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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

Argentinian football, Premier League new faces and some sad news from Spain all feature in this seasons first 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.

Well done to Argentinian star Juan Sebastian Veron who has taken a 40% wage cut so that his club San Lorenzo can look after their younger players. After making the gesture, the ‘Little Witch’ suggested that players who have made money in Europe should now help out those coming through in Argentina during these tough economic times.

The Premier League’s newly promoted teams hopes are like a breath of fresh air – Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham and Burnley’s managers will all believe they can stay up and compete in the top flight. They will give positive interviews about how they are just glad to be in the league and what a fantastic chance it is for the lads in the dressing room, etc. Then in December around Christmas time they will have hunched shoulders, bags under their eyes, grey hairs and will be talking about how it’s going to be a scrap from now on to survive and how the next game is vital. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Scotland’s World Cup qualification hopes hang by a thread after crashing to a 4-0 defeat in Norway. The Scots had a player sent off in the first half and never looked like getting back into the game after that. It will take a miracle for them to get through the group now and the pressure on manager George Burley is bound to increase.

Turmoil in Argentina as the Apertura’s start is suspended because of clubs’ financial problems. The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) president recommended that the season be delayed until a solution can be found for the spiraling debt amongst the clubs. Fans reacted angrily to the news and over a hundred threw stones at the AFA headquarters. The clubs are asking for more money from TV deals to help, but it looks like this story will run a few more weeks.

The game was only a meaningless friendly but 15 football fans were arrested in Amsterdam before the England vs Holland match last night. Authorities have stated that the incidents were not serious and suggested this could be down to the fact that more than 3000 England fans are banned from travelling outside the UK when the national team is playing overseas. Rather than congratulating themselves on this measure surely questions need to be asked about why European nationals are forbidden from travelling to another EU country? Restrictive at best and possibly even illegal. Pretty ugly.

Espanyol and football fans were shocked and saddened by the sudden death of the Spanish team’s captain, Daniel Jarque. The 26 year old midfielder died in pre-season training of a heart attack. A reminder at the start of the season that football is not everything.

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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.

a breath of fresh air: Something new, something positive

stay up: not be relegated, stay in the division

hunched: drooping, not straight, curved down

top flight: The Premier league; the top division

bags under eyes: dark area under the eyes when you are tired or stressed

scrap: (a messy) fight

vital: very important

hang by a thread: be in a dangerous or risky position

turmoil: chaos, confusion

be suspended: be stopped, be cancelled until a later date, stopped from playing

Apertura: the first of two seasons in Argentina each year.

restrictive: Not allowing, limiting

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The final podcast of the 2008-2009 season. Damon and Damian take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly moments of another great footballing year. The next languagecaster.com season starts in August 2009 and it should be a great one with the World Cup in 2010. Subscribe to our Newsletter in the sidebar to keep up with what’s happening.

Transcript

Damian’s Good

Well, it was good for German side Wolfsburg who won their first ever Bundesliga title, while in Brazil, it was great for Sao Paolo who in February retained the Brazilian league title but the big news there was that soon afterwards it was announced that former Brazil number 9 Ronaldo would be joining Corinthians after another long injury lay-off and he has proved to be a huge success – we may even see him in his fourth World Cup next year. Great comeback for him but for my best of the season, I am going for one of Ronaldo’s former clubs, Barcelona who have just completed an amazing season by winning the ‘triplete’, the treble of the King’s Cup, the League title and the club’s third Champions League crown. Not bad for a team that has been described as having a shaky keeper, a weak defence, a midfield that is not physically imposing enough and a forward line that has two players with no hunger for the game or the club, as well as a striker that cannot score goals with his head or against English teams. We wondered in week 13 if this side could emulate the Cruyff Dream Team of the early 1990s. Well, they have more than done so. Barca we salute you.

Damian’s Bad

Well, it was pretty bad for football in the north-east of England as Middlesbrough and more surprisingly, Newcastle were both relegated to the second tier of English football. Newcastle saw three or four (we are not sure) different managers during the season and this win at all costs scenario represents my worst of the season: a real sense of short-termism. In week 27 we featured the managerial merry-go-round which saw West Ham, Tottenham, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Chelsea all lose managers in England, while high-profile managers such as Klinnsmann at Bayern, Schuster at Real Madrid and Claudio Ranieri at Juventus all being given their marching orders.

Damian’s Ugly

Didier Drogba’s post-match rant at the Norwegian referee in the Champions League was ugly – though let’s be frank, it was also pretty funny. On a more serious note there continues to be lots of fan trouble in Argentina but perhaps the worst of the season for me is the continuation of racism in the game. Despite groups such as Kick it Out in the UK – which we featured in week 12 Inter’s striker (and Italian national) Balotelli, Portsmouth’s Sol Campbell and Emile Heskey all suffered – among many others – racist chants and aggression. Ignorance is still rife in the game. Ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

retained: kept, held on to injury lay-off: a long period out of the game with injury a shaky keeper: a weak goalkeeper, a keeper that makes mistakes imposing: strong, dominating, threatening emulate: copy, imitate act in a similar way (often because of respect) short-termism: planning only for a short time in the future, not making long term lans, often panicking (to be given) marching orders: to be sacked, to be fired, to lose your job rant: complain loudly, shout,talk wildly with no control rife: common

Barcelona, Wolfsburg, Burnley and Paolo Maldini all celebrate but misery on Tyneside and controversy in Serie A all feature on 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.

The Good

Barcelona win their third Champions League title after comfortably beating Manchester United 2-0 in Rome with a first half strike by Samuel Eto’o and a glorious header from the smallest player on the pitch, Lionel Messi, in the second. Having already won the Spanish League and the King’s Cup they have now won an unprecedented treble – the first time a Spanish team has performed this feat. Well done Barca and new manager Pep Guardiola.

Good in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg who wrap up the title in emphatic style, beating a shell-shocked Werder Bremen 5-1. It’s the first title for the VW-backed side from Lower Saxony and in Grafite and Dzeko they have the top striking pair in Bundesliga history.

Well done to Burnley after they gained promotion to the Premier League and join the top division in England for the first time since 1976 after beating the Blades, Sheffield United, 1-0 in the Championship play-off. They join Aston Villa and West Ham in wearing claret and blue kits. Look at the socks to tell them apart.

The Bad

Bad, bad, bad for the north east of England which saw two teams drop down to the second tier last weekend. It was particularly bad for Newcastle, a team who regularly have over 50,000 fans watch their home games, as they were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa. Their problems won’t stop there, as they have some big name players with big wages, a question mark over who will manage them, and who will own them next year. Troubled times on Tyneside.

The actions of some of AC Milan’s fans at Paolo Maldini’s last home game for the club after playing for the club, and only their club, since appearing in the youth side in 1978, 31 years ago was very bad. “Thanks captain. On the pitch you were an undying champion but you had no respect for those who made you rich,” read one banner on the curva sud, home of the Ultras. What a terrible send off for one of the club’s greatest servants and one of the game’s greatest players. Very bad.

The Ugly

There was some Champions League final-related violence with one Manchester United fan being stabbed in the leg before the game, while in Barcelona more than 100 people were arrested celebrating the Catalan side’s victory.

Seven Torino and two Genoa players have been banned following a post-match brawl in a Serie A match last weekend. There are conflicting stories about the reason for the fight but either way it was pretty ugly. Check out the video here

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

a first half strike: A successful shot that resulted in a goal

a glorious header: A wonderful or fantastic headed goal

an unprecedented treble: A team in Spain has never won these three Cups

performed this feat: The first time that someone has done something

wrap up the title: To win the title

shell-shocked: A team that looks demoralised, they seem to know they won’t win, they are in shock

gained promotion to: The team went up from one division to another

the Championship: The division below the Premier League in England

claret and blue kits: The uniform that Burnley play in is a deep red and blue colour

second tier: The Championship, the level below the Premier League

Tyneside: This refers to Newcastle (the city is on the River Tyne)

curva sud: The place where many of the Ultras stand during a game (behind one of the goals)

Ultras: A group of fans at Italian (and some Spanish) clubs; quite powerful

a terrible send off: A farewell party that turns sour, not as good as it should have been

stabbed: Attacked with a knife

a post-match brawl: A fight after the game between some of the players

Unlike certain Premier League managers, we offer congratulations to the winning teams in England, Spain and Italy’s domestic leagues, as well as the UEFA Cup winners, 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.

The Good

Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola were all celebrating league title wins on Saturday night as Inter in Italy, Manchester United in England and Barcelona in Spain were crowned champions of their respective countries. This was Guardiola’s first win as a manager but he still has some way to go before emulating his winning-colleagues, with Mourinho now having won titles in three different countries, while Ferguson has just picked up his 11th Premier League title.

Good also for Shaktar Donetsk as they win the UEFA Cup after extra time. The Ukranian team overcame German side Bremen thanks to a goalkeeping error by Tim Wiese. After a solid display in normal time, the unlucky goalie conceded a soft goal which handed the trophy to the Ukranians. Hats off to Shaktar particularly as they become the first Ukranian team to win a major European trophy.

The Bad

We’ve talked about champions, but it is bad for the teams at the bottom of the league tables. And last weekend it was very bad for West Bromwich Albion and Tony Mowbery their manager as they were relegated to the second tier in England. They have been rightly applauded for their nice, passing style, but that wasn’t enough to keep the midlands side up.

They are not relegated but Velez Sarsfield in Argentina’s top league have just lost their unbeaten streak of 13 games – unlucky for some – and their top position. Gimnasia de la Plata beat them comfortably 3-1 allowing Lanus to claim the top spot. Bad for the team from western Buenos Aires.

The Ugly

Jens Lehmann’s attack on the integrity of the Bundesliga referees was pretty ugly. He claimed that Stuttgart would have already won the championship had the referees been fair this season. He also commneted that he has never seen Wolfsburg receive a bad refereeing decision against them. His comments put pressure on the referee for the upcoming game against Bayern Munich, saying he was hoping for a good refereeing performance. Could be candidate for spoilt loser of the year.

A challenger for that title could be Rafa Benitez, who refused to congratulate Alex Ferguson on Manchester United’s title win. He did congratulate the team but not the manager. Graceless behaviour.

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

were crowned: Became champions, received the title

emulating: To be as good as someone

solid display: A good defensive performance, safe

hats of to: congratulations to, well done

conceded: gave away, let something happen

applauded: congratulated, admired

unbeaten streak: a run of games with no defeats, no losses

integrity: honesty, honour, impartiality

spoilt: to behave childishly, to behave in a bad way

graceless: lacking grace, thoughtless, unrefined, not polite

Domestic cup winners from around Europe, the Player of the Year announced in England, crisis at Arsenal, fans on the pitch, drunken fights and stroppy behaviour off it, all feature in this week’s look at the footballing news in the 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, along with quizzes to help you practice.

The Good

It’s the time of year for the domestic cups to be decided around Europe and so it was good for the Rome team, Lazio, who came out on top in a penalty shoot-out with Sampdoria. That’s their fifth cup victory and also gives them a place in the Europa Cup next year. In Spain, it wasn’t such a surprise to see Barcelona win the Copa del Rey, but the scoreline of 4-1 may have raised a few eyebrows. The tie was effectively over for Bilbao after Barca scored three in nine minutes at the beginning of the second half. Lastly, Ligue 2 side Guingamp from Brittany won the French Cup for the first time in their history after stunning Rennes 2-1 in France with a stirring come from behind victory. Well done to those three sides.

It was also good for Steven Gerrard as he was voted the Player of the Season by sports writers across England earlier this week. He was preferred to a host of Manchester United players, such as Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs and Vidic. He has certainly enjoyed the freer role he has been given this season to rove around alongside Torres, scoring 23 goals so far (Here’s some of them). He is the first Liverpool player to win the award since John Barnes did in 1990 – the last time Liverpool were champions of Britain. Is it a sign?

The Bad

It has been a pretty bad week for Arsenal as they suffered two heavy defeats at home in only 4 days. First they were dumped out of the Champions League by Manchester United 1-3 and then on Sunday they were brushed aside by Chelsea 1-4. On both occasions the home fans left the stadium in their droves way before the final whistle. A sure sign that things are not too good at the Emirates.

While Alex Ferguson will be more than happy with Manchester United’s march to the title, he won’t be as pleased with the petulant behaviour of his star player, Ronaldo. Last weekend, the Portuguese wonder kid was substituted during the game with Manchester City. The match was pretty much over at 2-0 to the Red Devils and perhaps Fergie wanted to save the winger’s strength for the end of the season. However, Ronaldo showed how unhappy he was by snatching and throwing to the floor his tracksuit top and sitting on the bench shaking his head. Perhaps it’s a tactic to get Fergie to let him go to Real Madrid in the summer. Who knows.

The Ugly

The play-offs to decide which teams are promoted next season in England are taking place at the moment and perhaps the most highly-charged affair is the League 1 semi-final between Leeds and Millwall. When the first leg was held last weekend in east London, the home fans came on to the pitch to celebrate Millwall’s goal. with one of them arrested after throwing something at the Leeds goalkeeper. Both sets of fans have been involved in hooliganism in the past so it will be interesting to see how the second leg unfolds.

Tottenham defender Ledley King was involved in an ugly incident last Sunday outside a London nightclub. The Spurs player allegedly assaulted and injured a doorman. Alcohol, nightclubs, violence, football player, not words that go well together. It also looks as though his club may punish him further for his poor behaviour. Ugly.

Vocabulary

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

came out on top: To win, to defeat

a penalty shoot-out: A way of deciding a Cup match – usually the best of five spot kicks

the Europa Cup: The latest version of the UEFA Cup – it will start next season.

raised a few eyebrows: To cause some surprise

The tie: The game, especially a Cup game

stunning: Causing a shock

a stirring come from behind victory: To win after being down, a dramatic victory

a host of: A lot of, many

to rove around: To move freely, without any rules

to be dumped out of: To be knocked out of a competition

were brushed aside: Beaten easily

in their droves: In large numbers

petulant: Like a child

the Red Devils: The nickname of Manchester United

promoted: To move up a division, to go up

highly-charged affair: A game full of tension (on and off the pitch)

how the second leg unfolds: It will be interesting to see what happens in the second (return) match

allegedly assaulted: Has been accused of attacking someone

Barcelona in the Bernabeu and back from the brink, Birmingham bounce back and bad boy Barton all feature on 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.

The Good

Barcelona demolished their rivals Real Madrid 6-2 in the Bernabeu to all but secure La Liga title. The Catalan side are now 7 points clear with only 4 games left but it was the performance that everyone after the game was talking about. Madrid were appalling, tactically naive but they were at home, they were undefeated in 18 matches while Barcelona were missing key defenders and even went a goal down. It didn’t matter as Xavi and Iniesta embarrassed the Madrid midfield and Henry, Eto’o and Messi tormented the aging Madrid defence. 6-2 it finished but it could have been much more to leave all Cules in footballing heaven. Surely they could not top that? Well, a 93rd minute wonder-strike from midfield marvel Andres Iniesta to equalise against Chelsea in the Champions League meant that the Catalan side are on course for an unprecedented treble – La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Congratulations to Birmingham and Wolves who have both been promoted to the Premier League. The Blues from Birmingham bounce straight back after only one season in the Championship while Wolves return after a five-year absence. Good for the Midlands region of England.

The Bad

Not so good for the London region however as both Chelsea and Arsenal fail at the semi-final stage of the Champions League. Chelsea lost in the last minute against Barcelona while Arsenal were thumped by Manchester United. Still no team from the English capital has won the Champions League. Still hope for Tottenham!

It was also bad news for fans of football in the North-east of England as all three of the Premier League sides lost at the weekend to leave them in deep relegation trouble. Midddlesbrough were easily beaten by Manchester United, Newcastle received a sound thrashing from Liverpool, while Sunderland lost at home to Everton leaving them only 4 points from the drop. Newcastle and Middlesbrough play each other next week in an all-or-nothing game that will go a long way to decide which teams are relegated.

The Copa Libertadores is in chaos as the tournament reaches the knock-out stages. The health crisis in Mexico means that two of their teams are unable to host matches. Guadalajara and San Luis both squeaked into the last 16 but their games against Nacional from Uruguay and Brazil’s Sao Paolo have been postponed. The South American federation attempted to find alternative venues but first Colombia and then Chile turned down the idea. With the second legs to be played next week and the quarter-finals the week after that, it looks like a fixture pile-up for the continent’s biggest club competition.

The Ugly

Welcome back Joey Barton to the ugly section. The Newcastle midfielder has not played since January and despite pre-match warnings from his boss Alan Shearer he managed to get himself sent off after a reckless challenge on Liverpool’s Xavi Alonso last weekend. Barton has been told to stay away from the relegation-threatened club as well as receiving a two-week fine which means it looks like this could be the last the Geordie fans see of him. Thankfully no doubt.

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

demolished: Completely thrashed, easily defeated

appalling: To be really bad

went a goal down: To be losing by one goal

tormented the aging Madrid defence: To tease the old defenders from Real Madrid, to leave them in their wake

Cules: Nickname for the Barcelona fans

an unprecedented treble: A team in Spain has never won these three Cups

have both been promoted to: The two teams have gone up to the Premier League

bounce straight back: To come back immediately

the Championship: The division below the Premier League in England

deep relegation trouble: It looks like the team is going down (to be relegated)

received a sound thrashing from: To be beaten easily

4 points from the drop: To be only four points away from relegation

an all-or-nothing game: A winner takes it all match, a very important match to win

is in chaos: To be in a mess, no one knows what to do

to host matches: To be the place where the game takes place

squeaked into: To just about qualify, almost didn’t make it

postponed: The game will take place at another date

venues: The places where the games take place (stadia)

second legs: The second of two games in a knock-out competition

fixture pile-up: When there are too many games to play in a short space of time

reckless challenge: A crazy or wild tackle

a two-week fine: The player will not be paid for two weeks

Geordies: A nickname for the fans of Newcastle United

Boring Champions League semis, the race for La Liga title, injuries, empty stadiums, and a big name biting the dust all feature on 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.

The Good

Ryan Giggs, the flying Welsh and Manchester United winger at last wins the PFA best player of the season award. While most pundits agree it is a pat on the back for a great career rather than recognition for this season’s display, it’s hard to begrudge Giggs the award. Well done Ryan! You can listen to an earlier languagecaster podcast on Ryan Giggs here.

Real Madrid keep the race for La Liga’s title exciting with yet another victory, which means 17 wins and one draw from the last 18 matches for the ex-Spurs boss Juande Ramos. Shame it looks like he’s out on his ear at the end of the season. Raul scored a hat-trick as the Madrid side comfortably beat Sevilla 4-2 away. With Barcelona drawing at Valencia, this weekend’s match between the two Spanish giants looks like it could be a thriller. Of course Barca, like Man United in the Premier League, will have to have one eye on the second leg in the Champions League, as well as this weekend’s match.

The Bad

The Champions League semi-finals were pretty bad affairs. The two games which are supposed to showcase some of the best teams in Europe only produced one goal. Cagey affairs and it’s difficult to see the return legs being much more exciting. Penalties anyone?

Phil Jagielka suffered a bad knee ligament injury in Everton’s loss to Manchester City last weekend and underwent surgery this week – successfully we read – but apart form missing the rest of the season and facing a tough rehabilitation regime, the star defender will also have to sit out the FA Cup final against Chelsea. Bad for him and for his team as he had been in great form before the injury.

Bad also for Jurgen Klinnsmann the former coach of Bayern Munich, who was sacked this week. It was confidently predicted by most at the start of the Bundesliga season that Bayern Munich would sweep aside all opposition and canter to the title. A drubbing by Barcelona in the last 8 of the Champions League and last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to Schalke were the straws that broke the camel’s back. Other complaints had been his unorthodox training routines and the fact that he divided his time between his home in the USA and Germany. Bye bye Jurgen…

The Odd

As everyone is aware, the biggest news topic at the moment is the influenza outbreak in Mexico that is threatening to spread around the world. Now, languagecaster doesn’t want to join the bandwagon of alarm, but one of the effects of this troubling health development is the fact that some football games in Mexico have been played in empty stadiums. Last Sunday, for example, America lost to Tecos UAG in front of empty stands at the Azteca stadium, famous from the 1970 and 1986 World Cups and with a capacity of 105,000. Odd, spooky and a little bit worrying…

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

PFA best player of the season award: The Professional Footballers Association chooses the best player in England each year

pundits: Experts, people who know a lot about football

a pat on the back: Congratulations

to begrudge: To resent; to be envious

he’s out on his ear: He will be kicked out; fired, forced to leave

hat-trick: Three goals in one game

to showcase: To demonstrate something; to highlight

Cagey affairs : Tense, nervous occasions (games)

knee ligament injury: Part of the knee that becomes damaged – a serious injury

sweep aside: To beat all teams easily

canter to the title: To easily win the championship

A drubbing: A heavy defeat

the straws that broke the camel’s back: The final errors that lead to being fired

unorthodox: Unusual, not something regular

bandwagon: To join a campaign, to follow others’ opinions

spooky: Scary

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Andrei Arshavin, AZ Alkmaar and Serie A all feature on 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.

The Good

It was a lethal display by Arshavin, the Russian, as he fired four past Liverpool at Anfield. the Arsenal man is the first player to do that in the league for over sixty years. If anyone is wondering, the Wolverhampton player Dennis Westcott was the last player to do it. The game ended a 4-4 draw and means they have scored four or more goals six times in the last eight matches – surely the most exciting team around!

In Holland, AZ Alkmaar win the title with three games still to go despite losing to Vitesse Arnhem. Ajax, the only club who could mathematically catch them were crushed 6-2 by PSV Eindhoven the following day handing the title to Alkmaar. It’s the second time they have done it – the first coming 28 years ago in 1981.

And briefly, in the Super Clasico in Mexico, Guadalajara, or ‘Chivas’ beat bitter rivals America 1-0. And in Brazil, Ronaldo scores again for Corinthians as they win 2-0 against Sao Paulo and he continues his recovery.

The Bad

The showcase Wembley pitch, which hosted the two FA Cup semi-finals in England, has been criticised by Wenger and Ferguson for its poor quality and playing surface. It seems the football pitch is coming second to money concerns in the list of priorities, as Wembley hosts concerts and other events to pay off its debt. But while we’re on the subject of Wembley and FA Cup semis, wasn’t it great to see the tremendous support the Everton fans gave their team in their win over Manchester United.

It was time to gang up on Liverpool’s boss Benitez last week as Fergie and Allardyce launched a coordinated attack on the Spanish manager. Apparently they took offence at a ‘gesture‘ that was meant to signal that the game was over at 2-0 against Blackburn. They said it showed contempt for Allardyce and his team and Fergie said it was ‘beyond the pale‘. Most pundits realise Benitez was signalling to his team that he’s made a mistake and the players were correct when they used a long ball instead of a short pass from a free kick. Bad and sad but at least the Manchester United and Blackburn bosses didn’t get much support for their comments.

The Ugly

Racist chanting by Juve fans saw the Italian Serie A club ordered by FIFA to play a  game behind closed doors. Juventus fans had targeted Mario Balotelli, born in Italy but whose parents are Ghanaian. Sad and Ugly, but good to see that Balotelli scored the equaliser for his team Inter which effectively put an end to Juve’s hopes of the title.

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

lethal: deadly, dangerous

fired past: scored, usually with a powerful shot

be crushed: be defeated / be beaten badly, lose by a large score (3-0, 4-0 etc)

hand the title to: give the title to, do something for someone

list of priorities: list of important things

tremendous: fantastic, great

gang up on: bully, join together to attack someone, to pressurise someone

contempt: disregard, disrespect, disgust, hatred

beyond the pale: something that can’t be forgiven, so terrible that no one can ignore it

behind closed doors: with no fans

Last-gasp goals, Bayern Munich thrashed, Champions League quarter-finals, international sackings and tension in the Championship 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.

The Good

Last-gasp winners for Premier League title contenders Liverpool against Fulham and Manchester United at home to Aston Villa last weekend kept the race to be crowned champions interesting. Both goals were scored by substitutes, Yossi Benayoun for the Reds and Federico Macheda for the Red Devil. Macheda, 17, is now an instant hero for the Manchester United fans after his particularly stunning goal that means Manchester United avoided dropping points for the third game in-a-row.

It was a good week for teams playing German side Bayern Munich. First up were Wolfsburg who went top of the Bundesliga with a fantastic 5-1 win over them, with the last goal, by Grafite a possible contender for goal of the year. Wolfsburg go above Munich in the table and are now equal on points with Martin Jol’s Hamburg but with a better goal difference. Then four days later La Liga side Barcelona absolutely destroyed the Bavarians 4-0 in the Champions League quarter-final first leg with Lionel Messi once again displaying his footballing genius.

The Bad

Good in the league for Manchester United, but they were rocked by a last-gasp equaliser from their opponents, Porto in the Champions League. The team from Portugal scored two priceless away goals at Old Trafford setting up a tough return leg in Porto where no English team has won before. Last year Liverpool drew there 1-1 and Arsenal lost 2-0. Talking of Liverpool, it was a terrible night for them too as they were hammered 3-1 by Chelsea in their own backyard. Their zonal marking at corners fell to pieces, allowing the Blues to take the initiative with two headed goals by Ivanovic. Bad for both teams from the north west of England in the Champions League.

It has been a bad week for the image of two international teams Scotland and the Czech Republic with a host of sackings ensuing in the fall out. First up were the Scottish goalkeeper McGregor and captain Barry Ferguson who were dropped for the World Cup game against Iceland after an all-night drinking session. They then made inappropriate gestures to fans and the press while on the bench and have subsequently been banned from playing for the national side. Then, after two poor results in their World Cup qualifiers, the Czech Republic manager Petr Rada was fired while six of his former players, including the captain, have been banned after breaking a team curfew. Troubled times for both of these international teams.

The Ugly

It has been an ugly week in the English second tier – the Championship. Birmingham captain Lee Carsley was red-carded after an attrocious tackle on Wolves player Chris Iwelumo in the top of the table clash. QPR sacked their Portuguese manager Paolo Sousa after only 26 games, struggling Southampton face a points deduction and possible extinction due to their financial troubles, their manager was also involved in a fracas with the Charlton manager at the end of the game last week, Sheffield United and Barnsley players and managers had to be separated by the police at the end of their tempestuous derby match and in another fiery local encounter a fan threw coins on to the pitch in the Cardiff-Swansea match hitting the referee in the head. With only five games to go it is getting pretty ugly indeed in the Championship.

Vocabulary

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

Last-gasp winners: Goals scored at the end of a game to win the match

stunning goal: A very beautiful, spectacular goal

5-1 win over them: A 5-1 win against them (Bayern)

a better goal difference: The difference between the number of goals scored and conceded is greater

destroyed the Bavarians: Heavily defeated the team from Bavaria (Bayern)

were rocked by a last-gasp equaliser: Shocked by a late goal to draw the game (2-2)

priceless away goals: Very important goals, could prove to be match-winning (away goals count double in European football in the case of a draw)

they were hammered 3-1: They were well beaten; thrashed

in their own backyard: At home

zonal marking: Marking space rather than an opponent

fell to pieces: Collapsed, the plan did not work well

a host of sackings ensuing in the fall out: Lots of people were fired / sacked after the events

were dropped: The players were not chosen to play for disciplinary reasons

made inappropriate gestures: The players made rude signs, they were impolite

breaking a team curfew: Breaking the team’s rules

second tier: The division below the Premier League

top of the table clash: The two teams at the top of the division played against each other

face a points deduction: Could lose points (disciplinary penalty)

tempestuous derby match: A fiery game between two local teams, lots of passion (aggression)

Stories from the World Cup qualifying games dominate 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

It was good for European sides Spain, England and Holland who all maintained their 100% record in the qualification stages and along with Australia and Japan from the Asian section, they all look set to progress to the finals in South Africa in 2010.

Staying with World Cup qualification, it was good for underdogs Northern Ireland who picked up six points after beating group rivals Slovenia and Poland to top the group. With few of their players playing in any of the top leagues and the squad lacking in depth they still have a chance of qualifying for the finals. And in the Asian qualifiers, Saudi Arabia put the cat amongst the pigeons with two victories, away to Iran and at home against UAE. That puts them equal second on ten points with North Korea and a real chance of progressing.

Bad

However, those hard-earned points may well be in danger after FIFA promised to punish Northern Ireland for the trouble at the game against Poland on Saturday. Violence flared up before and after the match with opposing fans, a coin was thrown onto the pitch – hitting the referee’s assistant and there were allegations of death threats made against Poland’s goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, who plays for Celtic.

If Diego Maradona thought that reports from the Italian media stating that he owes 37 million euros to the Italian tax authorities following his seven-year stint at Napoli in the 1980s was bad then he was wrong. Managing Argentina to a 6-1 World Cup qualifying defeat in Bolivia has to be worse. Much worse. The embarrassing defeat came at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, 3,600m above sea level. Maradona will be wishing he hadn’t supported nations like Bolivia in their appeal against FIFA’s previous ban on playing at such altitudes two years ago.

Sad

African World Cup qualifying also continued last weekend and though there were some great surprises (victories for Togo over Cameroon and Gabon against Morocco) in many of the games, they were overshadowed by the fact that more than 20 people died at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan – the capital city of the Ivory Coast. Over 130 people were also injured in the incident which was caused when a wall collapsed after overcrowding in one part of the ground.

Vocabulary

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

all maintained their 100% record: They have won all their matches so far in the competition

qualification stages: The games played to decide which teams play in the finals

underdogs: a team that is not expected to do well – playing against a favoured team

picked up six points: The team won two matches

to top the group: The team is now leading the table, is ahead of the other sides

put the cat amongst the pigeons: Cause a surprise or trouble, make everyone nervous

the squad lacking in depth: There are not many good players in the squad

FIFA: The World football governing organisation

Violence flared up: The violence started quickly, there was lots of fighting

tax authorities: A government agency that collects tax

seven-year stint: A period of seven years, the time he spent there

Togo over Cameroon: Togo against Cameroon

overshadowed: Completely dominated, cast a shadow over

Stories from the top and bottom of the Premier League, UEFA, Brazil and Argentina all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly on 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

An extremely good weekend for Premier League side Liverpool as they demolished Aston Villa 5-0 while their rivals at the top of table both lost. Chelsea were beaten by Tottenham 1-0 and fellow Londoners, Fulham beat leaders Manchester United 2-0 after Scholes and Rooney were sent off. Is the title race back on?

Yossi scores for Liverpool against Real Madrid

Well done Yossi Benayoun of Liverpool and Israel. The midfielder has been out injured for his club for the past two weeks with a pulled hamstring but is close to recovery. Now, instead of taking the safe option and resting during the international fixtures to get himself fit for Liverpool’s title push, the Israeli international wants to play, and captain, his side in their top of the group clash against Greece – a win would see them top the group. A footballer showing commitment and a recognition that country comes before club. Good for him!

Bad

Bad times for English Premier League side Newcastle United as they lose at home to Arsenal 1-3 and fall into the relegation zone. That’s one win in 13 games for the Magpies. Caretaker manager Chris Hughton has recently come under fire with the media suggesting players are not happy with him though the coach suggests he still has the dressing room. Next up for Newcastle is Chelsea, so it may get worse before it gets better.

It has been a bad week for Argentinian side San Lorenzo who were many people’s tips to do well this season in the Clausura championship. They lost 0-1 at home in the Copa Libertadores last Thursday – their third straight defeat in the tournament – and then slumped to a 0-3 home thrashing at the hands of Colon at the weekend in the Clausura. In that game they had three players sent off in a remarkable 6 minute spell. Troubled times for San Lorenzo.

Ugly

The European football organisation UEFA have stated that a club from Macedonia were involved in match-fixing in a Champions League qualifying game in 2004. UEFA have set a disciplinary hearing for April 17th and it will be interesting to see what kind of punishment they give the Macedonian side. Pretty ugly.

Brazilian superstar Pele accuses current Brazil stars Ronaldo and Robinho of taking recreational drugs in a nightclub. On hearing the news, Robinho threatens to sue the former Brazilian striker. However, Pele strongly denies that he made such allegations and Robinho now says he has no bad feelings against Pele at all. It seems that the power of the tabloid press has yet again been misused to sell newspapers – pretty ugly.

Vocabulary

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

they demolished Aston Villa 5-0: Liverpool thrashed (easily beat) Villa 5-0

commitment: Loyalty

fall into the relegation zone: the team is now in one of the bottom three places in the league

has the dressing room: The coach still has the authority over the players

many people’s tips to do well: Many football fans thought the team would win

Clausura championship: One of two championships played in Argentina each year.

their third straight defeat: The team has lost three times in a row

slumped to a 0-3 home thrashing at the hands of Colon: Were beaten badly 0-3 by Colon at home

remarkable: Amazing; unbelievable

match-fixing: When a team or player tries to arrange the score of the game before it is played in order to win money

taking recreational drugs: Taking drugs for fun – not to improve performance (e.g. cocaine)

denies that he made such allegations: Pele said he did not accuse Robinho of those things

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

Stories from England, France, Argentina, Iraq and Brazil all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly on 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.

The Good

Liverpool keep the race for the Premier League Championship interesting by demolishing Manchester United 4-1 in United’s backyard. Torres was devastating for the Reds as he humiliated Vidic and scored the all-important equaliser after United had gone ahead with a penalty. Benitez was right to praise Liverpool’s team spirit after the game as every player played as a unit to neutralise their opponents’ midfield and attack. The victory means Liverpool have done the double over both Chelsea and United this season, and capped a great week of football for them coming as it did after beating Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League.

Despite that defeat, Manchester United are still well clear at the top of the table, as are Inter Milan in Italy and Barcelona in Spain, with all three championships seemingly wrapped up. But there is lots of excitement in two of the other big leagues in Europe, namely Germany, where any one of five teams can still win the Bundesliga title and, rather surprisingly, in France where only 4 points separate the top 6 teams. For the past 7 years, Lyon have dominated Ligue 1 and, though they are leading at the moment, their advantage is only one point. The Lyon side have their lost their last 4 games in all competitions and are being chased by Marseilles, a resurgent Paris St. Germain, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lille. It should be an exciting run-in in Ligue 1.

The Bad

It’s bad for Aston Villa as their push for a Champions League spot has started to stutter. A few months back they were in third place and people were even talking about them winning the league, but since February they have played six games and lost four of them, drawn one, and only won a single game. Last Sunday, Tottenham were the latest team to beat the Midlands side, scoring two goals at Villa Park. To make things worse, the Villa fans booed their striker Agbonlahor when he was substituted after a disappointing display, and Aston Villa have Liverpool and Manchester United to come. A bad run of form indeed.

Staying in England, there was plenty of bad blood when Arsenal took on Hull City in a FA Cup 5th Round replay at The Emirates Stadium in London. Arsenal won thanks to a controversial late goal but most of the attention turned to the accusations from Hull City that the non-playing captain of the Gunners, Cesc Fabregas, spat at the visiting team’s coach, Brian Horton. The FA have been notified so we should expect a decision some time in the summer of 2012.

There are bad misses and then there are the misses by Gremio’s striker Jonas. A hat trick. The first was a good save but the second and third attempts were inexcusable. Watch them here. Gremio went on to win the match against Colombia’s Boyaca Chico in the Copa Libertadores, but I bet Jonas took some flack in the changing room after the game.

The Ugly

Haider Hakem, an Iraqi footballer playing for Annana, was shot dead as a match ended against Annana’s rivals Sinjar. The BBC reported the player was shot by opposing fans as he was about to equalise, while other reports suggest it was Annana fans celebrating the 1-0 victory with gunfire that accidentally shot the player. Either way, pretty ugly, especially as last month a leading Iraqi footballer, Ahmed Shallal, was shot dead on the way to his club by unknown assailants.

Football fan violence is nothing new in Argentina but this time it involved fans from the same club. The violence broke out among factions of the Boca Juniors fan base and unfortunately two bystanders were shot, one of whom was an 85-year woman. Pretty ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

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

demolishing Completely destroying; beating easily

Torres was devastating for the Reds Torres played very well; he was unstoppable

the all-important equaliser A very important goal to level the scores (e.g. 1-1)

have done the double To beat a team twice in the same season (home and away)

capped a great week Topped off;

seemingly wrapped up Appears to be finished; looks like the title has already been won

a resurgent Paris St. Germain PSG are playing well again at the moment

run-in The final set of matches

to stutterTo not play in a fluent or fluid manner; not smooth

bad run of formTo not be playing well for a long time; have not won for a long time.

bad blood Bad feeling between two teams

Arsenal took on Hull City Arsenal played Hull City; versus

controversial late goal A disputed late goal; The goal was not accepted by the other team

spat at the visiting team’s coach To spit – to deliberately eject saliva from the mouth at someone

A hat trickThree goals (usually); here it refers to three misses

were inexcusable Cannot be excused; it seemed easier to score, unforgivable

took some flack Took some stick; was teased about it

to equalise To score a goal to level the game

unknown assailants People that attacked him were not known

violence broke out The aggression started (quite quickly and without warning)

factions Groups within a group; splinters; smaller divisions

bystandersPeople standing nearby