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I found this sentence:

They were lucky the linesman raised his flag in the 27th minute against Javier Saviola after he was sent clear by Defour.

Unfortunately, I don't know what sent clear means nor have I been able to find its meaning online. Does anyone know what this means?

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  • It sounds like it's a football (USA "soccer") expression, "to send (someone) clear". I don't know if there is such an expression; I know nothing of sports. But it certainly doesn't make any sense without some context, like where you found the sentence and who said it.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 21:25

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Oh, sports lingo. That phrase is used in the sports that involve goals, and in your text is, simply, an elided version of send someone clear on goal, someone, of course, being the fellow player. The adjective clear refers to the fellow player not being surrounded by any opposing defenders (not counting the goalie). The verb send refers to prompting the teammate to move to the location where the ball will fall after being hit.

Edit (the day after):

Regarding both my answer and the definition of clear in Mykola's answer, I've been sent an email with a definition of clear from a paper dictionary, Dictionary of Sports and Games Terminology by Adrian Room, published in 2010. It reinfirces the conclusion that there's a difference between send someone clear—and just clear (or clearance, as recorded in that dictionary).

clearance

(association football)
a defensive kick away from a dangerous attacking position
(field hockey)
a defensive hit away from a dangerous attacking position

hit

(general)
a stroke or shot that sends a ball or other missile (as an arrow in archery or a round in shooting) to a target or simply through the air

But I started to wonder about the kicked ball in the situation of sending someone clear; I suspected that it might necessarily mean that the ball was kicked defensively, to prevent the opposing team's attack, and not during the offense. It was a false alarm. A well-specified internet search proved my original answer correct. Here are some situations in which it is obvious that sending clear can happen during the offense:

  • Their best chance came off a line break by Ross Rennie in the second half but he delayed with Mike Blair and Laidlaw screaming to be sent clear to his left
  • Elding was doing good work for Town, chasing down defenders and chesting the ball down to enable Hearn to be sent clear, but off side was given.
  • GOOOALLL! Incredible, Chelsea go up the other end of the pitch and Malouda makes it 4-1! Malouda is sent clear on goal. He shoots and Fabianski parries, but only to Anelka who shoots but hits the post! However, the ball rebounds kindly back to an offside Malouda to slot home.

(I'm gonna git me that dictionary and the next time I channel-surf I'm gonna stop on that ESPN, even if damned I be.)

I also wondered whether clear was, perhaps, a nominal adjective referring to the ball (to be sent a clear), so I included the indefinite article in the Google search... Zero results. So, that's that.

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  • So this terminology is used in hockey and basketball??
    – Jim
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 22:31
  • So that means that the one passing the ball sent Javier Saviola clear on goal so as to score?, in other words: there's a player who has the ball and he sends the ball to Javier Saviola and when he sends the ball there are no opposing defenders surrounding Saviola?
    – Jose
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 22:43
  • @Jim Yes, I guess my limitation "in the sports that involve goals" wasn't correct. You can be sent clear in basketball too. Hockey goes without saying. Jose, yes. Except that, regarding the 'clear' thing, it is the moment at which the ball is received that counts, not the moment the ball is sent. In soccer, the ball can travel for, like, 5 or 6 seconds, and that's ages in sports. Also, but this is just a guess, if the player who receives the balls rids himself easily of any opponents, it can perhaps still be said that he was sent clear. But I dunno, I know little about sports journalism.
    – Talia Ford
    Commented Sep 22, 2013 at 0:19
  • Awesome, thanks so much. I was struggling to understand the meaning of this expression, mainly because I had never heard it before, and also because Defour doesn't play on the same side than Saviola! I rewatched the match and it was Joaquin who sent Saviola clear. Thanks again!
    – Jose
    Commented Sep 22, 2013 at 0:51
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The answer lies in the clear part of it: http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/glossary/g/gl_clear.htm.

Once you're clear on what clear means, that makes no matter whether someone or something has been sent clear or put clear.

EDIT: Sports lingo isn't as unambiguous as I expected it to be, I admit.

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  • That definition refers to the ball being moved away from the goal, not a player moving towards it.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 21:43
  • You're right; then I fail to understand the meaning of clear here: sbnation.com/soccer/2013/6/7/4407458/….
    – Mykola
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 21:47
  • "Kozak was sent clear on the hour" - In the 60th minute of gameplay, Kozak was the player either aimed at by the player who kicked the ball or picked "by fate" to be the one who's going to run for that ball. The area where the ball was going to fall was clear of the opposing players. "In stoppage time, Italy failed to clear and the ball fell invitingly to Daniel Kolar in the box." - Italy tried to create the above situation, but none of the Italian players made it to the ball before the Kolar guy foiled their attack.
    – Talia Ford
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 21:55
  • If you mean "Kozac was sent clear," then I interpret that in the same way that Talia has explained in her answer. He was sent into clear space (clear of everyone else).
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Sep 21, 2013 at 21:57

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