Archive for September, 2011

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With less than a year to go until the European Championships kick off in Poland and the Ukraine the qualifying rounds in Europe are starting to hot up. With the two hosts already qualified, there remain 14 other spots to fill – the nine group winners and the remaining five will come from a series of play-offs involving the runners-up. On this week’s main report we take a look at how the groups are shaping up. This report has a transcript below. 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.

Group A

Germany top the group with seven victories from seven and barring a miracle they will definitely be taking their place in the finals next summer. Four points separate the next three teams with Belgium currently in second place with 11 points, followed by Turkey on 10 and Austria on 7. The Turkish side have a game in hand but it will be interesting to see whether the recent scandal there will have a negative effect on their chances. Prediction: Germany winners and Belgium as runners-up.

Group B

Three teams are locked on 13 points apiece in group B, and this week’s matches will do much to tell us which of Russia, Ireland or Slovakia will be travelling to Central Europe next summer. Ireland under Trapattonni have become difficult to beat and are on an impressive unbeaten streak though they still have to play Russia away – Russia should have enough to see off the Irish and progress to the finals next year, though Ireland should come second. continue

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It’s week four season 6 and already it’s an international break. On this week’s podcast, the team at languagecaster.com previews the European Championship qualifiers as they begin to approach the business end of the qualifying stages. Remember, you can also:

• Listen only to the main report here – complete with transcript and vocabulary
• Learners of English can review the footballing news from around the world in our good, the bad and the ugly section of the show
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• A page with all our Football vocabulary posts
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts

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