Archive for October, 2010

Adidas Velocity Coaches Brief

Recently we were asked by soccerpro.com, a leading sporting goods supplier, to review some of their soccer goods from their online range of products. The languagecaster team decided to take some Adidas tee-shirts and a sports bag and once more we have a very positive report to give. The 5 shirts – Brazil; Spain; Argentina; Germany and Mexico all arrived within 10 days of placing our orders, along with a very smart coaches bag.

Argentina Tee Shirt

The quality of the shirts was very good indeed and they have proved to be very popular with many of our website fans – my personal favourite is the Argentinian one (see right). The Adidas Velocity Coaches Brief is a sports bag that has room for a laptop, documents and can be easily carried around – ideal for any football coach indeed. Yet again, we are very pleased with both the products and the service from soccerpro, with delivery to the UK proving to be fast and convenient. To buy these products and more go to soccerpro.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Podcast
This week, on the languagecaster free podcast our focus is the J-league in Japan. We take a look at its history and if it has been a success or not. Remember you can also:

Subscribe to languagecaster.com’s Football Podcast by Email

continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Main Listening Report | Complete List Here

Each week on languagecaster’s podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week’s show we take a look at the J- League in Japan, now in its 17th season. You can listen to the report by clicking the link below and can also read the transcript. Explanations of vocabulary in bold appear at the foot of the post.

Listen to the main listening report on the J-League

While Europe focuses on the European Championships and the leagues are only a couple of months old, over here in Japan where I am based, football fans are gearing up for the Friday clash between Argentina and Japan and the end to another exciting season. Of course, the international is only a friendly, but the match has been on all the main news channels with cameras greeting Messi and co. as they walked off the plane on Wednesday, and tickets to the match have all been snapped up. Meanwhile in the league, attendances are the healthiest they have ever been, at an average of 19,000 a game in the top flight – that’s higher than the Championship, the second tier, in England.

The J-League kicked off in 1993 and is now in its seventeenth season. Football had been popular in Japan since before the 60s, but it was this period, a time when Japan hosted the Olympics, that football began to become more firmly entrenched in Japan. It became a popular sport in high school  and colleges, and several companies also fielded teams in a small, but healthy amateur football world. But continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Weekly Football Phrase

Every week during the 2010-11 season, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché for learners of English who love the sport. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript below that. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

It’s European Championship qualifying time again and on this week’s show we preview some of the big games on this week’s languagecaster.com’s football podcast. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section. continue

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

A good move by the Dutch football coach after an ugly episode involving one of his key players, and while things seem to go from bad to worse for Liverpool, at least they behave in a dignified manner unlike the leader of Bolivia.

Ugly

We start with ugly this week and a really nasty tackle by Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong on Newcastle and French star Ben Arfa. The Manchester City midfielder did not even receive a yellow card after his tackle but after media outrage here in the UK, it seems that the player may receive a three-match ban for violent conduct. As for Ben Arfa, he has a double fracture and looks set to miss the whole season.
continue

 Print This Post | Subscribe: Predictions

In this week’s predictions we take a look at some of the big European Championship qualifiers that take place this weekend (Friday and Tuesday). Portugal have a new manager, England have a striker crisis, the two Irish teams look to cause upsets and the world champions, Spain visit Scotland. Let us know what you think the scores will be by posting a comment below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On this week’s podcast we feature one of the greatest cities in Europe never to have won the Champions League: London. Remember you can also:

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking here

continue

Good for the three London teams in the Champions League, bad refereeing decisions in England and Alex Ferguson in the ugly section again. These stories and more all feature on this week’s languagecaster.com’s football podcast. For more football news come to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast (podcast2): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Main Listening Report

Each week on languagecaster’s podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week’s show we look at the teams from the capital of England. You can listen to the report by clicking the link below and can also read the transcript. Explanations of vocabulary in bold appear at the foot of the post.

Listen to the main listening report on London Teams

Introduction

Click on the map to enlarge and see London teams

In this season’s Champions League, the final will be taking place in a European capital city which has never produced a winning side in Europe’s most important club competition and yet has three teams competing in this season’s tournament. It is a city with 13 full-time professional clubs yet only three of them have ever won the English title. We are of course talking about London. continue