang for cowardice. For Brazilians, chicken is a soccer metaphor reserved for shocking goaltending mistakes. It’s what happens when an armless animal like a chicken tries to defend the net.