Nosotros debíamos jugar al fútbol sin rodilleras

Question

‘We had to play football without kneepads’ - in English  we say shin pads (UK) or shin guards (US). Knee pads are what you use for skating. SpanishDict is telling me shin guards are ‘espinilleras’, but I have no knowledge about about which is correct/if one word may be used in a certain country and another elsewhere etc

Answer

Hola Ben,My dictionary gives “kneepad” as rodillera in the context of skating i.e. rollerskating or ice skating probably. As your sentence relates to football, shin guards or shin pads would seem more accurate, and once again my dictionary gives that as “espinillera” or “canillera,” and describes them as shin guards or leg pads. It doesn’t give any indication of regional preferences. It would be good to know. Saludos. John

Answer

Hola Ben and JohnI'm not an expert on football : )) but I think "shin pads" ( = canilleras / espinilleras) don't cover the knees, they cover the lower part of the legs but not the knees. Only the "rodilleras" are specific for knee protection (in football and other sports)Saludos