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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Positions & Players

Sweeper

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

nounAdvanced term

In football (soccer), sweeper means: A defender who covers behind the other defenders and deals with balls that get past them.

In Turkish: libero, süpürücü savunmacı

How it is used

Common in descriptions of older systems; libero is also used for this covering role.

Example sentences

  1. The sweeper collected the through ball after both markers were beaten.

    The player provides cover behind the first defensive challenge.

  2. Our coach moved a midfielder back to play as a sweeper.

    The change adds a covering player behind the defensive line.

Common collocations

  • play as a sweeper
  • sweeper system
  • covering sweeper
  • centre-backA defender who plays in the middle of the back line, marking strikers, winning headers and clearing danger from the penalty area.
  • defenderA player whose main job is to stop the other team from attacking and scoring, usually playing in the line closest to their own goal.

More terms: Positions & Players

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