Archive for April, 2010

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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 phrase page here and football clichés here.

This week’s English for football phrase is the spirit of the game which refers to how the game is played or at least how it is interpreted by those playing it. For many, the only objective of football is to win at all costs which means that players will often act in an underhand manner in order to improve their chances of winning. This might involve diving to try and win a penalty or pretending to be hurt after a tackle. Both of these actions go against the spirit of the game as they not only attempt to cheat but they do so by deceiving their fellow professionals. This week Barcelona player Sergio Busquets feigned an injury which lead to Inter Milan player Thiago Motta being sent off which was definitely against the spirit of the game.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

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

Chelsea bounce back to the top of the League, the finalists for the Champions League final in Madrid have been decided, and elsewhere there’s fighting in the dressing room, dodgy rulings by the Premier League and Fulham! These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

A great result for Chelsea in a must-win game against a tough Stoke side last weekend. The Blues reclaimed top spot from a battling Manchester United in the Premier League with an emphatic 7-0 thrashing of the midlands side. This game was a potential banana skin for the London side, but they were totally dominant and managed to rack up seven goals without their two lead strikers, Drogba and Anelka, scoring. They must now go into their match against Liverpool on Sunday, as clear favourites and a win would surely be enough for them to see off the challenge of Manchester United and capture the Premier League crown.

European glory for Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Fulham as they all won through to European finals this week. Bayern were comfortable winners against a poor Lyon side, while Jose Mourinho masterminded a superb defensive display by Inter Milan against Barcelona – what drama there was in that game. The Europa League has often been derided as the poor cousin of the Champions League but the semi-finals had two tension-filled games this week. Atletico Madrid scraped past Liverpool thanks to a Diego Forlan goal while London side Fulham reached their first ever European final after yet another come-from-behind victory, this time against Hamburg. Fulham started out in this tournament in July and have managed to beat holders Shakhtar Donetsk, Italian powerhouse Juventus, Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg and final hosts Hamburg on their way to the final. Amazing stuff indeed. continue

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It’s going to go right down to the wire in the languagecaster prediction battle. And just as Damon and Damian are both in with a shout of the title, the games we focus on today will all go a long way in deciding the teams who will be champions, or at least make the Champions League. Perhaps the most intriguing match is Chelsea’s visit to Liverpool. If the Blues win, surely the title is theirs, but if Liverpool win or force a draw they could hand the title to their bitterest rivals Manchester United, who would also leapfrog them to become the most successful English club of all time. This week’s guest is James, a Liverpool fan.

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On this week’s show we preview the second legs of the Champions League semi-finals which are beautifully poised after last week’s matches. Remember you can also:

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The second legs of the semi-finals of the Champions League take place this week with some mouth-watering ties that involve 4 teams from 4 different countries. Can Barcelona be the first team to retain the top European title since AC Milan did so in 1990 or will Lyon ensure there is a new name on the trophy? Maybe you think Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, who have not won the European Cup since 1965, will be crowned champions or will it be German powerhouse Bayern? Who will win the Champions League? Let us know by clicking on one of the options below and leave a comment to tell us why.

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Each week on languagecaster’s podcast we feature a main report and on this week’s show we feature the Champions League semi-finals. You can listen to the report by clicking above and can read the transcript below.

The second legs of the two semi-finals of the Champions League take place this week with both ties so delicately poised that football pundits are at a loss to predict a winner. Anyway, that has never stopped languagecaster before so here we go with a preview of the two games and of course our predictions!

When this season’s competition kicked off at the end of June, few would have predicted that the semi-finals would have four teams from four different countries taking part – none of them from England. Such was the domination of Premier League clubs that last season’s defeat of Manchester United in the final was simply seen as a blip. So, when the 76 teams from 52 different countries entered the competition way back in June of last year, it was yet again expected that Premier League sides would be challenging for the Europe’s top club tournament. But with Barcelona destroying Arsenal and Manchester United falling to Bayern Munich at the quarter-final stage, for the first time in five years there will be no team from the Premier League in the final, which this year will take place in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu on May 22nd – the first ever time there will be a Saturday final. It will also be a tough night for Madrid fans for not only are their side unable to add to their record haul of nine titles but they may have to watch their dreaded rivals Barcelona retain the trophy on their home turf. And if it’s not the Catalan side, then they may well be haunted by one of two players that the Madrid team let go last summer for not being good enough: Wesley Schneider from Inter Milan and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben. So, who is your money on to reach the 55th European Cup final? continue

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 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 phrase page here and football clichés here.

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This week’s English for football phrase is ‘to press‘. This phrase has two meanings in football. First, in attack, to press for a goal, or to press for a winner is one common way the phrase is used. It means that one team is trying very hard to score, they are using more players than usual to attack and may be taking a risk with their defence. The second way of using this phrase is in defence, to press the ball, or to press in midfield for example. This means that the defending team is quick to get close to the opposing team’s player when they have the ball. They press the player and hope they will force an error, they deny the player time to find a good pass. In the Europa League this week, Liverpool went behind to an early goal from Atletico Madrid and pressed for an equaliser but couldn’t score, while in the Champions League Inter pressed the ball in midfield effectively and Barcelona couldn’t play their natural passing game. Inter won the game 3-1 thanks to their pressing game.

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

Bayern Munich’s French star Franck Ribery and Inter Milan’s Balotelli both endured tough weeks yet their respective clubs remain in pole position to make the Champions League final. It was also a good week for Manchester United and Roma as they won local derbies to maintain their challenge at the top of the Premier league and Serie A respectively. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

A very good week for Tottenham after they beat league leaders and local rivals Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday. Goals from Jermaine Defoe and the outstanding Gareth Bale ensured that Spurs keep their Champions League hopes alive and notch their second successive London derby win in three days. Great stuff! continue