Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster’s Full Podcast’s Good, Bad and Ugly section – a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our worksheets, football glossary and English for football phrases as well as the Learners’ Podcast.

• (to) pick up: get, earn

Example: The premier League newcomers (Hull) continue to pick up points.

• (to) notch: to get, earn, record

Example: Hull notched their eighth point of the season against Everton.

• (to) bag: to get, to catch

Example: Valencia go top as Villa bags a brace against Malaga.

• clean sweep: If you make a clean sweep, you win everything. Your opponents get nothing.

Example: Joining Valencia and Villarreal in a clean sweep for the ‘Vs’ in La Liga was Vallodolid.

• (to) slap on the wrist: to tell off mildly, to scold (usually weakly)

Example: As I feared, FIFA have slapped Croatia on the wrist for their fans’ racist abuse. Nothing more than that. remember their fans gave England’s Hesky a rough time earlier this month with a lot of racist chanting.

• poxy: small, insignificant, unpleasant

Example: A poxy 20,000 euro fine (for Croatia).