Archive for July, 2011

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The 2011 Copa América is taking place in Argentina and so in this main report we take a look back at the history of this competition. You can listen to the report on the Copa America by clicking on the file below while there is also a transcript and explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post, while other key phrases (in blue) also have meanings explained.

Listen here Copa América History.mp3

The history of this competition dates back to 1916 when four teams competed for the campeonato sudamericano de selecciones (The South American Championship) with Uruguay running out victors. Since then the competition has changed formats on numerous occasions; originally it was held every year but subsequently increased to two, then three and finally (since 2007) every four years. continue

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The languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript below that. You can also find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.

Listen Here To step up their interest.mp3

Today’s English for football expression comes from the world of transfers and is the phrase ‘ to step up’. Generally, this phrase means to improve or to increase and can collocate with such words as pressure – to step up the pressure – or interest – to step up interest in someone. In football this phrase is often used during the transfer window when one team wishes to sign a new player – they step up their interest in the player. A similar phrase is to step up their bid, which means that the club are on the verge of making an offer for a player. So for example, this week Chelsea stepped up their interest in Tottenham player Luka Modric. To step up their interest.

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The final of the World Cup 2011 for women takes place this weekend, while the Copa America in Argentina has now reached the quarter-final stage. Damon and Damian try to predict the games involving Japan and the USA, Uruguay and Argentina, as well as Paraguay and Brazil. Check out some language used in making predictions here.

Vocabulary support can be found at the bottom of the page

So, the final two teams are left standing after what has been an enormously successful Women’s World Cup. The USA, pre-tournament favourites (along with Germany) and FIFA ranked No.1 in the world will take on Japan, the surprise package of the competition.

Although ranked fourth in the world before the Women’s World Cup got under way, the Japanese have stunned Germany and Sweden in the knockout stages to claim their berth in the final. continue

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During the Copa América the languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript below that. You can also find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football cliches here and our huge football glossaryhere.

Listen here: To Cancel Out.mp3 | See the complete list here

Today’s English for football phrase is ‘to cancel out’ which means to eliminate or to wipe out and in football is used to describe a situation when one teams scores an equaliser – it cancels out an earlier goal. In yesterday’s Copa América clash between Chile and Uruguay, Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez scored an equaliser after Uruguay had taken an earlier lead – his goal cancelled out the Uruguayan strike. To cancel out.

The first stage of the Women’s World cup is over and we are down to the last eight teams and the quarter-final knockout stages. So far, the tournament, being held in Germany, has been a great success, and it looks like the women’s game is finally getting the media recognition it deserves. There have been some cracking games already in front some big crowds – over 70,000 saw Germany take on Canada and even the less high profile Norway vs Equatorial Guinea had 13,000. In the knockout stages, I’m sure the crowds are going to increase, too.

So, who are the favourites, which team is the dark horse, who are players to watch and which game should we keep our eyes on? continue

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The World Cup 2011 for women moves into the knock-out stage while the Copa America in Argentina is also up and running. On the second of our summer predictions Damon and Damian try to predict the scores of games involving Brazil, England, France, Japan, Germany, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. Check out some language used in making predictions here.

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Though there is no football being played in Europe at the moment there is still lots of the beautiful game being played all over the world. The World Cup 2011 for women is taking place in Germany while the Copa America starts this weekend in Argentina. For the first of our summer predictions Damon and Damian try to predict the scores of games involving Brazil, the US and Columbia. Check out some language used in making predictions here.