Archive for April, 2009

Boring Champions League semis, the race for La Liga title, injuries, empty stadiums, and a big name biting the dust all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.

The Good

Ryan Giggs, the flying Welsh and Manchester United winger at last wins the PFA best player of the season award. While most pundits agree it is a pat on the back for a great career rather than recognition for this season’s display, it’s hard to begrudge Giggs the award. Well done Ryan! You can listen to an earlier languagecaster podcast on Ryan Giggs here.

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With only a few weeks remaining the predictions battle between Damon and Damian is still neck and neck. This week, we feature two big games between teams at the top and bottom of the league in England, the Madrid-Barca derby in Spain, as well as important matches from the top of the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 in France. In addition we have the second leg matches from the Champions League semi-finals.

The surreal nature of watching your team at midnight on a hotel TV in Laos – complete with the electricity cutting out every 15 minutes – was one thing but watching Tottenham collapse in 25 second-half minutes alongside my Manchester United supporting brother was another. Painful? What do you think? It has been 20 years since the last Spurs victory at Old Trafford and frankly a defeat like this probably means at least 20 more years till we get the next chance.

The main talking point after the game was a penalty decision given by Howard Webb that helped to bring United back into the game. According to Tottenham players and coaching staff the referee’s incorrect decision after an hour turned the game United’s way which may have been so but other factors lead to Tottenham’s 25 minutes of madness: continue

We were recently asked by soccerpro.com, a leading sporting goods supplier, to see if we would be interested in reviewing some of the soccer uniforms from their online range of goods. Since both of us at languagecaster still harbour ambitions of playing football, we took up their offer and asked for two soccer jerseys: the famous yellow Brazilian jersey and the new England jersey. continue

Download the latest podcast – The Premier League Run in

Download the latest worksheets and transcripts here.

Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?
Listen to the podcast, read the posts, then leave a comment.

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The latest football news – The good, the bad and the ugly

Andrei Arshavin’s fantastic display against Liverpool, AZ Alkmaar, the Wembley pitch and Serie A all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section feature in this week’s Good, the Bad and the Ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Each report has key vocabulary explained.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

Sucker punch

This week’s EFF is ‘sucker punch‘. Punch means to hit, and this phrase originally comes from boxing. it means to hit, to punch, someone when their guard is down, when they are not ready. In football a sucker punch means a goal that is scored when the other team  wasn’t prepared: they give an easy goal away. In the 4-4 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal this week, Arsenal made a quick break from a Liverpool corner and scored a sucker punch goal – there were few Liverpool defenders to stop Arsenal. The goal was scored quickly and easily by Arsenal. It was a sucker punch.

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And finally…

QUESTION: Which South American club team that has been in MORE THAN ONE Copa Libertadores finals has won all of them?

a. Boca Juniors

b. Penarol

c. Independiente

d. Gremio

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question how many times Everton have won the FA Cup was b – five))

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

For all students of the beautiful game

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There are only five games to play in the Premier League and no doubt there will be more twists and turns at this exciting stage of the season and so on this week’s show we take a look at the Premier League title race.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript
With only five games remaining in the English Premier League, tension is high as three clubs are still in with a shout of winning the title. On this week’s main report we hear the opinions of a Manchester United fan on the final run in that will decide which team will become the 2009 English champions.

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Andrei Arshavin, AZ Alkmaar and Serie A all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.

The Good

It was a lethal display by Arshavin, the Russian, as he fired four past Liverpool at Anfield. the Arsenal man is the first player to do that in the league for over sixty years. If anyone is wondering, the Wolverhampton player Dennis Westcott was the last player to do it. The game ended a 4-4 draw and means they have scored four or more goals six times in the last eight matches – surely the most exciting team around! continue

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It’s going down to the wire in the predictions battle. This week, big games at the top of the Spanish, German, English and Argentinian leagues, a look at a bottom of the table clash in England and the first legs of the Champions league semi-finals.

Download the latest podcast – The FA Cup

Download the latest worksheets and transcripts here.

Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?
Listen to the podcast, read the posts, then leave a comment.

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The latest football news – The good, the bad and the ugly

The Champions League quaretr final second leg results, relegation, trouble in Malaysia and Manchester all feature in this week’s Good, the Bad and the Ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Each report has key vocabulary explained.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

The business end of the season

This week’s English for football expression is the phrase the business end of the season which simply means the most important part of the season or the the run in at the end of the football year. We use the term business as it suggests that vital matters are to be decided. So, at this time of year in the football world important issues such as becoming champions, winning trophies, getting relegated or qualifying for Europe are all focused on. In most European leagues there are only 6 or 7 games to play meaning that teams are focused on the business end of the season. Business end of the season.

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And finally…

QUESTION: How many times have Everton won the FA Cup?

a. 4

b. 5

c. 6

d. 7

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question about what match has been played most often in the top division of England – d. Aston Villa vs Everton)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

For all students of the beautiful game

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week, the FA Cup semi finals is our main piece and we look at why all four teams are in it to win it.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

This weekend the FA Cup semi-finals dominate the footballing scene in England, but a look at the four contenders seems to suggest that the romance has gone out of this competition. The four teams in the semis are all in the top six in the Premier League: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton. continue