Archive for September, 2009

The Champions League group stage begins this week and so for this week’s quiz we want to know how much you really know about the Champions League / European cup. Answers can be found tomorrow in our weekly poll.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter by Email

1. Which was the last team to retain the Champions League / European Cup?

2. Which player has made the most Champions League appearances?

3. Which team won the Champions League in 2001?

4. Where will this season’s final take place?

5. How many teams from Germany have won the Champions League / European Cup?

6. How about from Scotland?

7. Which team won the first European Cup final in 1955?

8. Which side won the first Champions League final in 1993?

9. The first ever European Cup tie was played in what country?

10. In what year did Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) win the European title?

Answers tomorrow

The World Cup qualifiers from last week saw Paraguay, Brazil, Spain, Ghana and England all qualify for the finals in South Africa. Champions League kicks off this week and on this week’s show we preview the group stages.  Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read about these and many other footballing stories. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

After the excitement of World Cup qualifiers we turn our attention this week to the Champions League group stage which kicks off next week.

• Read our football news review in the good, the bad and the ugly
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• Follow the weekly predictions battle between Damon and Damian in the Predictions competition
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts
  

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

___________________________________________

This week’s main report looks ahead to the group stages of the Champions League. In this interview Damian asks Manchester United fan Brendan about this season’s competition. The transcript of the report is below and includes vocabulary in bold which is explained at the foot of the post.

Main week 5

DF: Now the Champions League group stages are about to start and after last season when there were really no surprises at all the question is, do we really care? Brendan. continue

Good

Well in World Cup qualifiers week it was good for Spain, England, Brazil and Paraguay who all booked their places for the biggest football festival next year in South Africa, the World Cup. Spain and England have 100% records so far. The Spaniards beat Estonia 3-0, while England crushed the team that denied them a place in the Euro 2008 competition, Croatia, 5-1. Meanwhile Paraguay beat Argentina 1-0 to ensure the team from the centre of South America will appear in its fourth consecutive World Cup finals. Also good in qualifying for Ivory Coast who look guaranteed to make it after beating Burkina Faso 5-0. continue

The Champions League is back and we have 4 matches from the group stages on this week’s predictions. In addition, we have the big game from the Premier League and we check out ‘Los Galácticos’ part two in La Liga.

This week’s guest predictor is Brendan, a Manchester United supporter.

World Cup qualifiers are taking place around the world as countries try to find to get their ticket to South Africa. On his week’s show, along with a review of the football news and predictions, our main report is the second in our series on World Cup stars. This week it’s Maradona, the mercurial Argentinian captain, who is also in action as a coach of his country this week. Come along to languagecaster.com for all things football! continue

Listen to this week’s show here

This World Cup Stars post features possibly the greatest player of all time, Diego Maradona. To help you understand a little better there is a vocabulary list containing the words in bold at the foot of this post

TRANSCRIPT

Pele may have won more World Cup titles, Ronaldo may have scored more goals, Lothar Matthäus played more games but no one has dominated the World Cup as much as Diego Maradona. He won the trophy in 1986, scored 7 goals in 21 consecutive appearances over four tournaments from 1982 to 1994 and was never far from the centre of World Cup controversy. The sad departure in 1982, the ‘Hand of God’ and subsequent wonder goal against England in 1986, the tears in the final of 1990 and the drug scandal in 1994 have all meant that Maradona is a definite part of World Cup history. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week is World Cup qualifying week, so we continue our feature which takes a look at some of the great World Cup players through the ages. Second in the series is Argentinian sensation, Maradona who is also in action this week as his country’s coach in a crunch game against arch-rivals Brazil.

• Read our football news review in the good, the bad and the ugly
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• Follow the weekly predictions battle between Damon and Damian in the Predictions competition
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts
  

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

___________________________________________

Euro 2009 for the ladies, a mouthwatering clash in the World Cup qualifiers to look forward to, and controversial decisions from footballs governing bodies all feature on this week’s Good, bad and Ugly.

Good

While most eyes are on the World Cup qualifiers, followers of the women’s game are enjoying a great Euro 2009 tournament taking place in Finland. In this competition, England’s women put in a strong performance against the hosts beating them 2-3 to reach a semi-final game against the Netherlands. Eniola Aluko scored two for England, including a fantastic strike after a mazy dribble. Check out the goals here. Good for England and good for women’s football. Italy play Germany and Norway play Sweden in the other two quarter finals.

continue