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total football

British  

noun

  1. an attacking style of play, popularized by the Dutch national team of the 1970s, in which there are no fixed positions and every outfield player can join in the attack

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Total football from the Netherlands, who played out from defence before Depay applied the deadly finish that their 20-pass move deserved against the USA.

From BBC • Dec. 17, 2022

Total football and resplendent orange are synonymous with Johan Cruyff but it may surprise some to find the iconic Dutchman's legacy inspiring a promotion charge in the Netherlands' second tier.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.