Archive for February, 2010

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On this week’s show we feature five questions about football derbies, including which one is the fiercest in world football. Remember you can also:

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Main Report

There are a host of derbies being played around the world this weekend so we thought we’d take a look at some of these football rivalries in this week’s main report. You can listen to the report by clicking above while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

What is a derby?

A derby is a game played between rival teams – usually from the same city or region though not always, think Barcelona against Real Madrid or Liverpool vs Manchester United, for instance. Generally the games are played at a frenetic pace as the teams are roared on by the fans who want to have bragging rights over their rivals. This of course means that form often goes out the window making these games very difficult to predict.

Where did the term originate from?

Well, though there is some confusion over its origin, it is now generally accepted that the term derby comes from a folk football match between two local sides from the village of Ashburton in Derbyshire in the Midlands area of England

What is the oldest derby in world football?

Again, there is some dispute about this but it seems that the Sheffield derby between Wednesday and United is now regarded as one of the oldest local rivalries in world football.

So derbies are always about geographical rivalry then?

Usually but not always. Sometimes there are other factors involved such as history (for example, West Ham and Millwall’s London rivalry dates back to an industrial dispute), animosity between a country’s different regions, religion, politics (for example the ‘eternal enemies’ Olympiakos and Panathanaikos in Greece) and footballing honours. For instance, there is rivalry between the two cities of Manchester and Liverpool yet when Liverpool take on Manchester City or Manchester United play Everton there is no real animosity. But when Liverpool and Manchester United play each other then a different form of rivalry kicks in: which of the two sides is the most successful in English football?

The clásico in Spain between Barcelona and Real Madrid is an example of a derby involving two teams from different regions but as many people know, this game is all about history and identity. Rangers and Celtic in Scotland not only share the same city, Glasgow, are the two most successful sides in Scottish football history but they are also divided on religious lines: Celtic, traditionally is a Catholic club while Rangers is a Protestant one. But then there is the example of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce from Turkey – two teams that are also divided on religious lines but they also come from from a city, Istanbul, that spans two different continents.

What are the biggest derbies in the world?

Celtic-Rangers, Galatasaray-Fenerbahce and Barcelona-Real Madrid are three of the most passionate, some would say hate-filled, games in the world but there are many others like them. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: English Football Phrase

Each week we explain a soccer phrase or cliché on our weekly languagecaster podcast. You can find many more examples by going to our football cliché page here.

Listen here to this week’s football phrase

This week’s English football phrase is to run riot. This expression is used when one team completely dominates another team and scores lots of goals. Before this week’s Champions League game between holders Barcelona and German side Stuttgart the experts were suggesting that Barca would run riot , however, the game finished 1-1. Another example was when Premier League side, Tottenham ran riot against Wigan earlier on in the season when they won 9-0. The expression can also be used to describe a player’s performance against an opponent as in, Wayne Rooney ran riot against the West Ham defence in the 3-0 victory. To run riot.

Another busy week in the world of football with English club Portsmouth going into administration, Chelsea players warned about their public behaviour, Wayne Bridge deciding not to play for England any more, Wayne Rooney continuing his impressive league scoring run for Manchester United, Champions League wins for Inter Milan and Bordeaux and an impressive FA Cup victory for my team Spurs and a Europa League win for Damon’s team Liverpool. These and other stories will feature on this week’s podcast, which looks at football derbies. Indeed, we feature three of them in our regular predictions battle, as well as the final of the Carling Cup and some international friendlies. We also have another English for football phrase. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

________________________________________

FEATURED POSTS

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

________________________________________

PREDICTION

This week’s featured match is Aston Villa v Manchester United in the Carling Cup final

________________________________________

FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s phrase for football is to run riot. This expression is used when one team completely dominates another team and scores lots of goals. Before this week’s Champions League game between holders Barcelona and Stuttgart the experts were suggesting that Barca would run riot . Another example was when Premier League side, Tottenham ran riot against Wigan earlier on in the season when they won 9-0. The expression can also be used to describe a player’s performance against an opponent as in, Wayne Rooney ran riot against the West Ham defence. To run riot.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

________________________________________

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

When was the last time Aston Villa won the Carling Cup?

a. 2000
b. 1998
c. 1996
d. 1994

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, ‘How many different countries are represented in the last 16 of the Champions League this year?’ The answer is 8 – Portugal, Greece, Russia, Spain, Italy, England, Germany and France.
________________________________________

Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Predictions

A big game in the Premier League, derbies from Portugal, Scotland and Germany, as well as the Carling Cup final all feature along with some interesting international friendly games in this week’s predictions. Our guest this week is Maki who is a fan of AC Milan. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Current Scores: DB 114 | DF 112 | Guest 100

 Print This Post | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

French clubs in Europe, John Terry vs Wayne Bridge, Portsmouth’s troubles and Thai politicians lose out to female footballers. These stories and more feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

It’s been a good 10 days for French clubs in European competition as Lyon and Bordeaux scored impressive wins in the Champions League and Lille and Marseille made progress to the last 16 of the Europa League. We spoke about Lyon’s 1-0 defeat of Real Madrid in last week’s show and in this week’s set of Champions League games, top of the table Bordeaux won in Greece at Olympiakos. Laurent Blanc’s side look as if they will retain the French title this season so they can focus their efforts on a possible surprise Champions League cup run. Good for French clubs in Europe. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Main Report

Our fourth spotlight on World Cup Stars looks at one of Germany’s finest – der bomber! Check out previous posts on World Cup Stars here.

“(He) was short , squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast”, wrote David Winner in Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football. This description does not sound like one you would expect of a World Cup great, but the player described won a European Championship, a World Cup, is second all time top scorer in the competition and has one of the best goal to match ratios of any player – ever! 489 goals in 565 games. Gerd Müller, born in 1945 in Bavaria, was a deadly finisher, a fox in the box, and was simply know as der bomber – the bomber!

He has already established his fearsome reputation as a goalscorer at Bayern Munich, the team that dominated German club football in the late sixties and early 70s. Playing alongside Sepp Maier and Franz Beckenbauer it wasn’t long before Muller, initially believed to be too short and stocky to be successful, was called up to the national side, and in his first international competition, the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, he scored 10 goals and won the Golden Shoe. His haul included hatricks against Bulgaria and Peru, a winner in extra time against rivals England, and two against Italy in a match the Germans lost 4-3. Müller himself believed this competition was the most important in his career and it certainly propelled him into the international spotlight.

A European Championship title in 1972, culminating in a 3-0 win over Russia – two goals for der bomber and the top-scorer award – was followed two years later with West Germany’s successful campaign in the 1974 World Cup in front of their own fans. Müller’s West German side were up against most neutrals favourites, Holland. The Dutch, led by legend Johan Cruyff, were playing what became known as ‘total football’ a fluid approach to the game freeing players to change position in combinations that defied traditional thinking about line-ups and tactics. The West Germans had been solid in the tournament but not outstanding, unlike the Dutch who most pundits thought claim the trophy. The game became a tight, tense affair and the difference between the sides was  der bomber and his goal that put the Germans up 2-1 and ended up being the winning goal, and Müller’s last for his nation. This is how he described it, “I ran forward with two Dutch players then checked back because the pass was behind me. The ball jumped off my left foot, I turned a little and suddenly it was in.” ‘Suddenly it was in’, if any phrase describes the short, squat, stocky, slow striker from the south of Germany, ‘suddenly it was in’ is perhaps it.

David Miller goes on to say about Gerhard Müller, “he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts.” Der bomber, goal-scoring machine and World Cup great. continue

The Champions League knock out stage is underway, with Rooney starring for Manchester United, and if the knockout phase has started in Europe that means in South America the Copa Libertadores’ group stages are underway. The holders, Argentinian outfit Estudiantes, suffered a shock 4-1 defeat to Peru’s Alianza Lima. Elsewhere, Barcelona are beaten, Montpellier win again and extend their extraordinary form in Ligue 1, and Patrick Viera is handed a three match ban in his second game.And on languagecaster we talk about more football news and spotlight another World Cup great – Gerd Müller.

________________________________________

FEATURED POSTS

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

________________________________________

PREDICTION

This week’s featured match is the Champions League match between Inter Milan & Chelsea

________________________________________

FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week’s English for football expression is the phrase to be a handful which means that something or someone is difficult to handle or control. In football this is used when one team has difficulty controlling or defending against a player from the opposing team. The phrase often collocates with the verb to prove as in ‘… Chris Maguire proved to be a handful for Celtic with his vigour‘ which means that the Scottish side Celtic were unable to control Chris Maguire because of his power or pace. The phrase can also be used without the verb to be in it. So, recently, Wayne Rooney has been playing very well for his club Manchester United and in this week’s Champions League game against AC Milan he scored twice and proved a real handful for the Rossoneri defence. To prove to be a real handful.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

________________________________________

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

How many clubs did Gerd Müller play for in his career?

a. 1
b. 3
c. 4
d. 6

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question, ‘How many different countries are represented in the last 16 of the Champions League this year?’ was d.8.
________________________________________

Check out the site for the latest polls – at www.languagecaster.com | Click here admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On this week’s show we have another in our series on World cup stars. We also review the footballing week, introduce another English for Football phrase and look ahead at some of the big games coming up in the next week. Remember you can also:

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

 Print This Post | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Turkey’s new manager, Wayne Rooney, Sol Campbell, Chester City and another crazy idea from the Premier League all feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good news for Turkish football as they announced this week that Dutchman Guus Hiddink is to take over as head coach of the national side. Turkish football is in the doldrums after their dismal performance in the World Cup qualifiers which saw them finish in third place behind Spain and Bosnia. Turkey face a daunting task to qualify for the next major tournament – the European Championships of 2012 – as they will have to play against Germany and Austria but with the experienced Hiddink at the helm they will be feeling a little more confident. continue