SOME of the most jaw-dropping and eye-catching goals in football history have come from volleys.
Anyone who has ever played football knows how difficult the technique is to pull off.
Getty Images – GettyRobin van Persie’s volley for Manchester United went down in Premier League history[/caption]
James Rodriguez won the Puskas award for his strike at the 2014 World CupGetty Images – Getty
And that is exactly why fans are in such disbelief when they see them fly in the net.
From Robin van Persie’s title winning volley in 2013 for Manchester United to James Rodriguez’s Puskas winner at the 2014 World Cup, they are among the greatest goals of all-time.
And that’s not to mention Marco van Basten’s effort for Holland in the Euro 88 final versus Russia.
The history of volleys in football is vast and illustrious.
But where does the word actually come from?
Well it turns out that its roots far predate football itself.
The word was originally used to describe lots of arrows being fired by archers at once, a scene often seen in medieval battles.
It originates form the French word “volée”, meaning flight.
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In sporting terms, it is thought to have originally been used in tennis around 1851.
The football dictionary is filled with all-sorts of jargon, each with interesting origins.
This includes words like hat-trick or clean sheets, and even extends to terms like nutmegging.