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On this week’s podcast we spotlight the sides that have been newly promoted to La Liga. We also look at some of the footballing stories from last week and try to predict some of the big games this week in our predictions battle. Remember you can also:

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On this week’s podcast we take a look into the crystal ball and try and predict how Damon’s Liverpool and Damian’s Tottenham will finish this season. Remember you can also:

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continue

 

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Each week, languagecaster’s podcast will have four sections.

1. The good, the bad and the ugly – a review of the footballing news
2. A main report - an interview, spotlight, fans’ opinions etc. There is also a separate post with transcript and vocabulary support
3. An English for Football phrase – we explain a word from that week’s news, or a phrase that is important if you want to talk about football
4. Predictions – a look at 4 or 5 games
from around the world. Damon and Damian battle it out against each other and guests to guess the match results in a predictions competition

For teachers there is more information and ideas here.

Also, check out our -

• Football Language Resources page
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and teaching ideas from previous podcasts

 

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The World Cup is over, Spain are Champions, Forlan has the Golden Ball, Thomas Mueller has been awarded the Golden Boot and Damian and Damon take a look back at the highs and lows of the tournament in the final languagecaster.com World Cup podcast. You can also:

 

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The World Cup final takes place this weekend and we cast our eyes over the two teams and give our predictions. Vocabulary, in bold from the transcript of this report can be found below. You can also:

Transcript

Game 64 of the World Cup, has Holland taking on the Spanish to decide the winners of the 19th World Cup tournament. Neither of these two sides have previously won the trophy before and despite having great players in their team, good form coming into the competition and strong footballing traditions, few pundits had tipped them to reach the final. That is except those here at languagecaster – Damon predicted a Holland victory while I went for Spain. continue

 

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The World Cup quarter-finals take place this weekend and we have some mouth-watering ties to look forward to. In today’s podcast Damon and Damian cast their eyes over the four match ups. Vocabulary, in bold from the transcript of this report can be found below. You can also:

Transcript

Holland-Brazil

Everyone’s favourites for the title – at least on our site’s poll – Brazil take on Holland in the first of the World Cup quarter-finals. Indeed, so much are they favourites that the Dutch are being described as ‘Brazil light’. These two sides have a history – though not as contentious as the Germany-Argentina game – going back to 1974 when the then reigning champions Brazil were torn apart by a rampaging Dutch side that included Johann Cruyff. In 1994 they met again and this time the Brazilians won 3-2 despite a wonderful comeback from the Dutch. With current manager Dunga as their captain, Brazil went on to lift the trophy on penalties that year, which is how they defeated the Dutch in the 1998 semi-finals in France. The games have always been of a high quality and no one is expecting anything less of today’s match.

Both teams are in very good form with the Dutch on a national record run of 23 games unbeaten but it is generally felt that Brazil have better discipline, organisation and more match winners in their team than Holland. True, the Dutch have Sneijder, Van Persie and Robben but Brazilian fans point to Robinho, Fabiano, Maicon and Kaka. Despite these top players, however, I am going to go for Holland partly because I feel the pressure on Brazil – and particularly Dunga – is simply too heavy for them to bear. I also feel that the Dutch have one good game in them and this could be the one, while Robben looks very impressive and I feel if he or one of his team mates scores first then it will be very interesting to see how Brazil cope. 2-1 to Holland.

Ghana – Uruguay

How fitting that Uruguay are doing so well this time round in a World Cup held on African soil. They were the first national team in South America to… continue

 

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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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On today’s show, languagecaster.com dissects France’s miserable performance at the World Cup. We also salute the four teams that have qualified for the knockout stages from Groups C and D and look ahead at today’s games. We also have our regular items on the show including:

Transcript

With their 1-2 defeat against South Africa leaving them bottom of Group A the French World Cup dream – or should that be nightmare – is over. Unable to break down a strong Uruguayan defence, overrun by a speedy Mexican attack and outplayed for much of the game by hosts South Africa les bleus scored only one goal and managed to secure just one point. When fancied teams, like France, crash out of tournaments, there is usually an inquest as to why this may have occurred but with this team there is no such need as it was all so blatantly obvious.

Before the tournament had even started the football world knew that continue

 

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The eyes of fans of teams in Groups C and D will be turned on today’s fixtures and in this show we focus on England v Slovenia and Germany v Ghana – A win for any of these teams will guarantee a play off spot so it’s all to play for. England have been trying to copy France in terms of dismal displays on the pitch and players speaking out about the coach – John Terry you naughty boy. As for Germany, they are a bit Jekyll and Hyde, winning plaudits for their opening win and causing disbelief by being beaten by Serbia. So all to play for, but what do fans think. We asked four fans their predictions, to describe England and Germany’s campaigns so far and for their highlights this week. Also:

 

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‘Maybe it’s the pressure?’ suggested England manager Fabio Cappello after England’s dismal draw with Algeria, so on this World Cup podcast we take a look at the pressure of playing in the most important sporting event in the world. We also have our regular items on the show including:

Transcript

Damon: Well, obviously bad for England, terrible in fact but worse for Rooney. He was out of the game completely and at the end of the match ranted at the England fans sarcastically saying ‘it’s nice to hear your fans booing’. It was a miracle that the booing hadn’t started earlier, England’s performance definitely deserved it and up until the end the England fans could be heard supporting their team above the din of the vuvuzela – at least they did their bit. Poor play and an even worse attitude from Wayne Rooney.

Damian: Well, that was Damon’s take on the Algeria – England scoreless draw, which left fans here in the UK scratching their heads and wondering why players such as Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard have not performed for the country like they do for their clubs. Manager Fabio Capello puts it all down to pressure – the inability to cope with it is causing the team to malfunction.
continue

 

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The World Cup is a week old and languagecaster looks at some of the highs and lows of the tournament by asking some football fans in Tokyo what they think of the World Cup so far. Remember you can also:

 

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In this podcast, Damian reflects on the media reaction to England’s first game against the United States, we review some of the main talking point of the past few days and also look forward to some great games in our predictions. Remember you can also:

Transcript

After all the build up and the hype, England yet again fail to convince in the World Cup, this time in their 1-1 draw with the USA. However, they can count themselves a little unlucky on two fronts. First of all, it’s difficult to legislate for the goalkeeping howler that Robert Green made (unless of course you feel he shouldn’t have been picked in the first place) and secondly the fact that England played on a Saturday evening meant that the all-powerful Sunday newspapers were ready to savage them the next day. And savage them they did. Stars and Tripe (rubbish) proclaimed the News of the World, the biggest-selling Sunday tabloid, the Guardian also blamed the keeper though in a much less aggressive manner ‘Green slips and England stagger‘, while the Sunday Times questioned the role of the previously untouchable Fabio Capello (As Capello fiddles, so a nation’s hopes burn). Slightly over the top? Yes, of course but that’s the job of the Sunday press.

But really how bad was it? Yes, the team looked shaky at the back, they have an injury crisis and that it is obvious that Gerrard and Lampard cannot play together but it is a point against the team that is favoured to go through with England to the next round and without dominating they definitely created more chances than their frankly limited opponents. America will not be anywhere near the business end of the tournament but England may well be. The other two members of the group are appalling so there should be no problems in qualifying for the next round while World Cup winning teams traditionally start slowly. If you need another omen all you long-suffering England fans here is another one. The USA opened their World Cup account in Germany 4 years ago against a team that was lambasted by the press for an insipid opening display. That team was Italy and they went all the way.

 

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The World Cup is finally here and languagecaster kicks off its World Cup coverage with a look at the teams we think will do well and not so well. We also discuss those teams we think may cause a surprise or two and predict which players will feature in the Golden Boot race. Remember you can also:

 

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On this, the final podcast of the year, we take a look back at some of the highs and lows of the European football season. Remember you can also:

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This week’s podcast looks at the stats behind Inter and Bayern’s road to the Champions League final. Remember you can also:

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