Archive for June, 2010

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Every day during the World Cup, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché connected to this summer’s tournament. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

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Today’s World Cup phrase of the day is the expression to step down which means to resign or to quit a job. The World Cup is over for many teams and their coaches and this means that many of them will lose their jobs because of poor performances. Others have made the decision to leave by themselves – they have not been fired or sacked. Thus, Italy’s coach Lippi and his French counterpart Domenech announced that they would be stepping down before the tournament had even started, while Mexico’s coach Aguirre has stepped down after his side were knocked out of the second round by Argentina. I wonder how England fans would feel about their coach Capello if he were to step down? To step down.

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The second round of the World Cup is now over and what an amazing four days it has been. On today’s podcast we take a look back at those 8 games, which had a little bit of everything from penalty shootouts to disputed goals, red cards and some wonder strikes. Vocabulary in bold is explained in the transcript below.

Transcript

The second round of the World Cup is now over and what an amazing four days it has been. On today’s podcast we take a look back at those 8 games, which had a little bit of everything from penalty shootouts to disputed goals, red cards, wonder strikes, as well as lots of tears of joy and sadness.

Uruguay 2- 1 South Korea

In a rain-drenched Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Uruguay beat South Korea 2-1 thanks to two well-taken goals by top striker Luis Suarez, his second in particular a real beauty which means Uruguay continue their successful run and sees them reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1970. The Koreans had their chances but failed to find a way past the impressive Uruguayan defence – one that had not conceded a goal in this tournament – until Lee Chung-Yong’s equaliser half way through the second half. The Asian side pressed for a winner but it was Suarez who sealed the victory with a delightful curling shot in the 80th minute.

Ghana 2- 1 (aet) USA

A real topsy-turvy game saw Ghana make it to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history and to become only the third side from Africa to make it that far. The Black Stars deserved it for their extra-time performance when they took the game to the States who had seemed favourites to win after their strong second-half showing had earned them an equaliser from their captain Landon Donovan. This goal had cancelled out Boateng’s early strike for Ghana but rather than going on to win the game, it was the Africans who finished stronger with their top scorer Asamoah Gyan getting the winner in extra time. continue

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Every day during the World Cup, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché connected to this summer’s tournament. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen Here | See the complete list here

Today’s World Cup phrase of the day is the expression to pull the strings which is used when a player dominates or heavily influences a game. This player is like the fulcrum or pivot of the team through which everything passes. He is the one who sets the pace of the attacks and is usually the best passer of the ball and has the best footballing brain of the team. Perhaps the best example of a player in the World Cup who pulls the strings for his side is Xavi who plays for Spain. In the second round match against Portugal he constantly pulled the strings in his side’s victory. To pull the strings.

With three hours to go before Japan kick off against Paraguay, hoping to get through to the last eight for the first time in their history, fans in Japan are a) going football nuts, b) confident and c) sorry.

a) Let’s take the going crazy bit: it’s natural for a country whose team is doing well in the World Cup to get World Cup fever. Last night’s match becomes the main topic of conversation between colleagues at work, students at school and even strangers commuting to work. This is especially true of teams that don’t have much history of success in the World Cup (Japan – appeared in the last 4 World Cups, played 13, won 7, lost, drawn 2, best = last 16). b) Japan is confident! Everyone… continue

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Current Score: DB 27 | DF 54

An all Iberian clash with Spain  and Portugal , and in the other match up, two teams Japan  and Paraguay hoping to make it to the last eight for the first time in their histories. Join our predictions competition here, where there’s a chance to win an original languagecaster.com T-shirt!

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FIFA claim that technology in football would take away the human element and prevent discussions taking place about interesting decisions. After yesterday’s farcical non-goal in the Germany-England game, the organising body of world football should really re-evaluate their position. They won’t of course, they promised to review it after the France-Ireland debacle in Paris in November but they did nothing then and will no doubt continue to do nothing. What do you think about goal-line technology, should it be introduced?

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 Print This Post | Subscribe: World Cup Football Phrase

Every day during the World Cup, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché connected to this summer’s tournament. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen here | See the complete list here

Today’s World Cup Phrase of the Day is scapegoat. A scapegoat is someone that is blamed for another’s mistake. Originally used to refer to a goat that was sacrificed to pay for people’s sins. Yesterday, England were hammered by a technically superior German team that was full of imagination, verve and self-belief. However, many in the English tabloid press are blaming the referee and his linesman for not allowing an England goal that would have made the scores 2-2. The media are making the officials scapegoats for England’s poor performance. The fact is that England lost becasue they were not good enough. The English media should stop looking for scapegoats.

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Current Score: DB 25 | DF 52

Today the Dutch  take on Slovakia , while Brazil  take the field against Chile  in an all South American affair. The winners of these two matches will meet on the 2nd of July in Port Elizabeth  Join our predictions competition here, where there’s a chance to win an original languagecaster.com T-shirt!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: World Cup Football Phrase

Every day during the World Cup, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché connected to this summer’s tournament. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen Here | See the complete list here

Today’s World Cup phrase of the day is the expression consolation goal which is a goal that is scored by a team that cannot win the game. It usually comes at the end of the match when it is too late to make a comeback or when the opposing side has scored so many goals that it is impossible to win. In today’s second round match at the World Cup between Holland and Slovakia the Slovaks scored a consolation goal in the 94th minute which was too late as the Dutch had already scored twice and went on to win 2-1. A consolation goal.

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Current Score: DB 25 | DF 49

A World Cup classic with Germany hoping to see off England and Argentina v Mexico are on today’s languagecaster.com predictions menu!  Join our predictions competition here, where there’s a chance to win an original languagecaster.com T-shirt!

Join our predictions competition by clicking here