Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Tottenham make the Champions League group stage, an ugly melee spoils the Copa Libertadores final and trouble at Liverpool. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Tottenham completed a remarkable comeback against Swiss side Young Boys this week to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. Spurs last played in the European Cup in 1962 when they reached the semi-finals but getting out of the group would be deemed a success this time round. Peter Crouch was the hero this week with a hat-trick but young Welsh star Gareth Bale assisted in all four of the goals. Spurs face holders Inter Milan, Dutch champions Twente and German side Werder Bremen in the group stages – do they dare to dream?

Bad

Bad for Liverpool, who were humbled at new kids on the block, Manchester City, 3-0. This despite Torres and Gerrard both starting. The Merseyside club never looked comfortable and were picked off by a strong-looking City side. That leaves the Reds 17th with one point out of a possible six. To add to their problems, Liverpool still haven’t found new owners and look no nearer doing so, and they also have Mascherano angling for a move to Barcelona. The Argentinian midfielder refused to play in the game against The Blues, angering fans who had been impressed by his performance the week before against Arsenal. There is one bright spot for Liverpool, however, as they are through to the group stages of the Europa League after winning 2-1 despite going behind away at Turkish side Trabzorspor.

Ugly

Brazilian side Internacional won the Copa Libertadores final last week by defeating Mexican side Guadalajara 5-3 on aggregate in a stormy affair. At the end of the game Mexican players were involved in a fight with players from Internacional but the police intervened very quickly. The Mexican players felt they had been provoked by the Brazilians and complained about the lack of security at the stadium. An ugly end to a great competition. See the highlights of the goals here

Vocabulary

remarkable : Amazing

to qualify for:: To progress to the next stage of the competition

would be deemed a success: Would be seen as a success

would be deemed a success: Three goals in one game by one player

Spurs face holders Inter Milan: Spurs will play against the current champions Inter Milan

new kids on the block: a new team, a fresh face, in this context a team that has joined the big teams as title contenders

to pick off: to calmly wait for a scoring opportunity and then attack and score

to angle for (something): to attempt to get, to try to get something

Copa Libertadores: The main club competition for teams in South America (equivalent to the Champions League)

by defeating: By beating (another team)

on aggregate: In total – there are two games (legs) and the scores are added up, this is the aggregate

stormy affair: An aggressive game, a tempestuous match

intervened: Stepped in, they wished to prevent any more trouble

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A great week for Inter, Blackpool and the football team from Cape Verde, while Portugal, Cardiff and Manuel Pellegrini all had bad weeks. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

A great week for Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan as they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final to complete an historic treble – the first Italian side to win the domestic league and cup double and the Champions League. it was the first time Inter had won the Champions League since 1965 and the first Italian team since 2007. Argentinian striker Diego Milito was the hero with two well-taken goals to sink the Germans who were simply unable to break down the Italian defence. In addition to Bayern, Inter also defeated Chelsea and Barcelona on their way to the title so a well-deserved treble for them indeed.

A fairy tale, in the English football league at least, as Blackpool F. C. become the smallest club ever to qualify to play in the Premier League. The team from a famous seaside resort in the north west of England, booked their place in one of the World’s top leagues by overcoming Cardiff 3-2 at Wembley despite falling behind to an early goal. The ‘Seasiders’ are managed by the charismatic Ian Holloway, known for his interesting and often humourous press intevews and have gained a lot of plaudits for their positive attacking style of play. They are already favourites to be relegated next year, but well done to Blackpool and if Hull could survive for two seasons, why not Blackpool?

The Bad

With only weeks to go before the kick off to the World Cup in South Africa, Japan’s campaign is really taking a turn for the worse as they were beaten 2-0 by arch-rivals South Korea on their home turf. This was the second time this year this has happened, as they also lost to South Korea 3-1 back in February when they finished third out of four teams in the Easy Asia Championship. The team was booed off by the crowd at the final whistle and recycling their manager from the 1998 World Cup campaign, Okada, seems to have backfired. The team also came in for criticism from another ex-manager, Troussiere, who coached Japan to the knock out stages in 2002. The Frenchman basically accused Okada of being naive and tactically inflexible, and given the poor display, his words have some truth to them. Next up for Japan is England in Austria as they limp towards the Finals in South Africa.

Another side limping towards the World Cup finals is Portugal who, complete with Ronaldo in their side, managed to only draw 0-0 with Cape Verde a team ranked 113 in the world. Four years ago it was the much-fancied Czech Republic who failed to make it to the second round while France failed to do so four years earlier in Japan. Could it be Portugal’s turn?

The Ugly

Related to our top story, treble-winning Inter manager Jose Mourinho told the sporting world that he would be leaving the Italian side to manage Spanish giants Real Madrid. I suppose that when you have just won a treble you can get away with anything but Real still had a manager at the time in Manuel Pellegrini who though coming second in La Liga this season had still managed to amass a record 97 points. Classless from Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho – an ugly pairing if ever there was one.

Vocabulary

to break down: To score a goal against a well-marshalled defence

to sink: To defeat

fairy tale: (in football) an amazing story, usually when an underdog 9a weak team) does well in a cup competition

book a place: secure a spot, get promoted, get a place in a competition

gain plaudits: when you gain plaudits, people say you have done well, you have done a good job, people applaude you

arch-rivals: huge rivals, a team that is your biggest adversary

backfire: go wrong, end in tears, when something backfires the original plan leads to disaster

limping: To not play very well – it means to walk rather painfully

The good

Chelsea and Inter secure doubles (the league title and the domestic cup) in England and Italy respectively, while Barcelona also win La Liga after being pushed all the way by Real Madrid. Chelsea overcame a plucky Portsmouth 1-0 at Wembley despite giving a penalty away to the south coast side, which was missed, and fluffing a spot kick of their own. In Italy, Inter wrapped up the title and a double with a 1-0 victory of their own over Siena. They now look forward to the Champions League and a possible treble when they clash with Bayern Munich, also in with a shout of an amazing treble.

Sao Paulo from Brazil and Guadalajara from Mexico make it into the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. Sao Paolo, the Tricolor Paulista, comfortably overcame fellow Brazilian team Cruzeiro 4-0 over two legs and they’ll be hoping they can go all the way and win the title for the fourth time. Meanwhile, Guadalajara had a scare at Libertad of Paraguay, losing 2-0 in the away leg, but getting through because of their first leg 3-0 victory. Chivas, the Goats, could be the first Mexican side to win the Copa Libertadores. The semi finals take place after the World Cup on July 29th and August 4th.

The Bad

Ballack, the German captain, is out of the World Cup after a heavy tackle by Kevin Prince Boateng’s in the FA Cup final in England. Boateng, who was born in Germany but plays internationally for Ghana slid into the German international injuring Ballack’s angle ligaments. But the incident has led to a war of words between the two players with Ballack and his supporters accusing Boateng of deliberately going in to hurt the star midfielder. The accusation has been given extra spice as Boateng’s Ghana are in the same group as Germany in the World Cup, and conspiracy theorist are saying it was a foul intended to remove a key player from the German side. Boateng has hit back by pointing out that minutes before his tackle, Ballack had slapped him in the face – usually a sending off offence.

The England World Cup bid was rocked by revelations that Lord Triesman, The England World Cup bid’s chairman, privately alleged that the Spanish FA of doing a deal with Russia to get the Russians to bribe World Cup referees. The extraordinary claims were made to a woman who also went on to claim that they had been lovers. Triesman has had to resign his post as head of the English FA as well as the World Cup Committee post and the allegations he has made have caused huge embarrassment to everyone involved in the England bid to host the World Cup in 2018, a bid that had just made its formal application two days earlier.

The Ugly

Diego Maradona, Argentina’s coach, runs over a journalist on his way to a press conference to announce the Argentine squad. Well, perhaps it wasn’t his fault. After all, in the scrum of cameramen trying to get a few words from, or a photo of, one of the World’s greatest players, it’s not surprising that someone fell. But, what makes this incident ugly is Maradona shouting at and insulting the unfortunate journalist: “What an asshole you are. How can you put your leg there where it can get run over, man?” Not what you want from the coach of any national side before they start their World cup campaign. But at least he didn’t take a shot at the guy.

Vocabulary

fluff: to miss badly, to make an embarrassing error

go all the way: win a tournament, get to a final

get through: win a match to progress to the next stage

ligaments: a tough piece of body tissue that connects two bones, often damaged in football (especially the knee ligaments and ankle ligaments)

war of words: argument, often a dispute that is played out in the media

extra spice: an extra dimension, something that makes an argument or confrontation more interesting

be rocked: be shaken, be threatened by, be surprised

to allege: to claim, to accuse, to say something with no evidence

scrum: large, chaotic group of people usually trying to fight for something (a part of a rugby game)

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A great week for Chelsea and Bayern Munich as they win their domestic titles but not such a good one for Gianfranco Zola who was sacked by West Ham. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Congratulations to Chelsea for winning their fourth English League title after demolishing Wigan 8-0 last Sunday. Striker Didier Drogba was the league’s top scorer, the team scored a huge total of 103 goals during the season, while they also had doubles over Liverpool, Arsenal and crucially Manchester United, meaning that the title deservedly returns to the team from West London. There was celebration in Bavaria as well as Bayern Munich won their 22nd title – a record – after a 3-1 away victory at Hertha Berlin last weekend. They face Bremen in the domestic cup final this weekend and then play Inter Milan the following week in the Champions League final – great times for Munich and their manager Van Gaal who amazingly was under pressure way back in autumn.


Well done Atletico Madrid. After having seen off English opposition in the shape of Liverpool in extra time in the semis, the Spanish team finally get some silverware by beating plucky English team, Fulham. The team from Madrid, who are always in the shadow of their bigger and more successful city rivals Real Madrid, finally have something to celebrate after overcoming the London side in extra time with a strike from goal poacher, Diego Forlan. Atletico are now in with a shout of the double as they are in the Copa del Rey final where they take on Sevilla on the 19th of May. And they’d love to get two trophies with the possibility of Real Madrid ending up with nothing this season despite having spent €250 last summer.

Bad

It’s all ended in tears for Zola at London club West Ham. Every football fan loves the little Italian and there were high hopes when he replaced Alan Curbishley in 2008 at the helm of the Hammers. But after finishing a respectable ninth in 2008 they just scraped home this season, missing relegation with only one game and five points to spare. The new owners of West Ham, Sullivan and Gold, were increasingly outspoken in their criticism of the coach and it looks as though they were looking for a way to ease him out the door. A sad and sour end to Zola’s time at West Ham as he was sacked last week. I wonder where he’ll go next?

Many of the preliminary World Cup squads were announced this week and there were some surprises. Totti will not be travelling with Italy, Van Nistleroy did not make the Dutch squad, Cambiasso is out of Maradona’s Argentina but perhaps the biggest news was the fact that Dunga the Brazilian coach refused to include Ronaldinho and Adriano in his squad, news that divided the football-crazy nation. Bad for Dunga maybe?

Ugly

In last week’s Italian cup final there was surely one of the ugliest fouls ever seen as Roma’s Francisco Totti chased down Inter’s Balotteli, who had skipped past him, and scythed him down from behind (watch the video here) with no attempt to get the ball. It was a possible leg-breaking tackle and the red card and subsequent four-game ban seems lenient when you watch the replays. Totti said it was revenge for Balotteli’s behaviour in a game last year when the Inter player signalled to the Roma fans to be quiet after he scored, and because Balotteli had called him ‘granddad’ during the game. He won’t do that again.

Vocabulary

had doubles over : Beat a team twice during the season (To do the double over)

to see off: to beat; to defeat, to finish someone’s chances

plucky: brave, spirited, gutsy (often ‘plucky’ can sound condescending)

preliminary : Early, not the official deadline yet

to end in tears: end badly; not finish well

at the helm: lead; be in charge

to ease out the door: to force to resign; to fire; to sack

to scythe down: to kick someone wildly and make them fall over; to hack down; a scythe is a tool (like a long curved knife) to cut grass and wheat

lenient: not tough; tolerant; forgiving

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Congratulations to FC Twente in Holland, Marseille in France and Rangers in Scotland as they all win their domestic championships, while victories for Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Inter mean those clubs remain favourites to win their respective leagues. Inter also win the Coppa Italia while my team Spurs make the Champions League. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

A great night for Spurs’ fans as they beat direct rivals Manchester City 1-0 to guarantee at least 4th place in the Premier League – their highest league finish for 20 years. Tottenham have won 9 out of the last 11 games including victories over City, Chelsea and Arsenal and have not wilted under the pressure which many thought they would do. Well done to Harry Redknapp and the players. Would it be too much to ask for a third place finish and leapfrog Arsenal this Sunday?

Many of the leagues around Europe have been decided or are very close to seeing the Champions crowned. So it is good for FC Twente in Holland, and particularly coach Steve McClaren who left the England job under a cloud but now becomes the first Englishman to win a major European Championship as manager since the late Bobby Robson did it with Porto in 1996. Well done to Marseille in France and Rangers in Scotland, too, who have won the titles in their countries. And while Inter beating Roma in the Coppa Italia is worth a mention, so is Everton’s win over Arsenal in the Women’s FA Cup. The female Blues won the final in front of 17,00 fans at Nottingham Forest’s City ground 3-2. Well done to all those teams.

Bad

Having to watch my team Liverpool play Chelsea and not really being upset that they lost 2-0 in their last home game- then being upset for thinking that (the loss meant that Liverpool’s biggest rivals, Manchester United, couldn’t leapfrog Chelsea to the top of the Premier League) . Seeing Steven Gerrard’s back pass gifting the opener to Chelsea in front of the Kop. What a horrible experience.

It has been a bad season for the Premier League with regard to finances with Portsmouth going into administration, Hull City possibly about to do the same and today it has been revealed that West Ham were extremely close to going to the wall. The London club almost followed Portsmouth into administration and this summer there will be a fire sale as they seek to trim their wage bill and reduce their debt. With Manchester United and Liverpool also suffering from huge debts there are tough times ahead for Premier league clubs

Stupid

Frank Lampard’s comments England being afraid of taking penalties is not a smart move before the World Cup kicks off next month (mind you, Gerrard has also said the same). Penalties are a fact of life in most big football competitions and it is already well known that previous England teams have crumbled under the pressure of the spot kick shoot out. But to come out in the media and admit that the team you play for has a big mental weakness still now is a little bit stupid. If they find themselves in that situation again – they lost on penalties in the World Cup in 1990 and Euro 1996 against Germany,  the 1998 World Cup against Argentina, and Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup  against Portugal  – their opposition will surely be laughing at the shaking, nervous England players lining up to take their penalties.

Vocabulary

have not wilted under the pressure: The team has not been affected by the pressure (To wilt is used to describe a dying flower)

(leave) under a cloud: in a bad atmosphere; make a mistake; being suspected of doing something wrong or bad

the late (name): referring to someone who has died

going into administration: To be in so much financial trouble that the club almost went bankrupt

to going to the wall: To go bankrupt

a fire sale: When a business has to sell all of its stock because it is nearly bankrupt

to trim: To reduce

gift (a goal): to give the opposition an easy chance to score; to give a goal away

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Chelsea bounce back to the top of the League, the finalists for the Champions League final in Madrid have been decided, and elsewhere there’s fighting in the dressing room, dodgy rulings by the Premier League and Fulham! These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

A great result for Chelsea in a must-win game against a tough Stoke side last weekend. The Blues reclaimed top spot from a battling Manchester United in the Premier League with an emphatic 7-0 thrashing of the midlands side. This game was a potential banana skin for the London side, but they were totally dominant and managed to rack up seven goals without their two lead strikers, Drogba and Anelka, scoring. They must now go into their match against Liverpool on Sunday, as clear favourites and a win would surely be enough for them to see off the challenge of Manchester United and capture the Premier League crown.

European glory for Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Fulham as they all won through to European finals this week. Bayern were comfortable winners against a poor Lyon side, while Jose Mourinho masterminded a superb defensive display by Inter Milan against Barcelona – what drama there was in that game. The Europa League has often been derided as the poor cousin of the Champions League but the semi-finals had two tension-filled games this week. Atletico Madrid scraped past Liverpool thanks to a Diego Forlan goal while London side Fulham reached their first ever European final after yet another come-from-behind victory, this time against Hamburg. Fulham started out in this tournament in July and have managed to beat holders Shakhtar Donetsk, Italian powerhouse Juventus, Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg and final hosts Hamburg on their way to the final. Amazing stuff indeed.

Bad

A bad decision from the English Premier League to allow Manchester City to look for a new keeper outside the transfer window is sure to upset their rivals for the last Champions League spot, Tottenham and Aston Villa. City lost their first choice keeper, Shay Given, to a dislocated shoulder in their game against Arsenal, and also have Stuart Taylor, their number two, out with a knee injury. But they do have Gunnar Neilsen in their squad. The Faroe Islander may be inexperienced, but he is still employed by Manchester City and that should mean that they can field a keeper for their remaining three games.To misquote Oscar Wilde, losing one keeper is a misfortune; losing another is plain carelessness; but then asking for a replacement is ridiculous!

Barcelona will not be able to defend their title in Madrid later this month after their exit at the hands of Inter Milan. While the media reaction was generally positive towards their performance the fact that Inter Milan were reduced to ten men has been rather overlooked and in particular the way that this sending off came about. Barcelona midfielder Busquets went down as if he had been it by a rock when it was clear that he had hardly been touched. Yes, Inter player Motta was silly but Busquets aided his sending off by going down like a tonne of bricks – definitely outside the spirit of the game.

Ugly

We’ve already mentioned Stoke city, albeit in Chelsea’s fantastic 7-0 win over them. But they make the ugly this week after their Senagalese defender, Abdoulaye Faye, punched Glenn Whelan in the face in a bust up after the game. Whelan was apparently unhappy with Faye wearing flip-flops in the team’s warm up, thinking it showed he was not taking the game seriously – perhaps he had a point if you think about the scoreline. This latest dressing room fight comes after manager Pulis allegedly head-butted striker James Beattie last year and and Fuller slapped his captain Griffin in 2008. Not a harmonious dressing room!

Vocabulary

emphatic: clear, convincing, easy; often used followed by ‘victory’ or ‘win’

banana skin: a game that could be difficult; a match where defeat is possible even though it shouldn’t happen; a game with the potential for a shock result

masterminded: Planned

been derided: Criticised; laughed at

scraped past: Just about won, won – but not easily

dislocated shoulder: when the shoulder joint seperates

bust up: fight; disagreement; argument – usually physical

harmonious: peaceful; calm

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Bayern Munich’s French star Franck Ribery and Inter Milan’s Balotelli both endured tough weeks yet their respective clubs remain in pole position to make the Champions League final. It was also a good week for Manchester United and Roma as they won local derbies to maintain their challenge at the top of the Premier league and Serie A respectively. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

A very good week for Tottenham after they beat league leaders and local rivals Chelsea 2-1 on Saturday. Goals from Jermaine Defoe and the outstanding Gareth Bale ensured that Spurs keep their Champions League hopes alive and notch their second successive London derby win in three days. Great stuff!

It was good for title hopefuls Manchester United and Roma as both won huge derby fixtures last weekend. The victories meant that Manchester United are still in with a shout while for Roma, the win kept them in pole position to win the championship. It looked like the Manchester derby between Manchester City and United was going to end in stalemate when Paul Scholes, fresh from signing a new contract, popped up to head a winner in the last 30 seconds of extra time. Meanwhile, in Italy the huge Rome derby between Lazio and Roma was settled by a Vucinic brace, a penalty and a free kick. The 2-1 victory leaves Roma one point ahead of Inter while in the premier League Manchester United’s win, cut their deficit behind Chelsea to just one point. It should be an exciting end to the season in both leagues.

Bad

The troubled Inter forward Mario Balotelli’s future at the club is in doubt after he was booed by his own fans in his club’s 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League semi final. At the end of the game, he also threw his shirt to the ground and he has been criticised by his teammates too after a number of other incidents. It is difficult to imagine that he can stay at the club despite owner Massimo Moratti saying he wants him to stay. The Inter boss is probably trying to protect the player’s price from falling, something that is bound to happen if he is forced to leave. The player himself is unrepentant saying modestly, ‘”I am ready to become the greatest player in the world. I am relaxed and nothing has changed.”

It has been a tough week for former England captain John Terry as his side Chelsea lost to Tottenham at White Hart Lane and the Blues captain compounded a poor personal display with a red card after two reckless challenges. Terry will miss the next game against Stoke City in the league adding more pressure to Chelsea’s title push. A bad week for JT indeed.

Ugly

It has been a bad week for French winger Franck Ribery for despite the fact his side Bayern Munich lead Lyon in the Champions League semi-final he saw a red card after a particularly nasty challenge on Lyon player Lisandro. Coming so soon after the off-the-field-revelations about his personal life has meant this has been an ugly week for Ribery.

Vocabulary

outstanding: Very, very good; played very well

notch : To score

(be) in with a shout: to have a chance of winning (in this case – the title)

(be) in pole position: be the leaders, to be in the best position for a race

a brace: two (in this case – goals), a pair

boo: to show criticism or disapproval especially of a sportsman or woman

unrepentant: not sorry, show no remorse

compounded a poor personal display : Added to his bad performance (by getting a red card)

JT: Nickname of John Terry

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Chelsea, Barcelona, Roma and Portsmouth all had good weeks while it was good and bad for Tottenham and just bad for Manchester United as their poor run continues. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good for Chelsea who are through to the the FA Cup final after beating Aston Villa 3-0 and they also increase their lead at the summit of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at home over a well organised Bolton team – The Blues are now four points clear of Manchester United with four games to go. Barcelona also leapfrogged Real Madrid in el clasico to go top of La Liga. They were always comfortable in their 2-0 win at the Bernabéu and followed that up with a 3-0 thumping of Deportiva La Curuna.  Elsewhere in Europe Marseille extend their lead in League 1 to five points by beating Sochaux 1-0 away and Inter were deposed as leaders in Serie A by an in-form Roma, whose 2-1 win over Atalanta makes it five wins in a row and no losses in 23.

The week started badly for Tottenham and their fans after defeat in the FA Cup semi-final against Portsmouth on Sunday – well done to the south coast side who have regularly featured in the bad or ugly section on this show – but Spurs bounced back on Wednesday by beating arch-rivals Arsenal 2-1 at White Hart Lane thanks to a goal from debutant Danny Rose – you can see the wonder strike here – and Heurelio Gomes’ brilliance between the posts. The first victory for Tottenham over the Gunners since 1999 means Champions League qualification is still on.

The Bad

The Wembley pitch is bad – awful in fact. Last weekend the showcase FA Cup semi finals were played at Wembley, but the pitch came in for criticism from players and managers as it cut up easily and players found it hard to keep their footing. This isn’t a new problem either – it has been going on since the new stadium was reopened in 2007. The huge debt that has been incurred for the project means that the FA is forced to allow rock concerts, rugby league, American football and other events to be played on the surface throughout the year. Not a happy situation for the nation’s main footballing arena and people are beginning to wonder whether it is a football stadium at all.

Not happy times for current Premier League holders Manchester United who have been knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern, lost to Chelsea and drawn with Blackburn in the league. Of course they are missing the talismanic figure of Wayne Rooney but other players have suffered a dip in form: Park, Scholes, Carrick and Berbatov have all struggled in recent weeks. A bad time for the red side of Manchester though having said that I wonder if they will bounce back against city rivals Manchester City this weekend?

The Ugly

A bad week for Aston Villa as they were knocked out of the FA Cup semi-final – that’s the second time they’ve lost at Wembley this spring – but manager Martin O’Neill was very upset with Chelsea captain John Terry’s tackle on England colleague James Milner. It was a nasty tackle and deserved a red card – very ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

at the summit: at the top, leaders of the league

leapfrog: go above in the league, pass, gain the lead over another team

extend (their) lead: increase a lead, make the gap between first and second wider

brilliance between the posts.: The keeper was excellent and made some great saves

awful: terrible, bad, embarrassing

come in for criticism: be criticised, have a complaint made against, be attacked (verbally)

talismanic figure: A key person – someone to rely on

have suffered a dip in form: The players are now not playing as well as before

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Leo Messi, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Lyon and Marseille all had good weeks but not so for Burnley or Sir Alex Ferguson. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good for the four teams who all made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. However, it was yet again a spectacular week for Argentinian superstar, Leo Messi. This time he scored all four goals against Arsenal to send his club Barcelona to the semi-finals of the Champions League where they will face Inter Milan in an intriguing tie. Described by Arsene Wenger as a ‘play station’ player, Messi scored a hat trick in 22 minutes before he added a fourth to leave him as Barcelona’s all-time Champions League scorer. He has now scored 39 goals this season and 24 in the last 28 games. Here are the goals.

While their rivals Bordeaux and Lyon were battling it out in the Champions league, Marseille took advantage and went top of League 1 with a clinical 3-0 victory over Sochaux. The win puts them two points ahead of nearest rivals Lyon, but the side from the south of France has a game in hand. It is still looking as though it’s going to be a cracking finale to the season in France with six teams still in with a shout.

The Bad

It’s always tough at the bottom of any league but things look bleak for English side Burnley after they lost 1-6 at home to a rampant Manchester City last weekend. The Clarets now lie three points adrift of safety and look almost certain to go down after only one season in the top flight. It also seems that new manager Brian Laws has already lost the dressing room and his short tenure which has seen only one win in thirteen games could be over very soon indeed.

We’re used to Alex Ferguson the Manchester United manager moaning about referees after losing games, but after United were dumped out of the Champions league last night in a thrilling game, his latest outburst takes the biscuit. The Bundesliga side, Bayern Munich, came back from being behind 3-0 on the night  to win 4-4 over the two legs on the away goal rule and gain some revenge for the extra-time loss in 1999 in the final of the same tournament. Fergie decided to slam Bayern Munich players for being ‘typical Germans’, referring to a second yellow card that meant that United youngster, Rafael, was given his marching orders early in the second half. The United boss was implying that the Bayern players had pressurised the ref into showing the card – even discounting the hypocrisy of the statement, it borders on the racist. Fergie would do well to learn when to shut up and take defeat on the chin.

Ugly

A premature end to the season for Hamburg forward Pablo Guerrero after he was suspended for throwing a water bottle at an irate fan recently. Though the Peruvian striker has apologised, he has received a five-match suspension and a 20.000 Euro fine meaning that his already injury-plagued season is now over. Pretty stupid actually.

Vocabulary

an intriguing tie: A very interesting game – few people can decide on a winner

clinical (victory): a win with no fuss, the winning team is always in control

a game in hand: an extra game, the team has played one less than its rivals, they have a chance to get more points

look bleak: Things look very bad (dark)

a rampant: Here it means that Manchester City were unstoppable, they continued to go forward at every chance they had

The Clarets: The nickname of Burnley

lie three points adrift of safety: The team are three points behind the next team in the league – to be adrift suggests floating far from safety

the top flight: The Premier League

lost the dressing room: The manager has lost the respect of the players

moan: to complain, to whinge, to grumble

short tenure: His time in charge is coming to an end

take the biscuit: the absolute limit, an extreme example, to be especially bad

given (your) marching orders: to be sent off, to receive a red card, to be dismissed

border on: be close to, to be near

an irate fan : A very angry supporter

A premature end: An earlier than expected ending

injury-plagued season : The player has not played so much due to injuries

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Bayern exact some revenge, Lyon win all-French affair, Portsmouth suffer again and Boca Juniors continue to struggle. These and many other stories all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly section from our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Wayne Rooney gets injured in the quarter final clash with German team Bayern Munich mid-week, and it looks like the England and United striker will be out for about four weeks with an ankle sprain. Rooney’s team lost 2-1 at Bayern and with his injury it may seem like bad news at first, but it will mean that the in-form forward will have a nice month break before the World Cup in June, which will surely be good news for England fans. He’ll come back rested, fit and hungry for more goals.

Bad for Rooney’s club Manchester United but good for Bayern Munich who came from behind to win 2-1 and in doing so have set up an exciting return leg next week. Good also for Lyon who won the all-French affair 3-1 against Bordeaux. It was a tale of domination not paying off in the other two games with Inter Milan outplaying CSKA Moscow but only scoring once while Barcelona gave Arsenal a lesson in how to keep the ball but failed to take full advantage and being pegged back to draw 2-2. Still all to play for in the second legs.

The Bad

Bad for Argentinian side Boca Juniors who return to losing ways and tumble down the table. After last week’s 2-0 win over River Plate everything seemed rosy for the Boca fans, until Chacarita Juniors, los funebreros (or the Undertakers), hammered them 4-1 to send them third from bottom. Chacarita Juniors, a newly promoted side, broke their four-game losing streak with this crushing win. That’s two wins in ten for Boca, a team far more used to dishing out hidings instead of being on the receiving end. Next up for the team from the east of Buenos Aires is Rosario Central from north of the capital, who are three points behind.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Premier League bottom club Portsmouth as they fell to yet another defeat – this time at Tottenham – to all but guarantee their relegation. To add to their woes, they lost two defenders to long-term injuries. Hreidarsson and Webber both face 6 months out of the game after the Icelandic international tore his achilles tendon, while Webber tore a cruciate ligament. Tough times indeed for Portsmouth.

The Ugly

Leeds striker, Tresor Kandol, received a straight red card after just 20 seconds in a Division 1 game in England.  That is the third fastest in league history but nowhere near as quick as the three second sending off of David Pratt in a non-league game in 2008. Norwich City midfielder Daryl Russell was the victim of Kandol’s angry attack and as it is Kandol’s second sending off this year he can expect a four match ban. An ugly incident which means that Leeds, for so long leaders of Division 1 may now lose an automatic promotion spot, especially if they continue their poor run of form, three defeats in the last three games.

Vocabulary

mid-week: the middle of the week, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday

sprain: an injury where a joint is twisted and the muscles or ligament is stretched

in-form: and adjective phrase meaning playing well

being pegged back: When the opposing side comes back to draw with you – ie winning 0-2 and then ending 2-2

tumble down the table: fall down the division, lose and drop down places in the league

rosy: happy, good, fine

losing streak: a run of loses, losing more than one match in a row (not getting good results)

fell to yet another defeat: To lose again

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

It’s been another good week for Barcelona and in particular their Argentinian star Leo Messi, my team Tottenham also had a good 7 days as they made it to the FA Cup semi-final. However, it has been a bad week for Celtic and Sevilla as they fired their managers for poor league performances. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Barcelona continue their impressive run of form with another victory to keep them in the race at the top of La Liga. This time they destroyed Zaragoza, or more accurately, Leo Messi destroyed them. He scored yet another hat-trick – his third of the season – to notch his 33rd goal of the campaign and all three goals were beauties.

Good for Mexican sides in the CONCACAF Champions League, as it will be an all Mexican affair in the semi finals after Pumas overturned a 2-0 first leg deficit by hammering Honduran Apertura champions, CD Marathón 6-1 in the return leg with striker, Ismael Íñiguez, finding the goal twice in the first half. The side from Mexico city will take on cross-town rivals, Cruz Azul over two legs in one of the semis, while Pachuca meet Toluca in the other: the games will be played later this month on the 30th and 31st and in April on the 6th and 7th.

The Bad

Bad for West Ham, the club from the Eastend of London, as they slump to another defeat – their fifth in a row. This time they were beaten by fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 at home. And despite the new owners, Sullivan and Gold, promising to support him, and the fact that everyone seems to love him, Gianfranco Zola’s job must be on the line. With only seven games to go for the Hammers he needs results fast. Next up is the west midlands side, Stoke City, in a crunch match that may go a long way in deciding the Italian manager’s fate and whether or not the London club will be playing in the Premier League next season.

Well, though Zola’s job is under threat then at least he still has one unlike Tony Mowbray who was fired by Celtic this week after a disastrous 4-0 defeat at St Mirren. Celtic lie 10 points behind arch-rivals Rangers and have performed poorly throughout the season both domestically and in Europe. Mowbray was well regarded in the game for his style of attacking play but it seemed that he had lost control of the dressing room and was forced out after only nine months at the helm of the famous Glasgow club.

The Ugly

Violence was simmering throughout the week in the football world as we move towards the end of the season. The managers of Manchester City and Everton, Roberto Mancini and David Moyes , squared up to each other after Mancini had bundled into Moyes in trying to recover the ball during their defeat to the Toffees last Wednesday. Mancini has since been charged but this was nowhere near as bad as when Brazilian police had to storm onto the pitch in a third division encounter after one of the home player’s refused to leave the pitch after receiving a red card. The police used pepper spray to clear the pitch and the games abandoned. Ugly scenes indeed.

Vocabulary

to notch: To score (add to his total)

all (Mexican) affair: used to indicate that only Mexican clubs will be competing/playing

cross-town rivals: a team from the same city or town: other examples include Arsenal and Tottenham in England and Boca Juniors and River Plate in Buenos Aires

slump: suffer a defeat, have a dip in form

crunch match (game/fixture): very important, vital

lost control of the dressing room: The players have lost respect for the manager

at the helm of : To be in charge of

was simmering: Bubbling; a lot of tension

squared up to each othe: Became angry at each other; about to start fighting (but not quite); posturing

the Toffees: Nickname of Everton FC

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A bad week for David Beckham and John Terry as they suffer injury and defeat respectively. Good however for Jose Mourinho, Leo Messi and Keisuke Honda as Inter, Barcelona and CSKA Moscow all progress to the last 8 of the Champions League. These stories and more in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

A good week for Inter Milan, Barcelona, CSKA Moscow and Bordeaux as they all qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals after impressive victories over Chelsea, Stuttgart, Sevilla and Olympiakos respectively. Few expected CSKA Moscow to beat Sevilla away from home, while few were surprised that Leo Messi was the inspiration for Barcelona yet again – he scored twice to bring his tally for the season to 32 – but the biggest performance of the night was Inter Milan’s victory in London against Chelsea. Former manager Jose Mourinho came back to haunt his old club as his current side dominated the Blues, with Dutchman Wesley Schneider in particular standing out. This win will have given the Italian side a huge confidence boost and after today’s draw for the quarter-finals they will be even more so as they face CSKA. Can this be the year that Inter finally become the best team in Europe again a mere 45 years after the last time?

The new J-League season in Japan has been underway for a few weeks now and newly promoted team Vegalta Sendai top the standings with two wins out of two. They have beaten Jubilo 1-0 away and, more convincingly, Omiya 3-1 at home. Next up for the team from the north of Japan is Kyoto, who haven’t got a win so far. It looks as though Sendai could continue their good start and hold on to top spot.

The Bad

A terrible week for Chelsea as their highly-paid squad was knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by former manager Jose Mourinho and his Inter team. Chelsea never really got going and were well beaten by the end of the game – by which time we had the familiar sights of Didier Drogba being red-carded and John Terry remonstrating with the referee. Rumours of a mass exodus of players (and possibly the coach!) at the end of the season appeared in the following day’s press. It will be interesting to see how the club reacts in the Premier League over the next few weeks.

We mentioned David Beckham last week in our bad section, and he’s here again. This time not because his team lost but because of an injury. It looks as though his dream of a fourth World Cup, and maybe even his career, is over after he tore his achilles tendon in AC Milan’s 1-0 win over Chievo in Serie A. The tear happened as the player was about to kick the ball unchallenged and was not the result of a tackle. The England midfielder has already undergone surgery in Finland and most experts believe it will take at least 5 or 6 months for Beckham to be fully fit. Spare a thought for the LA Galaxy, too, who look set to lose their biggest draw. Bad for Beckham, but he’ll still be in the news and limelight for some time to come.

The Ugly

Violence rears its ugly head in the Bundesliga as over a 100 Hertha Berlin supporters stormed the pitch after their teams loss 2-1 to Nurnberg. The fans wielded flag poles and bottles and they easily got past stewards to cause havoc in the stadium. Police finally restored order, but German football won’t want to see a repeat of those scenes. Expect Hertha to receive some heavy sanctions.

Vocabulary

tally : total, number (of goals)

came back to haunt his old club: To exact revenge against his former team

never really got going: The team did not play well from the start

a mass exodus of players: many players could be leaving the club

achilles tendon: A part at the back of the ankle

rears its ugly head: To appear (something that we do not want to appear)

wielded: To carry in an aggressive manner

to cause havoc : To cause chaos

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Lyon shock Madrid, Portsmouth make it to Wembley, FIFA turn down technology and Wayne Rooney keeps on scoring goals. These stories and more feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

A good week for Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Lyon and Arsenal as they all made it through to the last 8 of the Champions League. The two English clubs won easily – United thrashed AC Milan 4-0, while Arsenal hammered Porto 5-0. Bayern lost 3-2 at Fiorentina but won through on away goals while Lyon caused the shock of the round with their 1-1 draw in the Bernabeu to knock out Real Madrid.

Good news for Premier League strugglers Portsmouth, who progress to the semi-final stage of the FA Cup in England after beating Birmingham 2-0. The winners in 2008, they will face either Fulham or Tottenham. If it is the latter, they will face their old manager Harry Redknapp and a host of ex-players, too. The club from the south coast were of course forced into administration last week, and still face the likelihood of being docked nine-points, something which would almost certainly result in their relegation. The cup run is just what they need, both to lift their spirits and to help their bank balance. Although it has been reported that the English FA may withhold Portsmouth’s match fees because they owe other clubs for past transfers. Winning the cup usually means entry into the Europa league but that too looks unlikely given their financial situation. Still, everyone’s loves a good cup run.

The Bad

Nine-time winners of the Champions league, Real Madrid were dumped out of this year’s tournament after being held by French side Lyon at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium this week. This was the sixth year in a row that the Spanish side have failed to make it to the quarter-finals of the premier club competition in Europe. Already there is a huge amount of speculation over the future of coach Pelligrini while the Madrid press have also turned their ire on Brazilian star Kaka who has failed to reach the heights of when he was at Milan.

Bad for AC Milan’s David Beckham on his return to his former club, Manchester United. The LA Galaxy and Rossoneri midfielder had hoped to put in a winning performance in front of his old manager, Alex Ferguson, but didn’t make an appearance until the second half, and by that time his side were already 3-0 down and effectively out of the competition – they finally lost 4-0, 7-2 on aggregate. Beckham being Beckham though, he did manage to get himself in the limelight even after such a heavy defeat. After the final whistle he donned a green and yellow scarf – the colours represent the group of fans trying to get rid of the Manchester club’s owners, the Glazers. Anything for a photo opportunity!

The Ugly

FIFA’s decision to not use technology in the game and in particular goal line technology is ridiculous in my mind. Tennis, cricket, rugby and American football all benefit from having this form of technology to settle disputes within their respective sports yet football lags behind. While FIFA stressed that they did this in order to preserve the human decisions in the game surely it would be better for those decision makers, the referees, to have as much information as possible? Poor but unsurprising decision from FIFA.

Vocabulary

thrashed: To be heavily beaten (hammered)

hammered: To be heavily beaten (thrashed)

the Bernabeu: The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is the home ground of Real Madrid

were dumped out of : To be knocked out of a competition (in a bad way)

turned their ire: Became angry towards; looking for a scapegoat

lags behind: To be some way behind

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

French clubs in Europe, John Terry vs Wayne Bridge, Portsmouth’s troubles and Thai politicians lose out to female footballers. These stories and more feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

It’s been a good 10 days for French clubs in European competition as Lyon and Bordeaux scored impressive wins in the Champions League and Lille and Marseille made progress to the last 16 of the Europa League. We spoke about Lyon’s 1-0 defeat of Real Madrid in last week’s show and in this week’s set of Champions League games, top of the table Bordeaux won in Greece at Olympiakos. Laurent Blanc’s side look as if they will retain the French title this season so they can focus their efforts on a possible surprise Champions League cup run. Good for French clubs in Europe.

Good for women’s football in Thailand as the profile of the game is raised in a game featuring the Thai Cabinet and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in Bangkok last Sunday. The women’s team were convincing winners, putting seven goals past the politicians. Now, I’d like to see some other politicians running around the pitch helping spread the popularity of women’s football.

The Bad

It has been a very bad week for Chelsea both on and off the field. Their players have been warned about their off-the field behaviour after the scandals involving first, John Terry and then Ashley Cole. Cole, of course, is out for three months with an ankle injury and he was joined on the injury list by goalkeeper Petr Cech who could face up to a month out of the game. He was injured in the defeat by Inter Milan in the Champions League first leg and his replacement Hilario had a nightmare in the 2-4 home defeat by Manchester City this weekend. Not only did this game dent their title hopes they also had two players sent off – Ballack and Belletti. A bad week indeed for the Blues.

Bad in South America as another player is assaulted. Following the shooting in the head last month of Paraguayan striker Cabanas, and four months ago of former Argentinian defender, Caceres, this time another Argentinian player Neston Gaitan was attacked by two men, one with a broken jug, and was injured in the neck and back. The attack, which happened in a club in Iquitos, Peru, followed a dispute a week earlier when the player had defended his girlfriend who had been insulted by one of the attackers. Bad bordering on ugly.

Ugly

Speaking of ugly, Portsmouth have finally been placed into administration, that is they have been taken over by an external organisation to mange their financial affairs as they are so much in debt – thought to be around £70 million. The club will probably be docked 9 points which would almost certainly confirm their relegation from the Premier League this season. As if that wasn’t enough, the Premier League authorities this week discovered that their clubs have amassed more than half of the debt owed by all the clubs in Europe, which is a shocking state of affairs. The Premier League needs to act quickly or its ‘product’ will be damaged even further.

Vocabulary

scored impressive wins : Won well, comfortable won the match

made progress to: Qualified for the next round

injury list: A list of players who are unable to play due to being hurt

had a nightmare: To play really badly (To have a mare)

dent their title hopes: To damage a team’s chances of winning the championship

a dispute: An argument, a quarrel

be docked: To be penalised, to lose points

have amassed: Have gathered or collected

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Turkey’s new manager, Wayne Rooney, Sol Campbell, Chester City and another crazy idea from the Premier League all feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good news for Turkish football as they announced this week that Dutchman Guus Hiddink is to take over as head coach of the national side. Turkish football is in the doldrums after their dismal performance in the World Cup qualifiers which saw them finish in third place behind Spain and Bosnia. Turkey face a daunting task to qualify for the next major tournament – the European Championships of 2012 – as they will have to play against Germany and Austria but with the experienced Hiddink at the helm they will be feeling a little more confident.

Good for Wayne Rooney and maybe for England at the World Cup if he keeps fits and stays in form. The scouse striker scored twice at the San Siro in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over European aristocrats, AC Milan. Rooney is proving to be a real handful for defenders this season and it looks as though he has come into his own with the departure or Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Currently he is top scorer in the Premier League with 21 goals, comfortably clear of Drogba in second with 17. While Milan looked on top for most of the match and Manchester United were generally second best, Rooney proved the difference with his two clinical goals. The Red Devils, thanks to their stocky striker, look set to progress with this victory and three away goals.

The Bad

It was a bad night for the Arsenal defenders in their Champions League second round match against FC Porto last night as howlers from goalkeeper Fabianski and veteran defender Sol Campbell handed two soft goals to their Portuguese hosts. Manager Arsene Wenger was not happy with the decision – a surprise there then – but the Gunners had only themselves to blame. Bad defending indeed.


A lot of clubs are in financial trouble at the moment, but one could be finally about to exit the Football League structure for good. Chester City, founded in 1885, have slid into the non-league Blue Square Conference last year and because of debts of 7 million pounds were docked a whacking 25 points at the start of the season. Things have only got worse and last week Chester City players refused to board the bus to a game against Forest Green – they haven’t been paid for three months – and the club has been unable to pay police bills. They have been suspended from the Conference for a week, meaning they miss the derby match against Welsh neighbours Wrexham and  a game against Kidderminster Harriers. They are really hanging on by their fingernails, and It is make or break time for the Seals whose only hope is for a buyer to come in and pay off their unpaid tax bills and debt.

The Ugly

First it was a 39th game abroad and now the Premier League has come up with another daft idea. This time the fourth to seventh placed teams would have play-offs to decide who gets  the Champions League fourth spot. This is very similar to what happens in the lower divisions with promotions and has obvious appeal to TV broadcasters, advertisers and sponsors – who would be set to earn millions. But it would be another nail in the coffin for the national game, first in England and then who knows, if the idea spreads to other countries too. The Premier League would become a glorified qualification campaign for the real ’super’ league, which the Champions League is already threatening to become. Not to mention the fact there is no time to play these extra games in the all-year-round football schedule the modern game has become. Daft, but scarily it just might happen because too many people may make a lot of money. Daft and ugly.

Vocabulary

is in the doldrums: To be down, to be not doing very well

dismal performance: A poor display by a team, performed badly

face a daunting task: To have a difficult time, to play against tough teams

at the helm: To be in charge, to be the leader

scouse: coming from Liverpool, scouser, someone from Liverpool (also a kind of stew originating in Merseyside)

to come into (your) own: to mature, to develop well

stocky: short, solid, muscular

howlers : Big mistakes

soft goals: Bad goals to concede because of poor defending

to board (a bus): to get on

to hang on by (your) fingernails: to be in a desperate situation, to be on the edge of disaster. to not give up in a bad situation

daft: stupid, crazy

nail in the coffin: something that brings death/failure/loss closer

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The 2012 European Championship draw, possibility of a Premier League going bankrupt. There’s a silver lining to bad news in China, but violent deaths in Argentina and the UK also make the news. These stories and more feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

With 4 months to go before the World Cup in South Africa, the draw for the next European Championship took place in Warsaw last weekend to decide the 14 teams that will join co-hosts Poland and Ukraine in the summer of 2012. Yes, it is a long way off and anything can happen between now and then but there are some intriguing ties to be played. Defending champions Spain should comfortably overcome Scotland and the Czech Republic to qualify, while it should also be straightforward for England who need to get past Bulgaria and Switzerland. However, it does not look so easy for Germany who will have to beat Austria, Belgium and Turkey to make the finals. Perhaps the toughest group, though, involves Italy, Serbia and Slovenia – 3 teams taking part in this summer’s World Cup in Group C. Portugal and Denmark will battle it out in Group H, Croatia and Greece will do the same in Group F while it should be between France and Romania in Group D. Group B sees Ireland drawn against Slovakia and Russia – certainly not the easiest but there is a sense that it is definitely doable. Here we go again!

Good for China as they sweep past defending champions South Korea 3-0 in the East Asian Football Championship held this year in Tokyo (see the goals here). Their opening match was a draw against hosts Japan, and with one game to play against Hong Kong, the Chinese will be confident they can lift the trophy this weekend. The win was also their first over their neighbours. They will have to hold their breath and hope Japan don’t also beat the South Korean side by a large margin in the last game of the tournament on Sunday, but as Japan and Korea are the fiercest of rivals it’s hard to see that happening. Good news for Chinese football that has had some rocky times this year with scandals in the domestic game.

The Bad

And those scandals in China are still having repercussions which meant it was bad for the fans of China as the state TV channel CCTV cancelled showing the match with Japan and also hadn’t scheduled to show the games against South Korea and Hong Kong either. No explanation was given for the decision but match-fixing scandals, fighting on the pitch in the domestic game and other problems are thought to have persuaded the broadcaster to pull the programme – something that they have done before.

It has been a tough season for Portsmouth as they languish at the foot of the table with only 4 victories so far. Financially they are also in a mess with debts spiralling out of control and facing a winding up order from the UK Inland Revenue this week. The club has been given a reprieve of a week to find the £11 million that they owe the state but there is a real threat that the club could go out of existence which would affect the players, the staff, the supporters and the town, as well as the whole Premier League.

The Ugly

Unfortunately there were two football-related deaths over the weekend. First up, the Reuters news agency reported that a young Argentinian fan was shot and subsequently died as he returned home to Rosario after watching his side play against Huracan in the clausura championship. It has been suggested that the shooting may have been carried out by members of a local football gang in Buenos Aires. The other death occurred at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke when a Blackburn fan died after being hit with a bin.

Vocabulary

sweep past: easily beat, win comfortably

hold (your) breath: wait nervously for something, have your fingers crossed

a large margin: a big score, by several goals

hard to see (something) happening: unlikely, difficult to believe

repercussions: fallout, results, affects

to pull a programme: to cancel, to not show, to not air

languish at the foot of the table: be at the bottom of the league with very little hope of improvement, seem destined to stay at the bottom

to spiral out of control: to become more and more chaotic, to have more and more problems

winding up order: a legal requirement to stop doing business, to be forced to sell the club

The Inland Revenue: the tax department of the UK government

clausura: The second of two championships played in Argentina

Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

News from a top-of-the-table clash in the Premier League, the Africa Cup of Nations, an old footballing rivalry that has flared into life again over recent years, plus a shocking decision from one of the World’s footballing confederations. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Congratulations to Egypt who won their third Africa Cup of Nations in a row – the first country to ever achieve this feat and which means that they get to keep the trophy. The Pharoahs have not lost in 19 Africa Cup of Nations matches which is a record, they won all 6 of their matches in Angola this time round including a fantastic victory over the Ivory Coast, scored more goals than anyone else, beat their fierce rivals Algeria in the semi-finals and had the tournament’s leading scorer in Gedo. I wonder would they have swapped it all for a place in the World Cup this summer?

Good again for Manchester United who steamrollered Arsenal in the ‘Super Sunday’ fixture last weekend in the English Premier League. It was far from ’super’ for Arsenal, but the Reds will be enjoying their visit to London and the vital three points they took back to the North West of England, particularly as Chelsea could only manage a draw at Hull, leaving last year’s Champions, United, only two points behind. Nani seems to be fulfilling his potential, Rooney continues his fantastic scoring run, netting again in the 3-1 win (see the goals here) to mark his 100th Premier League goal. Smiles all round at Old Trafford and I wouldn’t like to be a Portsmouth fan this weekend as their club, rooted at the bottom of the division, visit United who look in scorching form with 16 goals in their last 5 matches.

The Bad

I suppose this is bad, but it’s also great entertainment. The East Midlands derby between Derby County, 18th in the second tier of English football, and Nottingham Forest, the form team coming into the game, and 2nd in the league , again proved to be a spite-filled affair. The last game between these clubs, ended in both teams being fined for trouble which flared after Nathan Tyson, who scored Forest’s winner that day, waved a corner flag in front of the Derby fans, sparking a confrontation between players and coaches. This game also ended in chaos, after Derby’s Jay McEveley refused to hand the ball back for a Forest throw in, trying to run down the clock – Derby were leading 1-0 with minutes to go. Players, coaching staff and managers were then involved in a bit of argy-bargy – and Billy Davies, Nottingham Forest’s coach has accused Derby’s manager, Nigel Clough of kneeing him in the back during pushing and shoving. Both clubs have been charged by the FA and it looks as though this English derby is going to get more bitter with each game.

It has been a bad week for England and Chelsea captain John Terry who, after the allegations about his personal life were revealed in the UK press at the weekend, has become a victim of the boo boys at any away ground he plays at. How strange it must be for foreign football fans to see the captain of the national side being taunted and jeered whenever he plays. Then again, it must seem pretty weird to see the obsession that the tabloid press have with stories such as these – it’s not as if there has been a dearth of newsworthy stories in the country this week.

The Ugly

Adebayor angry at ban

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has banned Togo from the next two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Remember, the Togolese bus came under attack from separatists in the Kabinda region of Angola during this year’s competition killing three and injuring several others. The team pulled out of the competition – and that’s where it should have ended – a tragic event that shocked the football world. But no, now they are banned from taking part in the continent’s premier event by CAF. Crazy, insensitive and unjustified.

Vocabulary

achieve this feat: To accomplish something important (To win the competition three times in a row)

The Pharoahs: The nickname of the Egyptian football team

to steamroller: to crush, to beat, to hammer, to thrash

vital: very important, crucial, necessary for life

to fulfill potential: to perform to your level, to do what you are capable of, to live up to expectations

to net: to score

form team: a team with a good recent record of wins, a team on a roll

(trouble) flare: start, break out

to spark a confrontation: to start a argument/fight/stand off

argy-bargy (sometimes argey-bargey): a fight (mainly pushing and shoving), a physical confrontation, an ugly dispute

a dearth of To be lacking in something, not having enough of something

to ban: to not allow something, to prevent from playing

to pull out (of): to quit, to leave a competition

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Wayne Rooney, revenge for Egypt and Manchester United fans all feature in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

It has been a very good week for Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney. First up he scored all four goals in Manchester United’s demolition of relegation candidates Hull City to take his season’s tally to 19. He then capped off a special week by scoring the late winner in the Carling Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Manchester City last Wednesday. Next up for Rooney is a trip to the Emirates to face title rivals Arsenal.

Good for Egypt as they overcame Cameroon in the quarter finals of the African Cup of Nations in an incident-packed match. Most of the action centred around their captain Ahmed Hassan, who scored an own goal and two more goals, this time at the other end, to claw the Pharoes back into the game. His first goal forced extra time and his second, and Egypt’s third, appeared not to cross the line but was given. The win over many pundits ‘ pre-tournament favourites sets up a mouth-watering clash with bitter rivals Algeria in the semis.

The Bad

And it is that semi-final game where my bad football story of the week can be found. The rivalry between Algeria and Egypt has been well-documented but the behaviour of the Algerians during their 0-4 defeat against their neighbours was appalling with some dreadful tackles and poor discipline throughout. One tackle in particular from Portsmouth player Belhadji almost broke an opponent’s leg. A shocking end to a lacklustre tournament for the Desert Foxes.

Relationships between the Aston Villa coach, Martin O’Neill, and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger are pretty bad after Wenger accused Villa of playing a long ball game in their 0-0 draw away to the Midlands side. O’Neill was furious believing that Wenger was insulting his team’s style of play. The two also had a run-in last season and had to be separated from each other on the touchline when Arsenal visited Villa Park – that time Wenger was unhappy with the refereeing decisions saying the Villa players were pressurising the officials. The Northern Irishman, O’Neill, hit back at the latest comments saying, “Ashley Young didn’t have time to play long balls when he was taking that left-back [Gaël Clichy] to the cleaners. It’s an ­appalling insult.” The slanging match was bad enough, but it was even worse for Arsenal who saw two players injured  – Thomas Vermaelen with a suspected fracture of the leg and Eduardo da Silva with a hamstring injury – before a big clash with Manchester United this week.

The Ugly

In last week’s podcast we talked about the possibility of fan violence in the return leg of the Carling Cup semi-final between the two Manchester clubs and though there were no cases of any fighting there was a nasty incident when a coin hit Manchester City star Craig Bellamy. The ‘fan’ in question has been arrested and faces a lifetime ban but I wonder will Manchester United face any charges?

Vocabulary

demolition: Thrashing, heavy defeat

tally: Amount, number

capped off: Finished off (in a positive way)

arch-rivals: Strongest or closest rivals – the team you really want to beat

Emirates: the home stadium of Arsenal

to claw the Pharoes back into the game: To allow the Egyptians a chance to recover in the match

a mouth-watering clash : A ‘tasty’ game, a match that everyone wants to watch

well documented: written about a lot in the press, talked about a lot in the media

appalling: terrible, shocking, dreadful

furious: very angry

slanging match: Shouting or arguing with another person

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Report

Arsenal go top, The Carling Cup semi-finals, the Manchester rivalry heats up and a possible Africa Cup of Nations fix all feature in this week’s review of the football world in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good for Arsenal in the Premier League who take over the number one spot in the top division in England after being written off early on in the season. Despite being criticised for not spending big money on big names in pre-season and the January transfer window – so far at least – Arsene Wenger has steered the London club quietly upwards. The Gunners haven’t lost since a 3-0 defeat by Chelsea in November 2009 and the recent back-to-back wins over Bolton have put them firmly back in the title race.

The much-maligned Carling Cup competition, the third domestic trophy in England, received a massive boost this week with two spectacular games taking place. First up Manchester City beat rivals Manchester United 2-1 in the first leg tie in an explosive game of football but that was nothing compared to the 6-4 victory by Aston Villa against Blackburn in the other semi-final. Villa have made the final where they await one of the teams from Manchester.

The Bad

Naughty, as Gary Neville, Mr Manchester United, flips the finger to Tevez after the ex-United player scores for Manchester City in the Carling Cup semi-final clash. This was a reaction to the Argentinian’s gesture telling the Manchester United bench, and Neville and Ferguson to stop bad-mouthing him. The bad blood between Tevez and United, which started soon after his move across town to Manchester City and the famous poster of Tevez and Welcome to Manchester, shows no sign of abating in fact, Tevez has called Gary Neville a ‘boot-licking moron’. It isn’t just the players either as there were also reports that some Manchester United fans were stopped from entering Eastlands ground after golf balls and darts were found in their pockets. It should be an interesting second leg at Old Trafford.

We have previously featured corruption in Chinese football but it has usually involved club sides. However, news emerging this week of three officials from the Chinese Football Federation being arrested suggests that match-fixing is rife throughout the league system. These are troubled times for football in China with ESPN reporting that 20 payers, managers and officials have been arrested for similar offences in recent months.

The Ugly

In the African Cup of Nations Angola and Algeria played out a 0-0 draw – a result that suited both teams and saw them through to the quarter finals. Unfortunately this meant that Mali, 3-1 winners over Malawi, failed to qualify. Mali were left fuming as they believed it was a fix. and it certainly looks as though Algeria, as well as Angola, were happy to play for a draw. This despite the fact that the Algerians were the victims of a similar situation in the 1982 World Cup, when West Germany and Austria were also accused of fixing a match and playing for a 1-0 scoreline – eliminating Algeria from the competition. Realpolitik perhaps, but not very pretty from Algeria and Angola.

Vocabulary

being written off: When many people feel a team has no chance at all

transfer window: The time to buy players – this occurs twice a year.

steered: To manage or direct a team

much-maligned: When many people criticise something over a long time, not liked by many people

bad-mouthing: To speak badly of someone

shows no sign of abating: The pressure does not look like it will ever stop, being reduced, to die down

Eastlands: The home stadium of Manchester City

second leg: The second game of a two-tie match

match-fixing: To decide the game’s result before the match takes place – corruption

rife: Extremely common

fuming: To be extremely angry

eliminating Algeria from: To knock Algeria out of a tournament

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Report

The Africa Cup of Nations, the FA Cup and the King’s Cup in Spain all feature in this week’s review of the football world in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Good for Sevilla as they held on to knock out defending champions Barcelona from the Copa del Rey – the Spanish version of the English FA Cup – this week despite losing the return leg at home. The team from Andalucia lost 0-1 but after their 2-1 away victory in the first leg they progressed to the next round on away goals. This was the first time that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has tasted defeat in a cup competition after a spectacualr first season in charge saw his side win 6 trophies. However, Barcelona have a chance of revenge this weekend when they play Sevilla again, this team in the league.

Another continent, another competition, and another good result. This time for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations. They shook off the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup by kicking off their campaign to retain their title with a 3-1 victory over one of the tournaments stronger teams, and rivals in their group, Nigeria. The Egyptian side were impressive in this come-from-behind victory and even at this early stage must be seen as one of the favourites.

The Bad

It has been a bad week for World Cup qualifiers Algeria as they lost their opening match in the Africa Cup of Nations to Malawi 0-3 and then their star midfielder, Khalid Lemmouchia has left the camp after it was reported that he had allegedly been involved in a fight with the Algerian coach Rabah Saadane.Though the mood in the camp has improved somewhat after the 1-0 victory over Mali there are reports of major unrest among the players and of course they still need to beat hosts Angola in order progress to the knock-out stages. Tough times for England’s World Cup opponents.

Well, Barcelona were knocked out of the Kings Cup in Spain, but that result was not as bad as Liverpool’s against Reading in the Third Round of the FA Cup. Liverpool have trouble off the pitch in the directors’ box as well as problems on it with mounting criticism of Benitez’s ability to motivate his side. The last thing they wanted was to be dumped out of the FA cup by a team struggling in the second tier of English football. In truth, Reading didn’t have to do much to beat an insipid, timid, Liverpool side devoid of ideas. Bad. I wonder if the manager, Rafa, will be around to watch the FA Cup final in May.

The Ugly

Of course the Africa Cup of Nations has been overshadowed by the attack on the Togo football team last Friday which resulted in three deaths but the aftermath has been somewhat ugly. Few would have disagreed with the Togolese players’ decision to pull out of the tournament but 24 hours later they decided they would stay and honour their fallen colleagues. This decision was then overturned by the country’s leader who sent a plane to take them home where three days of mourning had been declared. The CAF, the African football Federation, then disqualified the country from the tournament for not fulfilling their fixture, thus ruining any possibility of the Togolese returning after the period of mourning was over. Insensitive to say the least. Every effort should have been made to allow the Togolese players to come and play in this tournament but instead they seem to have been caught in a game of political football.

Vocabulary

to hold on: to keep your winning position, to defend your lead

return leg: the second match in a two-leg tie (leg = game, match)

on away goals: usually scoring a goal at another team’s ground is more difficult than at the home ground, so away goals are more valuable in two-leg ties

shook off: recovered from, ignored

to retain: to keep

allegedly: supposedly, according to reports, we do not know if it is fact, rumour

major unrest: serious feeling of discontent, unhappiness, big complaints

mounting: growing, increasing

come from behind victory: winning from a losing position, winning even though the other team scores first

be dumped out: be knocked out of a compitition

insipid: weak, sleepy, lacking energy

devoid of: totally lacking, having no ~

the aftermath: What comes after something

fallen colleagues: Those who have died

mourning: A time to pay respects to those who have died

Subscribe: Main Report

Possible crisis at Manchester United, the demise of the FA Cup and poor tackles all feature in this week’s review of the football world in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Leeds striker - Beckford

Good for Leeds United and Leeds’ striker Jermaine Beckford. The Division 1 side, that’s the third tier of football in England, beat English Champions Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup 1-0 away. The Yorkshire side brought back the old glory days when they were a force in the Premier League and outplayed a poor Manchester side. They now get a tie in London against Premier league high-fliers Tottenham. It was Jermaine Beckford’s goal which secured the win for Leeds, but his positive and powerful display up front has attracted the interest of some bigger clubs including Championship leaders Newcastle, so he could be in for a move onward and upward in the transfer window.

It’s been a better week for Premier League side Bolton Wanderers as they announce the appointment of a new manager by poaching Owen Coyle from their local rivals Burnley. Coyle is highly-regarded by many in the game and though others feel this is a sideways step in that both clubs are currently involved in a relegation battle Bolton are a bigger club than their neighbours and may have made the right move to keep them up come the end of the season.

The Bad

Well, apart from that Leeds victory, the FA Cup 3rd Round was pretty much a damp squib as hardly any giant killing went on and worse than that hardly anyone turned up to see the games. A paltry 5.000 watched two Premier League sides, Wigan and Hull, play while only 12.000 watched Middlesbrough from the Championship lose at home to high-flying Manchester City, while not even the fact that it was a London derby could fill West Ham’s Upton Park. Clubs don’t care, the major satellite channels don’t care, managers don’t care and now it’s the fans’ turn. Has the romance gone out of the Cup?

On his way out?

It’s bad enough being knocked out of the FA Cup third round for the first time in your career but Fergie of Manchester United is now reported to be in a dispute with his star central defender Nemanja Vidic. Reports suggest that the Manchester United manager is not convinced that Vidic was really unfit when he pulled out of last weekends FA Cup game, and instead the Serbian international feigned injury. This only adds credibility to rumours linking Vidic with a move to Spain’s La Liga, with both Real Madrid and Barcelona said to be interested. Bad for Fergie and his already injury hit defensive line.

The Ugly

When you play for  Barcelona, a team many think of as the best  in the World – 6 titles in 2009 remember, with a clean-cut image, no corporate sponsorship for them just UNICEF, you might expect to feel pressure to play in such a way as to inspire young players, to set an example to those footballers around the world who tune in to watch some of the best players in the world play football how it should be played. What you don’t do is  to make deliberate, blatant tackles that could seriously injure the opponent in a run-of-the-mill league game. Now, we don’t know what might have riled Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but there was no excuse for his two-footed lunge and stamp on Villarreal player, Godin. Ugly, and he deserves a lengthy ban.

Vocabulary

tier: level, rank, division

to be a force: be strong, be a prominent side, be involved in titles and competitions

high-fliers: successful team, team near the top of the league, currently doing well

to move onward and upward: have more success, improve your career, get a better job or situation

poaching: Stealing someone away from another job

a relegation battle: To be involved with other teams in a struggle to stay in the division

a damp squib: Not exciting at all despite the build up or anticipation

A paltry:: Not many at all, few

dispute: argument, disagreement

to pull out: to withdraw from a team, to not play

to feign: to pretend, to fake, to play act

clean-cut: honest looking, respectable, clean living

blatant: obvious, clear to see, showing, shameless

to rile: to make angry, to annoy

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Report

Fernando Torres, Roberto Mancini, Bolton Wanderers and the African Cup of Nations all feature in this week’s review of the football world in the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

What a breath of fresh air. Although the sacking of Mark Hughes was a shambles isn’t it great to hear new-boss Roberto Mancini saying his side, Manchester City, can win the title this year! Hubris of the newcomer? Who cares. Two wins, home and away, no goals conceded – all is well at Eastlands. His relaxed demeanor in the dugout and in interviews seems to have instilled his players with a will to win. It will all go horribly wrong – there are echoes of when Sven started at Man City here – but isn’t it great to see a team playing without fear. I love the scarf too.

Indeed, now I am going to focus on Liverpool for my good and in particular Fernando Torres the team’s number 9 who in scoring the winning goal against Aston Villa on Tuesday became the fastest ever striker to score 50 goals for the club. He did so in only 72 games which is very impressive when you think he beat former Reds’ heroes such as Kenny Dalglish, John Aldridge, Kevin Keegan and Ian Rush in reaching that number. So, well done to Fernando Torres.

Bad

Premier League side Bolton Wanderers have sacked manager Gary Megson after only 26 months in charge of the Premier League club. Megson was never really accepted by the home fans despite the fact that he saved them from relegation in his first year and then kept the club up again last year. The team were on a four-game unbeaten run but the club decided they needed a change. Another example of short-termism in football. What about Damon’s bad for the week?

Nearly time for the African Cup of Nations and the bi-annual moan from Premier League managers that they’re going to have to play for up to a month without their key African players. That whingeing is bad enough, and while there should be no complaint that African players play in their continent’s premier competition, it is a shame that they are going to miss the FA Cup third round – the classic cup competition. While they might not miss a trip to Non-League club Barrow, or League Two side Torquay for example, I’m sure fans of those clubs would have loved to see these world class players against their teams – Essien, Yobo, Toure, Kanu, Eboue, Drogba, Song, Kalou. A shame, but here’s hoping the managers, UEFA and FIFA representatives stop moaning, and all the African players that ply their trade in Europe and elsewhere have a great competition in Angola!

Ugly

Yes, we’ll be featuring that tournament in a future show, of course the African Cup of Nations taking place in Angola. Now for my ugly I am returning to Premier League side Portsmouth. The team from the south coast of England lost two matches over the Christmas period to leave them rooted to the foot of the table but its their financial woes that are causing more controversy. First of all, the players have not been paid this month and are still unclear about when they will receive their salary. The club have also received a winding up petition from the inland revenue which means that they have not paid their tax bill and they could go out of business. This of course would be ugly for the club but also for the Premier League.

Vocabulary

a shambles: A mess, no organisation

Hubris:Excessive pride

no goals conceded:Not allowed any goals in

Eastlands:The home stadium of Manchester City

dugout:Where the managers sit during the game

Sven:Sven Goran Eriksson the former Manchester City manager

kept the club up:Saved the team, prevented them from going down a division

short-termism:No long-term plan, only worried on the short term

bi-annual:Every two years

whingeing:Complaining

Non-League club:A team not in the top 4 divisions in England (probably semi-professional)

ply their trade:To work (to play football)

rooted to the foot of the table:Stuck to the bottom of the league

financial woes:Money problems

a winding up petition:A document warning a business that it may have to stop trading

the inland revenue:The UK Tax Office

Subscribe: Main Report

The Premier League form book torn up, possibly the best team in the World – ever! Big teams going through sticky patches and a greedy footballer all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Spurs continue their good form

What has happened to the Premier League? Chelsea and Manchester United are still everyone’s favourites to battle it out for the title come May but they are both stuttering big time. Man Utd have lost two games out of three, includinga  3-0 loss at Fulham, while Chelsea have only won once since demolishing Arsenal 5 games ago. Arsenal in turn have hit form and are now playing with confidence again and with a game in hand they are threatening the leaders. Just behind them are Aston Villa who have just won three games on the trot to put them into fourth place within striking distance, and even Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool cannot be ruled out. Exciting times in the Premier League.

A special week for La Liga side Barcelona as they are acclaimed as the best team in the world after their 2-1 extra-time victory over Argentinian side Estudiantes last week. After Pedro had equalised in the last minutes of normal time, Leo Messi scored the winning goal and then yesterday he picked up the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Best team of the year? Without a doubt, best team ever? Well, they won every trophy that they entered – 6 in all – which when we see clubs fielding weakened sides in lesser competitions shows not only skill and determination but a desire to win and a strength in depth like no other team in the world. They lead the Spanish League at the half-way mark and are still one of the favourites to win the Champions League – how they would love to win it in Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium in May. Fantastic stuff from Barcelona – team of the year.

The Bad

It has been a bad couple of months for Juventus as their good start to the Serie A campaign has all but been forgotten. Two weeks ago they crashed out of the Champions League after being thrashed by Bayern Munich 1-4 at home and now another home defeat – this time against the bottom club Catania meant that there is pressure on the players by the fans and on the manager Ferrara from everyone. Troubled times indeed for the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football.

Liverpool’s manager Rafa Benitez seems to have lost the plot after a dismal performance by his side Liverpool against bottom of the table Portsmouth last weekend. In response to questions about the referee’s game he simply answered that he had been ‘perfect’ over and over again – bitter sarcasm from the Spaniard. The Reds had Javier Mascherano sent off and he could miss up to four matches as this was his second red card of the season. Things are not going well at all for the Red half of Merseyside. But at least Benitez still has a job, for now. Not so Mark Hughes of Manchester City who was sacked after the whistle sounded in the game against Sunderland, which his side won 4-3. While there’s nothing wrong or strange about teams lining up replacements before they get rid of a manager, Mancehster City’s board managed to make the  sacking appear sneaky and unfair. Pretty bad.

The Embarassing

Poor John Terry. First his mum’s in the news for shoplifting, then his dad for selling drugs, but now he’s the one making news for the wrong reasons. The Cheslea defender was set up in a sting by the newspaper the News of the Wolrd. Terry is alleged to have taken 10,000 pounds in cash to give the reporters, acting as businessmen, a guided tour of the Chelsea ground. John Terry insists the money was for charity and he took none, but the episode is highly embarrassing for the England and Chelsea captain. Hardly squeaky clean.

Vocabulary

stutter: stumble, falter, hit bad form

hit form: start winning games, start playing well

a game in hand: have an extra game to play compared to your rivals

on the trot: in a row, one after the other, in succession

be ruled out: dismiss, ignore, exclude, don’t consider

be acclaimed as: be celebrated as, be announced as, be thought of as

crash out of: lose and fail in a competition

lose the plot: lose control, have no idea, be confused

sneaky: secretive, unfair, cheating

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: Main Report

Aston Villa, football blogs, Chinese scandals and weakened Wolves all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

It’s been a good week for English side Aston Villa as they record back-to-back away victories to move into third place in the Premier League. First of all they defeated champions Manchester United away at Old Trafford – that was the first time in 26 years they had managed to do that – thanks to a goal from England starlet Gabriel Agbonlahor. They followed that up with a convincing 2-0 victory at Sunderland on Tuesday to move into third place in the league. Could this be the year that Villa break into the top four?

Good to see a footballer showing another side to his life. Any football fan should go and check out Darius Vassell’s blog about his life in Turkey. The  ex-Villa, Manchester City and England striker, now playing for Ankaragücü in Turkey, started writing a blog last month and it’s a fascinating insight into what it’s like to move to another country to play football. It’s really worth the read. Latest blog – Darius looks like he’ll take the plunge and try and learn Turkish!

Bad

English Premier League side West Ham United are going through troubled times both on and off the pitch with the side languishing near the bottom of the table and their finances are in disarray. A further setback came this week when England striker Dean Ashton announced his retirement from the game due to injury. Ashton is only 26 and this is a huge blow for both the club and the player.

Chengdu Blades’ President Xu Hongtao has been accused of bribing Qingdao boss Liu Hongwei in 2007 to help the Chengdu side gain promotion to the Chinese Super League. The Chengdu side were bought by English Championship side Sheffield United in 2006 and face the possibility of relegation and a large fine as punishment as Chinese authorities attempt to clean up the sport’s image.

Ugly

Manchester United bounced back after that shock home defeat against Villa by thrashing Wolves 3-0 in a Premier League match earlier this week. Wolves made ten changes from the team that had beaten Spurs the previous Saturday as their manager Mick McCarthy felt his side needed more recovery time to face Burnley this weekend – a game he feels his team have more of a chance of winning. Managers from other Premier League sides complained that this act had given Manchester United an unfair advantage – an easy, uncontested three points. The 3.000 Wolves fans who travelled to the game must also have felt extremely let down. The Premier League do have a rule whereby a team must select its strongest line up for every game but yet again this will not be enforced meaning that this practice will continue to happen leaving supporters frustrated time and time again.

Vocabulary

England starlet: Young England international

he’ll take the plunge: Finally decide to do something after thinking about it for a long time.

A further setback: Another problem; some more trouble

finances are in disarray: The club has many financial problems; they are in a mess

a huge blow: A very big disappointment

has been accused of bribing: The club tried to give money to another club to influence the match result but they were caught

gain promotion to: To move up a division

relegation: To move down a division

thrashing: Beaten heavily, losing a game by a large score

uncontested: Not having or facing a strong opponent

The title is decided in Brazil and Japan, red cards and fighting, Champions League news and trouble in The Europa League all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

A third championship on the trot for Kashima in Japan. The team from Ibaraki, just north of Tokyo, sealed the crown with a one-nil victory over big rivals Urawa, which must have made the victory very sweet indeed. Kashima, despite a few wobbles towards the end of the season always looked the strongest team in the J-League and they reinforce their position as the most successful side since the J-League started in 1993. They now have won the title seven times and the Emperor’s Cup three times. Congratulations Kashima.

Congratulations also to Flamengo who won one of the tightest Brazilian championship races ever last weekend after beating Gremio 2-1 before 80.000 fans in the Maracana Stadium. This was the first time that the most popular club in Brazil had won the championship in 17 years and was the team’s 5th success overall and much of this success was down to a return to form of Brazilian striker Adriano who finished the season joint-top scorer with 19 goals.

Bad

Cristiano is red carded

Cristiano Ronaldo receives a  red card after picking up two needless yellow cards in Real Madrid’s game against Almeria. The Madrid side won 4-2 and Cristiano played well and scored but spoilt the performance by: not celebrating a goal scored by his team-mate, Benzema, after the Portuguese striker had missed a penalty; getting a yellow card for taking his shirt off; and getting another yellow – and therefore a red – for a series of petulant tackles. Great player, bad temperament.

Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic

Juventus, The Old Lady, one of Italy’s powerhouse clubs joins Liverpool in the Europa League after being dumped out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich, who have hit a rich vein of form, 1-4. Despite taking the lead at home, Juve were crushed by a superb second half display by the Germans. Very bad for the Italians and also for Wolsburg who could have gone through with a victory over a depleted Manchester United team, but who were thumped 1-3 at home by the English side. – all three goals coming from the boot of Michael Owen.

Ugly

Very ugly scenes at last week’s Europa League game between Vienna and Athletic Bilbao. Home fans taunted the Spanish team, which is from the Basque region of Spain, with banners saying ‘Viva Franco’ – Franco of course was the military dictator of Spain from 1939~1973 and was responsible for repressing the Basque people, even banning their language. Flares and other objects were also thrown onto the pitch. Despite the game being suspended for long periods of time, the Basque side won 3-0 and let’s hope we won’t be seeing Vienna again anytime soon.

Some ugly scenes in the tunnel after the Premier League match between Hearts and Hamilton. The game itself had been a tense affair with two players sent off but this tension spilled over into the tunnel after the game, resulting in the local police having to step in to prevent any more trouble. Another 3 players received red cards as well as the Hearts masseur making it an ugly afternoon for Scotish football.

You can see the brawl here if you are in the UK.

Vocabulary

on the trot : Consecutively; one after the other

sealed the crown: Won the title

a few wobbles: Not always perfect, some weaknesses

tight (race/game): close, competitive

petulant: childish, bad-tempered

be dumped out of: be beaten and knocked out of a competition – usually losing badly

hit a rich vein of form: start a good run of winning games / scoring lots of goals / playing very well

depleted: weakened, have many players out injured

be taunted: be provoked, be insulted, be goaded

in the tunnel: The place where the players enetr onto the pitch and return to the dressing room.

spilled over: To continue on (after the whistle)

Leo Messi, Irish football, Arsene Wenger and Mark Hughes all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly section of the podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

It’s great for football fans as the countdown to the World Cup in South Africa well and truly begins after the draw that took place earlier today in Cape Town. Some mouth-watering ties await us indeed: England vs USA; Argentina vs Nigeria; Netherlands vs Japan and all the games in the groups of death involving Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana in group D and Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast in Group G.

Good for Lionel Messi as he romps to this year’s Ballon D’Or win, the first Argentinian to do so. In the process, he pushes Cristiano Ronaldo into a distant second – and that’s how it finished on the pitch last weekend with Messi’s Barcelona overcoming Real Madrid 1-0 and overshadowing the return of Cristiano. They also go top of La Liga. So good for the Catalan side too. Talking about going top, Chelsea stay top in emphatic style in a Premier League London derby as they take apart rivals Arsenal in the Gunner’s own backyard 3-0 with a brace from Didier Drogba, who according to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger didn’t have much affect on the game!

The Bad

The fall out from the France-Ireland World cup qualifier continues, with FIFA this week turning down the Republic’s request to play in the World Cup as an extra side – the 33rd team. This desperate plea to play in next year’s tournament is rather embarrassing as most football fans from Ireland understand that in football these things happen – the very strange penalty that was awarded in our favour against Georgia for example in an earlier round. This request follows on from other attempts to get the Irish into South Africa by any means, ranging from calls for a lifetime ban for Thierry Henry, facebook groups set up to ask for a re-match, the Irish Justice Minister demanding … justice and a protest march to the French Embassy in Dublin by nearly 200 people last week. That’s 200. All of which is really quite ridiculous indeed.

Sour grapes from Arsene Wenger after his side were beaten by Mark Hughes’ Manchester City 3-0 in a Carling Cup quarter final. The Arsenal manager walked to the dressing rooms without shaking hands with his opposite number – a usual courtesy and not doing so is regarded as a snub. The loss rounded off a bad week for Arsenal – as we’ve already mentioned they also were beaten by Chelsea, again 3-0.

The Ugly

Racism reared its ugly head yet again on Sunday – this time from Italy’s Serie A when Cagliari fans abused Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko. They were fined the frankly ridiculous sum of £9.000 which does very little to deter clubs from preventing this type of action to stop. Juventus were fined for their fans’ racist behaviour last season against inter Milan’s Balotelli so it will be interesting to see how they react when they come against the Inter striker again this weekend.

It’s not just in Italy either as it transpires that Sunderland striker Darren Bent’s mother was racially abused by one of his own supporters after a defeat by Wigan. The fan in question has subsequently been arrested. Racism in football – very ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

mouth-watering ties: A game that everyone is waiting for

the group of death: The strongest group in the tournament

romps: To beat easily (to romp home is sometimes used to describe an easy victory)

in emphatic style: In a clear manner; an easy victory

own backyard: The home ground of a team (here it refers to The Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal)

a brace: Two goals

The fall out: The problems after the event

desperate plea: A very strong request – almost begging (pleading)

was awarded: A penalty was given (granted)

sour grapes: feeling bitter / angry especially after losing a game

opposite number: someone who has the same position in another team or organisation – in this case, the other team’s manager

to snub: to ignore rudely, act in an unfriendly manner, rebuf

to round off: to comlete, to finish

ridiculous sum: A very small figure

to deter: To try to stop something, to prevent

transpires: Something has happened

Champions League action, the return of two scoring heroes and unfortunately some more violence from Argentinian football all feature in this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Ronaldo returns

Good for Spanish giants, Real Madrid, who go top of the La Liga after a 1-0 victory over Racing Santander. In the Champions League they also beat FC Zurich, who famously beat AC Milan earlier in the competition, again 1-0. But more importantly for Real, their star Christiano Ronaldo made a return in that game, and could be available for el clasico this weekend against arch rivals, Barcelona. Elsewhere in the Champions League there were good results for Besiktas, who ended Manchester United’s undeafeated run at home in the Champions League, Bordeaux, who beat Juventus 2-0, and Chelsea who secured top spot in their group after beating Porto away.

It’s not often my team Spurs feature in the good section of our football review but I think they deserve to be after last week’s nine-goal demolition of Wigan in the Premier League. This was the first time a team had scored that many goals in a top-flight game since Manchester United beat Ipswich 9-0 in 1995. England striker Jermaine Defoe marked his return from suspension with a five-goal haul – the first time this feat has been accomplished since Alan Shearer did so for Newcastle in 1999. Spurs move up to 4th place in the league and Defoe looks to have sealed his place in the England World Cup squad.

Bad

It’s been a bad month for Everton as they crashed to a 3-2 defeat against lowly Hull City in the Premier League this week – this coming after a 0-3 loss against Manchester United at the weekend. The club lie in 14th place in the division and have now only won once in their past 8 games. Furthermore, they have been thrashed twice by Portuguese side Benfica in the Europa League, suffered a huge amount of injuries to some of their major players and today their application to build a new stadium has been turned down. Tough times for the Blue half of Liverpool before the big city derby with the reds this weekend.

Is that Scolari? No Paul Hart.

Bad news for Paul Hart as his club, the south coast team Portsmouth, decide to show him the door after another loss – this time to relegation rivals Stoke 1-0. Despite some positive performances results haven’t gone the Blues way – they have won only two out of the last ten games in the league and are rooted firmly at the bottom of the Premier League. Mind you, Liverpool aren’t that much better in the League with one win in five, but more worrying for the team from Merseyside is that they have crashed out of the Champions League, which has been their bread and butter for several years now. Still there’s always a silver lining – if they win the Europa League, the new name for the UEFA Cup, they will set a new record of four titles.

Ugly

We haven’t mentioned it for a while but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there – yes, violence in Argentina. A match between Huracan and San Lorenzo saw fighting in the stands between rival fans after the Huracan fans displayed a flag with San Lorenzo’s colours – this might seem a bit strange, surely that would be supporting the other team – but in Argentina that is a very provocative gesture. Passions often run high in this Buenos Aires derby match called the clásico del Barrio. Police ended up using tear gas, the players had to retreat from the pitch, all in all not a very beautiful sight.

Vocabulary

el clasico: Spanish, meaning the classic, the big match

secure: make safe, (in this report – clinch, get)

demolition: thrashing; heavy defeat

a top-flight game: A match played in the top division (Premier League for example)

a five-goal haul: To score 5 goals in a game

to have sealed his place: To be assured (certain) of being in the squad

show (someone) the door: sack, invite to leave

crash out: fail to progress in a competition, often lose badly

bread and butter: money, livelihood, support, important thing for living

provocative: an action that causes anger, annoyance,and maybe  violence

Congratulations to Slovenia, a pair of bad managers, strange cures and daylight robbery all feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

It’s been a good week for Uruguay, Algeria, Portugal, Greece, France, New Zealand and Slovenia as they all booked their places in next year’s World Cup finals with play-off victories over the past few days. Perhaps the most congratulations should go to Slovenia – a country of only 2 million people after they shocked Russia to qualify for only their second World Cup appearance.

Well, not exactly good, but interesting. Recently Liverpool have been hit with several injuries, which has definitely had an effect on their campaign. But in an attempt to get players back to fitness, Benitez has joined other football managers around Europe in asking a Serbian placenta healer to take a look at Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera, Fabio Aurelio and Glen Johnson, all suffering niggling injuries over the past month or more. The woman, using horse placenta in her treatments – has hit the headlines after treating Robin van Persie this week, but she has been making quite a living from her unorthodox methods, charging £3,000 for a course of treatment. Good… maybe?

Bad

George Burley the Scotland national team manager last week, has been sacked by the Scottish FA. He might have hoped to be spared the chop when he wasn’t asked to leave after Scotland failed to qualify for the World Cup, but after two losses in friendly matches away to Japan and Wales the authorities decided enough was enough and Burley won’t get the chance to build a winning squad to challenge for the 2012 European Championships. Qualification for that starts in September next year.

Yes, I saw the Scots performance against Wales and they were abysmal – I think he only managed to giude them to three victories while in charge so I think he had to go. For my bad this week I am going to suggest a few variations: Bad luck for Ireland and Egypt who both came back from the dead only to lose out at the final hurdle. Bad tactics – Raymond Domenech the French coach has so many good footballers at his disposal but does not seem to know what to do with them. Bad losers – Russia had two players sent off in their defeat in Slovenia that saw them crash out of the tournamnet and bad taste in the mouth – the manner in which Ireland were dumped out of the World Cup has left everyone in the country sickened.

Ugly

Now for my ugly this week I am of course going to talk about a photograph of Thierry Henry. Not the one of him handling the ball (twice) to enable France to score a decisive goal. No, the one at the end that shows him sitting down beside a distraught Richard Dunne. Henry has long cultivated a holier than though image in the press and this was no different as he attempted to console the Irish player.

Honestly, I don’t mind that he handled the ball – which player would not do so? But to attempt to show symapathy to a player you have just robbed is condescending at best and downright insulting at worst. FIFA Fair Play ambassador and French captain, Thierry Henry – very ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

hit with: suffer from, have something bad happen to you

placenta: the tissue that connects the foetus to the womb – part of the womb

niggling: troublesome, reoccurring, annoying

hit the headlines: be a big story in the news

unorthodox: strange, unusual, not mainstream

abysmal: Extremely poor (performance)

the chop: the sack – losing your job

distraught: Extremely upset

long cultivated a holier than though image: Over his career he has portrayed an innocent, gentlemanly image

Romantic results in the oldest football tournament in the world and giant-killing in Spain, Asian champions, diving in England and violence in the women’s game in the USA all feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Congratulations to Pohang Steelers who are the new champions of Asia after defeating Saudi side Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the final last week in Tokyo. This was the third time that the Koreans have won the continental title and the first time since 1998 for the team with most Asian titles. Well done to the team and their fans.

It’s always good at this time of year in England when winter is settling in, rain is slashing across pitches and it’s dark when you get up and when you go home, because it’s when the league clubs join the FA Cup and minnows are pitched against the bigger teams. In the first round proper of the FA cup, Northwich Victoria, a non-league side in the fifth tier of football beat former Premier League side Charlton, currently in the first division. A late goal means that Northwich, one of the oldest teams in the world football, earn a tie against Lincoln of the second division (the fourth tier) in the next round. And that wasn’t the only example of minnows downing powerhouses, as Alcorcon, from the fourth division in Spain, beat Real Madrid over two legs 4-1. Humiliation for the Madrid side.

Bad

A few ‘bads’ this week. David Beckham is set to miss out on the record for most caps for an English player because LA Galaxy’s success in the post-season in MLS means he will be unavailable for a friendly against Brazil and dent his chances of surpassing the famous England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton’s, record of 125 caps. Also,we sometimes feature women’s football on languagecaster, usually in the good section, but this time we have to have a slot for some bad from the female half of the game. A college football player, Elizebeth Lambert of New Mexico, basically assaulted a number of opposition players during a game between New Mexico and Brigham Young University. Amazingly bad stuff!

Pretty bad too for Liverpool striker David Ngog whose dive earned Liverpool a point at home to Birmingham City this week. The young Frenchman went down under the ‘challenge’ of Lee Carsley prompting the Birmingham player to call it an ‘embarrassing case of cheating’ while Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was doubtful that it had been a penalty. I wonder will he fine Ngog for his actions?

Ugly

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside is to propose a new two league Premier League with Celtic and Rangers joining in from Scotland. This idea is only driven by self-interest – Bolton are one of the teams who often face relegation out of the Premier League – and greed – keep the money for the teams who happen to be in the top flight now! It ignores the fact that tradition is an integral part of the appeal and longevity of football – Scotland, in football and for a large number of Scots, many other things, is separated from England. If the argument applies to The Old Firm teams – we need to save these big traditional teams, and they would bring more support to the Premier League and therefore more money – then how about asking Benfica and Ajax to join – surely they deserve to be ’supported’, or Roma from Italy, Real Madrid, now there’s glamour. Somehow I don’t think so. If this goes ahead in the future it will be the death knell for real football. Ugly idea.

Vocabulary

Minnow: a small team, not a big, rich club, often in the lower leagues or semi-professional

To pitch: to throw, to put into a battle, fight or match against another person / team

Tier: level, division

Surpassing: passing, beating, overtaking a record, being better

Slot: place, allotted place in a schedule

To assault: attack violently

The top flight: The top division, the highest rank

The Old Firm: The teams Celtic and Rangers from Glasgow in Scotland are called The Old Firm

South American football, success in Europe for France, a rather strange newspaper campaign from the UK and a really bad week for Liverpool and Tottenham all feature on this week’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly section of languagecaster’s podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

It has been a great week for French clubs in the Champions League with Marseilles thrashing FC Zurich 6-1, Bordeaux winning away at Bayern Munich and Lyon qualifying for the knock-out stages after drawing with Liverpool 1-1. Bordeaux’s win was particularly impressive as many had been tipping Bayern to do well in this season’s Champions League but Laurent Blanc’s side now look odds-on to make the the next round after completing the double over Van Gaal’s team.

While in Europe, the Europa League is still grinding on, in South America the Copa Sudamericana, the southern continent’s equivalent, is reaching its climax. So, it was good for Cerro Porteno of Paraguay, River Plate of Uruguay, LDU Quito from Peru and Fluminense of Brazil, as all reach the semi finals. In the semis it will be Porteno vs River and LDU vs Fluminense. I wonder if there will be a similar mix of countries represented in the semis of the Europa League Cup and the Champions league this year?

Bad

It has been a bad week for languagecaster’s favourite teams: Tottenham and Liverpool. The pressure on Reds manager Rafa Benitez increased after his side could only draw in Lyon which leaves Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the knock-out stage hanging by a thread. This setback came three days after the side had been beaten by Fulham in the Premier League in which saw two players sent off.

My team Spurs were shocking in the 0-3 defeat at arch-rivals Arsenal in the north-London derby last weekend. All three goals resulted from team errors but it was the overall performance that left the Spurs fans feeling let down and made a mockery of Robbie Keane’s pre-match comments that Tottenham had a squad to match that of Arsenal.

Bad all round as Jack Warner, CONCACAF president, a vice-chairman of FIFA, and bigwig on the Committee choosing who will host the World Cup in 2018, took offence when his wife received a specially designed handbag from the England bidding team at a special dinner last month - inferring that it was a kind of bribe. This is after complaining that the England bid was failing to make an impact on the committee, and pointing out as one reason the fact that the Australians had given complimentary bags to committee members previously. This is also the guy who has been involved in a number of scandals – a World-Cup-tickets-for-cash scandal, asking for match fees to be paid directly to his account, etc. Power, influence and money are always a bad combination and it’s a shame that bidders for the World Cup in 2018 should have to pander to this man.

Ugly

Premier League clubs are being pressured by a campaign in the Daily Mail newspaper to have poppy symbols embroidered on their shirts during the Remembrance ’season’. Many people in Britain and the Commonwealth wear a poppy-  a symbol to remember the soldiers who died in World War One – on or around the 11th of November. But just as with Christmas, the date for wearing poppies seems to get earlier and earlier each year. It’s fair to say that not wearing one, if you are a public figure like a politician or a TV personality for example, is frowned on and brings criticism for not honouring those who died in WWI and other wars. However, to bring this private mark of respect into the arena of sport and to pressurise football teams to wear them – the Daily Mail has already got a list of clubs not planning to put a poppy symbol on their shirts – is ridiculous.

Vocabulary

Grinding on: moving slowly forward, unstoppable but boring, ponderous

Semis: semi-finals (quarters – quarter finals)

completing the double : Beating the other team home and away

hanging by a thread: Though the team has a chance of qualifying it is very slim indeed.

setback : To stop progress and to move backwards

arch-rivals : Real rivals, a strong rivalry exists

made a mockery of : To seem ridiculous

To take offence: get upset, become angry, believe someone has insulted you

Bigwig: self-important person, someone with a lot of influence, celebrity

Bribe: a gift for a favour, often illegal, an inducement

Bid: proposal, a plan, an offer

Complimentary: free, a service with no charge

Pressured: intimidated, made to do something you don’t want to do, influenced

Frown on: look on something with disapproval, think something is not respectable or good

No support for Blatter’s re-election, Champions League shock results, impressive individual performances and spectacular goals, all feature on this week’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

The Good

Two weeks ago Damon was extolling the virtues of Swiss side FC Zurich after their dramatic away victory against European powerhouse AC Milan. This time around it was Barcelona’s turn to be humiliated as Russian champions Rubin Kazan shocked the holders with a 2-1 victory in the Nou Camp. With Inter Milan being held at home by Dynamo Kiev – that’s 8 games now without a victory in the Champions league for Jose Mourinho’s side – it means that the showdown between two of Europe’s footballing aristocrats will be a significant one next month and of course that Rubin still have a chance to qualify. Good for Rubin and good for the Champions League.

Every week it’s good for some teams who win important matches in their fixture list, like Aston villa beating Chelsea 2-1. You know it’s going to be good for some players, who have cracking games, like David Dunne for Blackburn in the east-Lancashire derby against Burnley, or Miguel De Las Cuevas scoring twice for Sporting Gijon in their 2-1 victory over Athletc Bilbao. What you don’t see every week, or any week, is someone smack a volley into the net from the half-way line. That’s just what Dejan Stankovic did for Inter against Genoa this weekend. Lucky? Perhaps. Amazing? Definitely!

The Bad

Sepp Blatter the Swiss-born president of FIFA has announced his desire to be re-elected as chief of the world’s footballing governing body as he states that he has not finished his work yet. I can only wonder what type of work he means, after all, this is the man who suggested that female footballers should wear smaller shorts to attract more fans, yet he also campaigned to have players (male or female) booked when taking off their tops to celebrate a goal as it may affect sensibilities of some spectators. He disagrees with the idea that teams can play their home matches at an altitude of over 3000 metres as they may be risky for a player’s health yet at the same time he deals with TV companies that dictate kick-off times in major tournaments when temperatures are way above the recommended level. Let’s not forget his poorly-thought out attempts to promote attacking football with the ridiculous golden and silver goals in extra time. This pandering to TV companies and powerful nations in FIFA was manifested yet again last week when he presided over a rule change concerning the World Cup play-off seedings. Blatter for President? You must be joking! Bad for FIFA, bad for the game of football.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Liverpool and their coach Rafa Benitez. Losing to Sunderland at the weekend in bizarre circumstances means that the runners-up from last season now lie in 8th place 7 points behind the leaders Manchester United. They then followed that up with a 1-2 home defeat in the Champions League this week against Lyon which has dealt a blow to their chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages.The calls for Benitez’ head are getting louder.

The Ugly

Well it’s October, which means it’s sack-the-manager time, but it seems a bit harsh to sack Gareth Southgate of Middlesbrough, who sit one point off the top of the Championship. Steve Gibson the chairman backed his manager when they got relegated, but now feels, in October after thirteen games, that the time is right to sack Southgate after supporting him for so long. If they were bottom, I can understand, but sitting in the top four? A bad decision.

Vocabulary

extolling the virtues: praising

powerhouse: A strong team with lots of tradition

the showdown: A big meeting (between two powerhouses)

Europe’s footballing aristocrats: Football teams with a rich pedigree. Here it refers to Barcelona and Inter Milan.

have cracking games: Really exciting matches

smack a volley: To strike a ball into the net when the ball is still in the air; a powerful and spectacular shot

in bizarre circumstances: A very strange way

the runners-up: The team that finishes second in the league

has dealt a blow to: Made the position weaker, to damage a situation: a ‘blow’ is a punch

call for (someone’s) head: Ask for someone to resign, want someone to lose their job

harsh: mean, tough, not kind

to back: to support, to help

The World Cup qualifiers dominate this week’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly section of our podcast with Diego Maradona, in particular, featuring large. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of this post.

The Good

What more could you want from a game? Argentina met Peru, the latter team with no chance of qualifying and seen by many as a whipping boy ready to roll over for Argentina and allow Maradona’s team the chance to get to the finals, and produced a thrilling, nerve-shredding qualifier. After Gonzalo Higuain, on his debut, scored in the 47th minute, Argentina were clinging on desperately, and nervously against a determined Peruvian attack. Then, the heavens opened and torrential rain began to fall. And with the rain, in the 90th minute came Peru’s stunning equaliser, which looked set to make Argentina’s hopes of qualifying for South Africa even more difficult and perhaps impossible. Maradona held his face in his hands – but only until Palermo, recalled after 10 years out of the side, scored the winner two minutes later! Surely that was it, but no, Peru, from the kick off almost equalised with a long-range effort which hit the top of the bar. Incredible drama, added to by the fact that Uruguay had beaten Ecuador late on. Great stuff!

All’s well that ends well for Diego and his Argentinian side as they won a scrappy game in Uruguay’s Cenetenario Stadium last night to progress to the finals in South Africa.

Joining them are Denmark, Germany, Serbia, Italy, Switzerland and, surprisingly, Slovakia, from the European section. In addition, Mexico, the USA and Honduras have made it from the CONCACAF region, while Ivory Coast qualified from the African region. The remaining 8 places will be decided in the middle of November with a series of play-offs.

The Bad

Now one of the reasons we have focussed so much on the Argentina-Uruguay match is that there were so few matches last night that actually counted for anything. There were more than 30 games played with most of them being dead rubbers, nothing to play for. The World Cup qualification system needs a boost and one way to do this is by reducing the number of weaker teams involved in group matches – particularly in Europe to make the whole process a little more exciting.

Bad news for Real Madrid as their super star, Christiano Ronaldo, is out for two or three weeks with an ankle injury picked up in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary. But worse was the Spanish team’s moaning afterwards: they called the decision to play Ronaldo ‘reckless’, despite the fact that Portugal needed a win, and Hungary were still in the hunt for a place making the qualifier, a very important match for Portugal indeed. What were they meant to do, rest Christiano Ronaldo in case he got injured and couldn’t play a few games for Real? We’re talking about World Cup qualifying!  Chances for any player to play on the biggest stage are few and far between. Blinkin’ ridiculous behaviour from Real Madrid.

The Ugly

In a move which could result in some ugly scenes at White Hart Lane, home of north London club, Tottenham, rumours have it that Sol Cambell could be poised for a shock move back to Spurs. Harry Redknapp is thought to be interested in signing the former Spurs, but more famously, former Arsenal defender. The ex-England player, Cambell is hated at Tottenham for what many Tottenham fans believe was traitorous behaviour in signing for their biggest rivals, Arsenal.  Of course, Sol played under Harry at Portsmouth, and the latest Spurs boss has been re-signing players he has signed before left, right and centre, but surely this is a deal too far for Redknapp!

Vocabulary

whipping boy: A team that is beaten by everyone else

clinging on: Just about surviving; under severe pressure

torrential rain: Extremely heavy rain

stunning equaliser: Very good goal to level the score

scrappy game: Not a very beautiful match; hard fought

were still in the hunt: To still have a chance; there are still possibilities

are few and far between: Not very frequent

dead rubbers: Have no importance, nothing to play for

could be poised for: Could be about to do something

This week’s good, the bad and the ugly features stories from the upcoming World Cup qualifiers as well as a shock salute from Spurs-fan Damian to Arsene Wenger. Whatever next, Damon to congratulate Sir Alex Ferguson?

Good

Just to prove that we are balanced here at languagecaster, my good this week goes to Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger who completed 13 years in charge of the second-best team in North London (sorry!). He has become the longest-serving manager of the Gunners and in that time he has won 3 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups and overseen the transformation of the club into one of the most popular teams around the world – though obviously I don’t completely agree!

Good news as England coach Capello names his strongest squad for the two remaining qualifying games despite having already qualified. Nice to see a manager taking things seriously right down to the wire. Shame a lot of people won’t be able to watch the game because… (see bad)

Bad

England fans will have to pay to watch the qualifier against the Ukraine – 5 pounds – this Saturday on the internet, or go to a local cinema chain, if there’s one in their town, and possibly pay up to 10 pounds to watch it there. Disgraceful and another reason for big national sporting events to be available on terrestrial TV. Mad! It doesn’t matter if England have already qualified, all games should be available to the majority of people. They shouldn’t need to own computers and have internet, or have cable or satellite TV for that matter! Bring back free, terrestrial broadcasting of matches.

FIFA representatives were in South Africa last week for a photo opportunity but Sepp Blatter, the president, made a statement that could have a profound effect on how countries qualify for the finals in South Africa next year. 8 countries from the European region who finish second in their groups will be involved in a play-off next month but rather than having an open draw to decide which teams would play each other, FIFA have suddenly decided to seed the countries involved. This means that the top sides will not face each other and have a much easier chance of making it through. This rule change has come at the end of the qualifying campaign and is obviously pandering to the bigger countries and the demands of TV companies who would much rather see players like Ronaldo at the World Cup than not. Irish fans, players and the manager Trapatonni are furious as it now makes the Republic’s passage much more difficult. This rule change at this late stage is not only bad, it is grossly unfair.

Stubborn

In the u-20 World Cup being held in Egypt, England lie bottom of their group: three games and two losses, one draw, and one goal. Not too clever you’d think. Not according to their coach Brian Eastick, whose last job was first team coach at Norwich, who must have popped something in his breakfast cuppa to come out with this quote: “For me, this tournament was not about the results, but the development of the players. There will be no losers coming home, they’ll all be winners; they’ve had a fantastic experience.”

Vocabulary

the Gunners: Nickname of Arsenal

despite having - even though (they) have, in spite of the fact that they have (these phrases show surprise, and indicate that something is unexpected)

(be a) shame – bad luck, a bummer (informal), misfortune

disgraceful – terrible, bad behaviour

to seed: To separate teams in order of ability

pandering: bowing to pressure, not sticking to your position but be easily influenced

passage: The opportunity to qualify

grossly unfair: Extremely unfair

popped something in – put something in, dropped something in (the inference here is a drug has been put in the cup of tea)

cuppa – (informal British) a cup of tea

not too clever – not good, a bit stupid

Giant-killing in the Champions League, troubles for two London clubs and one from the south coast of  England all get a look in on this week’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Always good when a minnow brings down a giant, and that is exactly what happened last night as FC Zurich stunned AC Milan 1-0 at the San Siro. A fantastic night for the Swiss team, who it should be remembered are their nation’s champions unlike AC Milan, saw Hannu Tihinen, the scorer, Milan Gajic, and Alain Rochat take on household names like Ronaldinho, Seedorf, Inzaghi and Pato. Realistically, this could be the Zurich side’s 90 minutes of fame as it’s unlikely they’ll last the course. But well done FC Zurich.

For my good I am going to stay with the Champions League and focus on some of the overseas players plying their trade in Spain’s la Liga. Portuguese star Ronaldo netted a brace in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Marseille (see goals here). His second goal must have been particularly sweet for Real president Florentino Perez as it was made by £35 million Benzema and £60 million Kaka before being finished by £80 million Ronaldo. A multi-million pound goal if ever there was one. Not to be outdone, Argentinian star Leo Messi continued with his impressive early-season form by scoring in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory against CSKA Moscow. The holder’s manager Pep Guardiola is playing down his team’s chances of retaining the Champions League title but on this performance they may well become the first to do so in 20 years. Brazilian star Luis Fabiano scored twice in Sevilla’s 4-1 win in Scotland against Rangers on Tuesday. Fabiano also made another for strike partner Kanoute, as dark horses Sevilla continued their impressive start to the season.

Bad

The two London sides West Ham and Millwall face seven charges by the FA including failing to control their fans, and accusations that both sets of fans racially abused players. The charges stem from the clubs Carling Cup tie last month which saw a pitch invasion and trouble outside the ground, including a stabbing. The FA has the power to force the clubs to play games behind closed doors and impose large fines. Neither team is in the Carling Cup which could be seen as one silver lining from this bad story.

It’s been a bad start to the season for European powerhouses AC Milan and Atletico Madrid but at least they have managed to get some points in their domestic leagues unlike Premier League side Portsmouth who remain bottom of the English top tier. The south coast club have lost all seven of their league matches so far – a new club record – and barring a miracle will be spending next season in the Championship.

Ugly

Ugly for Portsmouth, who have had an ugly start to the season – no wins, they’re sitting bottom of the Premier League, and they’ve got financial problems. But it gets really ugly when you can’t pay your players, and it has been revealed that that is what has happened this month. That is not a good sign, and things are looking ugly for the south-coast team.

Vocabulary

minnow – a small fish, here it is used to mean a team that isn’t famous, is much smaller than it’s opponent

to stun – shock, surprise, win when people do not expect it

household names – famous people, well known, known by most people

plying their trade: working or playing

netted a brace: scored two goals

is playing down: Not being overly confident

dark horses: A team that has an outside chance of winning, not one of the hot favourites

to face (charges/fines) – confront, have to deal with, have to answer

behind closed doors – in an empty stadium, play with no fans watching

silver lining – a good thing, a positive

powerhouses – strong, famous teams

top tier: The top league (The Premier League in England)

barring a miracle: Except for a miracle, really small chance

A good start to the season for Spanish giants, a 15 minute game in J-League, and more trouble for under-fire Argentinian manager, Maradona – it seems diamonds aren’t forever. Also, potential financial problems at Queens Park Rangers, and allegations of players being racially abused all get a look in on this week’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

 Real Madrid’s stars featured in their latest win: Ronaldo, playing on the left, and Kaka both found the net as Real overcame a 10-man Villareal to maintain their 100% record. But not to be outdone, Barcelona, last year’s champions of Spain and Europe, also won with a 4-1 thrashing of Racing Santander away – Messi got a brace after Ibrahimovic opened the scoring with a typical far-post header. A good start for the two favourites for the Spanish crown. Can anyone stop them?

Common sense in J-league as the match that was abandoned on the 12th of September between Kawasaki and Kashima with 15 minutes remaining, is going to be replayed on the 7th  of October, but with just those 15 minutes. Kashima were losing 3-1 at the time and called for the whole game to be replayed, which would have been madness. But the Japanese Football Association made the rational and right choice, and it looks as though leaders Kashima, barring a miracle, will drop more points.

Bad

Queen’s Park Ranger’s (QPR) co-owner, Flavio Briatore,  is in a spot of bother after getting caught up in the Formula One scandal involving Renault. As the Renault team boss, Briatore ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash to help one of his team mates. The race-fixing row is a huge story in F1 and may have repercussions for the London side. Despite being dubbed ‘the Richest Club’ in the world when Lakshmi Mittal bought the club, QPR are finding that money can’t guarantee success as they sit 12th in the Championship, the 2nd tier in English football.

More trouble for Diego Maradona as he is ordered to hand over his diamond earrings to Italian tax authorities after a recent trip to that country. Maradona owes a staggering 37 million Euros in unpaid taxes and fines so the 4.000 Euros the diamonds were worth are only a drop in the ocean.

Ugly

Two stories involving racism from England this week. The Blackburn player Diouf claimed he was racially abused by Everton fans during last week’s Premier League game – though police have also questioned him after an ‘altercation with fans‘. Then earlier this week Blackpool manager Ian Holloway stated that one of his players (Jason Euell) was racially abused by a Stoke City fan in the Carling Cup. Pretty ugly all round though we should applaud Jason Euell’s decision to confront the so-called fan.

Vocabulary

a brace: Two goals

barring a miracle: In extreme circumstances; a very small possibility

a spot of bother: A little bit of trouble

race-fixing row: Argument over whether there was fraud / cheating taking place in Formula 1

repercussions: knock-on effects, sanctions

being dubbed: Being called, named

the 2nd tier: The Division below the Premier League

staggering: An amazing; incredible

a drop in the ocean: A tiny amount, very small

altercation with fans: A heated discussion – one that almost gets out of hand (almost violent)

Good

Well, at last UEFA has shown some sense and overturned the ban on Eduardo for diving. A couple of week’s ago we featured that decisions in our Ugly section – it just seemed crazy to start handing out bans for simulation – a can of worms. It seems that UEFA has agreed and backed down after Arsenal protested. A good decisions – even if it was a dive!

A good week for veteran goalscorers, as 35 year old Ryan Giggs scores for the 20th year in succession in top-flight football in England – against my team Spurs in Manchester United’s 3-1 victory last week. Then in Tuesday’s Champions League match between Marseilles and AC Milan, 36 year old Pipo Inzaghi scored a brace to give the Rossoneri an important away victory and at the same time equalling the European competition goalscoring record.

Bad

For former Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane who is currently in charge at Ipswich. The club are still without a win after 7 matches after the Championship side were held to a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest yesterday to leave the club languishing in the relegation zone. Troubled times ahead for both club and manager.

It was bad for Tokyo FC in Japan, who got through to the final’s of the J-league cup to be played next month, but then found out that their star striker, Brazilian Cabore, is leaving for Qatar. To make matters worse they lost in the league next game. The other finalists in the J-League Cup, Kawasaki, also had a bad time of it last week as their game was called off because of torrential rain – when they were leading top-placed Kashima 3-1. The game will have to be replayed at some time in the future. Bad luck Kawasaki!

Ugly

Well, if you’ve been reading any of the football news this week, you’ll have heard about Adabayor, the ex-Arsenal and now Manchester City striker’s antics in last weekends clash between Manchester city and Arsenal. Going into the match there was talk about how he would cope with the abuse he would get from the Arsenal fans, who were upset at the way he left. The answer was… badly, very badly! Despite playing brilliantly and scoring, he also managed to rake his studs across, Van Persie, his ex-teammate’s face, and the run the length of the pitch to taunt the Arsenal fans. Ugly and it looks as though a big ban is coming Adabayor’s way.

Vocabulary

Good

Well in World Cup qualifiers week it was good for Spain, England, Brazil and Paraguay who all booked their places for the biggest football festival next year in South Africa, the World Cup. Spain and England have 100% records so far. The Spaniards beat Estonia 3-0, while England crushed the team that denied them a place in the Euro 2008 competition, Croatia, 5-1. Meanwhile Paraguay beat Argentina 1-0 to ensure the team from the centre of South America will appear in its fourth consecutive World Cup finals. Also good in qualifying for Ivory Coast who look guaranteed to make it after beating Burkina Faso 5-0.

It was also very good for the German women’s football team after their 6-2 thrashing of England in the European Championship final in Finland. This was their fourth tournament win in a row and with the next World Cup taking place in Germany they are already the odds-on favourites to win it.

Bad

One country that might not make it to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup is Argentina who lost both qualifying matches this week. First at home to Brazil 1-3 and then 0-1 away in Paraguay to leave Diego Maradona’s side in 5th place in the South American qualifying section – outside the direct qualification spots. Their next game is at home to Peru but then they play rivals Uruguay in their last game. To say that the pressure is on Diego Maradona, who we featured in our World Cup stars last week, is an understatement.

I didn’t realize it, but the 5th of September was FIFA’s Fair Play Day campaign. It seems it wasn’t just me that didn’t know – in China they celebrated the Fair Play campaign in style with the Chinese Super League, which has been constantly dogged by on and off-field problems, by putting on a display of bad behaviour that must have had FIFA officials crying into their Fair Play pamphlets. Spitting at a referee (that was Shandong Luneng’s Serbian striker Aleksandar Zivkovic), throwing a boot, no not Alex Ferguson, (that was Hangzhou Greentown substitute Wang Hongyou from the bench), brawls during and after a match between Changchun and Shanghai, not to mention a number of bad tackles and petulant behaviour around the league. Not a very good advertisement for the game, and definitely not fair play.

Ugly
Remarkable scenes from the MLS game between new boys Seattle Sounders and Washington’s DC United. Seattle won 2-1 but DC’s goalkeeper Josh Wick’s was sent off after stamping on goalscorer Fredy Montero. Pretty ugly indeed. You can see the video here.

Vocabulary

Crushed: Defeated easily; a heavy defeat

Consecutive: In-a-row; one after the other

thrashing: Heavy defeat

in-a-row: Consecutively; one after the other

odds-on favourites: Everyone expects them to win

an understatement: It is so clear (obvious) that it is not necessary to mention it

dogged: To have been constantly troubled

brawls: Fights

petulant behaviour: Childish behaviour

stamping: Jumping on the player; using the boot to injure another player

Euro 2009 for the ladies, a mouthwatering clash in the World Cup qualifiers to look forward to, and controversial decisions from footballs governing bodies all feature on this week’s Good, bad and Ugly.

Good

While most eyes are on the World Cup qualifiers, followers of the women’s game are enjoying a great Euro 2009 tournament taking place in Finland. In this competition, England’s women put in a strong performance against the hosts beating them 2-3 to reach a semi-final game against the Netherlands. Eniola Aluko scored two for England, including a fantastic strike after a mazy dribble. Check out the goals here. Good for England and good for women’s football. Italy play Germany and Norway play Sweden in the other two quarter finals.

It has not happened yet but a match between Brazil and Argentina is always a good thing in world football. Dunga’s Brazil are in a fairly comfortable positon at the top of the South American World Cup qualifying group while Argentina need some points to get back into contention. The match takes place in Rosario as Maradona wants maximum atmosphere for his players. And of course we get a chance to see Kaka, Robinho, Messi, Aguero among others. Can’t wait.

Bad

Chelsea have been left reeling after FIFA banned them from signing players for two transfer windows. The sanction came after it was found that in 2007 Chelsea had signed Gaël Kakuta, then aged 16, despite the fact that he was under contract for Lens at the time. The player has also been The London side will have to hope that the ban is overturned or reduced after appeal, as if they pick up injuries to their squad over the coming months they will be unable to sign any replacements. They may also find it hard to find replacements when many of their squad leave for the African Cup of Nations in January. Bad for the London team, but perhaps good that money doesn’t always get you what you want.

It was a bad week for London rivals Arsenal as not only did they lose to Manchester United in bizarre circumstances they also had manager Arsene Wenger sent to the stand after he kicked a bottle in disgust at a referee’s decison. Wenger then complained that Manchester United’s tactics were ruining football which suggests that he has a short memory or simply is a bad loser.

Stupid

UEFA’s two match suspension of Eduardo has opened a can of worms. He was found guilty of simulation – or trying to deceive the refree into making a decision: in this case the award of a penalty. Usually the referee’s word is final and UEFA steps in when the referee misses something on the pitch, such as an off the ball incident, but here they decided to look at an incident that had already been dealt with. So now can we expect UEFA to ban players for appealing for a foul when none occurred, accusing someone of diving when they didn’t, asking for a penalty when there was no case for one… the list goes on. A very stupid decision.

Ugly

After last week’s trouble between West Ham and Millwall fans, this week saw tempers flare between players from local rivals Derby and Nottinghm Forest in the Championship. Forest won the game and the striker, Nathan Tyson, celebrated by waving a corner flag in front of the losing-side support causing the Derby players to react angrily. Not so much ugly as stupid.

Football news from Japan, Northern Ireland and the Premier League in England all feature in this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.

Good

In Japan, Shimzu, one of the original J-League sides from 1993, crushed derby rivals Iwata 5-1 and move up the league into third (see the goals here). Not only a fine win, but it also puts pressure on the two leaders Kashima and Kawasaki.

And talking about fine wins, Burnley add Everton’s scalp to that of Manchester United in another home win for the newly promoted side who have now picked up six points out of nine and are well on the way to making their home ground, Turf Moor, a fortress.

Bad

Diving has been in the news this week – Arsene Wenger has had to defend his player, Eduardo, against allegations of diving to win a penalty against Celtic. Players from the Scottish side were furious and have demanded that Eduardo be banned and today UEFA have set up an investigation into the incident.

However, while Wenger took the traditional managers line that he would never encourage diving, Volker Finke, coach of Japanese side Urawa Reds, has criticised one of his players for NOT diving. Finke was fuming after striker Escudero didn’t go down after a challenge in the box. The manager is probably feeling the pressure as his team, one of the biggest in Japan, are well of the pace in the league and criticism of his style and performance mounts.

Ugly

A fan attacks a player in the Irish Football Association Premier League in Northern Ireland. After Glentoran player Gary Hamilton scored against his former club Portadown a fan raced onto the pitch and attempted to punch the striker. In response, Glentoran fans tried to storm the pitch. Now, while attacking a player on the pitch is bad enough, it pales in comparison to attacking a player in their own house. West Ham squad member Calum Davenport was stabbed in both his legs and his mother was also injured when two assailants forced their way into his family home. Very ugly indeed and we hope the injuries don’t prove career threatening.

It has been an ugly week for Davenport’s club West Ham after their supporters were involved in a running battle with fans from Millwall, their arch rivals, on Tuesday night in the Carling Cup here in London. There is no love lost between these two clubs – one from the East and the other from South London – and there has been a history of violence between these two sets of fans. Fighting started around the stadium hours before the game kicked off and the atmosphere during the match could best be described as poisonous – there were two pitch invasions as the home supporters attempted to attack the Millwall fans, post-match accusations of racial abuse towards players on both sides and a host of arrests and future banning orders. An ugly affair indeed.

__________________________________________________________________

Vocabulary

Here are some of the words and phrases from the good, the bad and the ugly section from this week’s show. You can download the podcast here.

crushed: To be beaten decisively, to be thrashed

Burnley add Everton’s scalp: Burnley beat Everton

a fortress: A castle, a stronghold – a place that is difficult to win at

was fuming: To be really angry

in the box: In the penalty area

to storm the pitch: To invade the pitch – when fans come onto the pitch to cause trouble

assailants: Attackers – people threatening you with violence

arch rivals: Strong rivals, deep rivalry exists

Carling Cup: A domestic competiton in England – regarded as the third tournament after the Premier League and the FA Cup

There is no love lost between these two clubs: They hate each other!/p>

poisonous: Here the meaning refers to the nasty atmosphere between the two sets of fans

pitch invasions : When fans run onto the pitch to cause trouble (See storm the pitch above)

racial abuse: When people use language to attack another’s race or skin colour

banning orders: These are given to fans who misbehave – it usually means that the fan cannot return to the stadium for a period of time

__________________________________________________________________

Winners from London and in the Bundesliga, injuries in the Premier league, women fighting all figure in this week’s good, bad and ugly section.

Good

Two from two for Wolfsburg. The German champions continue their good start with a 3-1 away win over Cologne. Obafemi Martins, a recent transfer from ex-Premier League side newcastle, scored the clincher when he came on for his debut as substitute. Meanwhile in Japan, it was good for the rest as first and second place teams Kashima and Kawasaki both lost. Niigata and Osaka are now only three behind second place Kawasaki. With the two top teams meeting early next month, they’ll be hoping they can close the gap even further.

It was  also good for Tottenham and the other 4 PL clubs from the capital as well. Chelsea, West Ham, Fulham and Arsenal have all started the season in winning form and I wonder will we see a shift in power away from the north west this season?

Bad

The Premier League is only one week into the season, but already there a a number of injuries that will sideline players for the next few weeks or more. Andy Johnson of Fulham is out after a nasty tackle in the Europa League – out for up to two months. Rio Ferdinand picked up an injury in training and will be sidelined for a month – bad news for Manchester United, whose defence is looking less than solid. Liverpool’s players seem to be being held together with stitches – Jamie Carragher had 15 stitches in a head wound after a clash of heads with his team mate Skyrtel – the Slovakian is out for two weeks with a jaw injury from that incident, and Torres had to have nine stitches in his eyebrow after another clash of heads in the game against Stoke.

This week saw a farcical situation from The Championship when Crystal Palace had a perfectly good goal disallowed against Bristol City. Manager Neil Warnock was furious and it is hard not to feel sorry for him as his team would have managed to take a point if there had been some form of goal line technology. Bad for Palace and for football.

Ugly

A story from a few weeks back now, but women’s football will not be happy it has made the news. A brawl broke out at the end of an Asian Under 19s Championship game that China won 2-1. The game had been a bad-tempered affair and it only got worse when the Australians were denied a penalty by the ref and then had a player sent off in the fnal minute. That proved too much for the Australians and both sets of players starting pushing, punching and kicking, while fans started throwing plastic bottles onto the pitch. Very ugly scenes indeed. The tournement, held in China, was eventually won by Japan who beat Korea 2-1 in the final.