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

Listen here Copa América History.mp3

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

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 is currently taking place in Germany and so in this post we feature a reading from 2002 by Tony Leighton on the history of women’s football. The pdf worksheet contains exercises on skimming, note taking, vocabulary building and summary writing – complete with answers. Download the worksheet here

Question – What do the Football Associations of, England, Holland and Germany have in common with China’s Qing Dynasty (founded 1644)? Answer – All four governing bodies at some stage banned women’s football.

Surprising though it may seem in the light of the boom in women’s soccer during the last decade of the 20th Century – and with the fourth Women’s World Cup finals set for 2003 – the game was cripplingly held back in earlier times through the prejudice of male-dominated organisations. The first known records of the game are frescoes of women playing football at the time of the Donghan Dynasty (AD 25-220). How far women’s football had progressed before the Qing Dynasty came to power is not known, but it quite obviously never became the Sport of Qings. continue

People are always guessing what is going to happen in the future. It may be, ‘Is it going to rain tomorrow?’ ‘Will my team win the league?’ or  ‘Do you think I should invest my money in this company?’ Predicting the future is part of our daily life and our everyday conversation. You don’t have to be a Nostrodamus to try to predict what will happen in the future. Of course, at languagecaster.com, we are always trying to predict the score of matches in the world’s beautiful game, football!

Read below to learn the language of predictions.

In English, if you want  to make guesses about the future, or make predictions, there are a number of ways you can do so. Let’s look at talking about football matches as examples – but the language can be used for most guesses about the future.

1. will

Question (WH): Who do you *think will win (between Chelsea and Manchester United)? continue

Here is the Guardian newspaper’s preview of the big north-west derby in England between Manchester United and Liverpool. We have provided a brief summary of the article at the start to help readers with comprehension, while vocabulary support for learners of English can be found at the foot of the post.

Background Information

The match between Liverpool and Manchester United is one of the ‘classics’ of the English game. The rivalry between the two clubs is fierce and is linked to geographical location and the fact that these two side are the most successful in domestic football in England. Both clubs have won the league title on a record 18 occasions, though Liverpool have not won it since 1990, and both teams have won an amazing 58 trophies each. The Spanish and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has not had the best start to this season but in this article he stresses the importance of doing well against Manchester United and hopes to repeat the success his side had at Old Trafford (the home of Manchester United) in 2007.

There is a vocabulary list at the foot of this post to help with comprehension. Damon, a Liverpool fan, does not think his side will do well this weekend, what do you think, can Liverpool kick start their season and win at Old Trafford? See the rest of this week’s predictions from languagecaster here. continue

Here is the Guardian newspaper’s preview of the German football season. WE have provided a brief summary at the start to help readers with comprehension, while vocabulary support for learners of English can be found at the foot of the post.

Background Information

The writer, Raphael Honigstein, previews the 2010-11 Bundesliga season in this article and since he is writing for a British audience he mainly discusses the former England manager Steve McClaren who has recently taken over at Wolfsburg. He does so in a rather tongue in cheek manner and makes constant reference to the image of McClaren holding an umbrella during his worst moment as Englland manager when he became known as the ‘Wally with the Brolley’

So, in paragraph 1 he begins the article with a humourous story that mentions the umbrella for the first time before moving on to discuss McClaren in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. Paragraph 5 discusses some of the main transfers during the close season in Germany, while paragraph 6 discusses the financial state of the game there. In the next two paragraphs (7 and 8), he mentions the teams that might threaten Bayern Munich’s dominance, while in the following short paragraph those teams he thinks may be relegated are talked about. in the final paragraph he once more returns to the subject of the umbrella and McClaren by suggesting that the good weather forecast will mean the Englishman will not need his umbrella this evening and therefore will not be known as a wally anymore.

This article titled “Bundesliga 2010-11 season preview” was written by Raphael Honigstein, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 20th August 2010 08.34 UTC

Once upon a time in the mid-1980s, in a central Munich high school, there was an elderly Latin teacher called Hansi Hell. He had more than a slight speech impediment. In fact, it was a real lisp: the kind that spews forth warm fluids like a small-scale geyser. Herr Hell, a stern disciplinarian, naturally seemed completely oblivious to his own wet unpleasantness. One day, one pitiful pupil who had the misfortune of sitting in the drenched front row decided to fight back. He reached below his desk, pulled out an umbrella and opened it right in front of Herr Hell’s face.

That’s a true story. Certainly not true, however, are malicious rumours that football journalists in Lower Saxony have taken to wearing Roy Orbison-strength shades indoors in a similarly defensive measure to avoid being blinded. It’s quite the opposite, to be fair: the supernatural glistening of Steve McClaren’s perfectly shaped, calcified structures has not once been mentioned by the German press so far. The former England manager has bedazzled his audience in an altogether more agreeable manner: he has been charm personified and generally come across like a well-travelled, extremely confident winner-type.

Tonight, McClaren, “the pioneer from Yorkshire” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) will sit down on his bench in the Allianz Arena as the first ever English manager in the Bundesliga. “It’s an honour for me,” he said ahead of the season’s curtain-raiser that pits Double winners Bayern Munich against his attractive yet defensively solid Wolfsburg side. The feeling, it must be said, is rather mutual: there is a palpable sense of pride that a coach of genuine international calibre has been persuaded to add some new ideas and a new style of management to the familiar mix. His less-than-happy spell in charge of HM’s Bestest XI has been forgiven and forgotten – it’s always the next game that counts in German football anyway, never the past. In addition to that, foreign, non-German speaking managers still have tremendous novelty value in our somewhat insular league.

The 49-year-old is currently busy learning the language. All press conferences and interviews have been taken in English thus far. McClaren speaks deliberately slowly and often augments his words with gestures in the tried and tested fashion employed by so many Brits abroad. But to German ears, he sounds cool and sophisticated, not patronising. He’s also cleverly saying a lot of extremely flattering things that few non-native football men have said before. “The Bundesliga is a growing league, not just financially and (in terms of) the stadiums and the crowds but in quality as well,” he proclaimed, for example. “That’s why some of the best players in the world are attracted to it.”

Some of the best players in the World Cup are clearly more attracted by another league but the defection of Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil to Spain has done little to dampen either McClaren’s or the rest of the country’s enthusiasm for the new season post-South Africa. Hamburg striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting remains the biggest name in the league, literally, but there are one or two very glamorous additions. Schalke have miraculously snared Real Madrid icon Raúl, who has looked very sharp in pre-season. Michael Ballack’s return to Bayer Leverkusen is also exciting the crowds: the 33-year-old has a point to prove after losing the Germany armband to Philipp Lahm and maybe even more during his enforced absence at the World Cup. Some widely discussed private business has increased the pressure on the veteran midfielder.

Wolfsburg have failed in their attempt to buy Diego (Juventus) but might yet make another prominent signing. Everyone else has spent little money. Bayern, who have hinted at a record turnover of €350m (including the figures for Allianz Arena), did not buy a single new player. CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has warned that they’re close to hitting the glass ceiling in terms of generating income unless TV money – currently about €450m per season, a third of what the Premier League makes – increases. Growth in this area is difficult, however, because the league is hemmed in from both sides. The domestic media landscapes and political pressure make it hard for Sky Deutschland to succeed while internationally, the brand is still relatively weak. The “Kamikaze spending” (Alex Ferguson) witnessed elsewhere might be extremely dangerous but it’s also a helluva lot sexier for neutrals than financial prudence. Few people turn in to watch great house-keeping.

Last year’s average attendance record (just south of 42,000) is set to be smashed again, nevertheless, as Germans flock to the stadiums, almost irrespective of the quality on show or their side’s chances to win any prizes. Even the Bundesliga’s biggest structural deficit – a lack of a genuine second super-power to challenge Munich’s unhealthy dominance – has somehow become a very strong selling point: behind the perennial favourites Bayern, the field is so open that virtually half of the remaining 17 sides can consider themselves real contenders for a Champions League place. The race for Uefa’s riches will be even more competitive in two years’ time, when four starting berths will be available once more.

Louis van Gaal’s squad is clearly the best. But without Arjen Robben, laid off for at least two months after coming back from the finals with a left thigh muscle that reportedly resembles a half-eaten Biltong strip, Bayern won’t be able to run away with it. Leverkusen, Werder and Hamburg in particular should offer plenty of resistance, and feasibly a little more.

At the other end of the table new boys St Pauli, Hamburg’s red-light district, alternative Bundesliga club will at the very least provide plenty of good storylines, along with the honest, more straightforward returnees Kaiserslautern.

Just like tonight’s game, the season promises plenty of goals, interesting characters and a healthy dose of Teutonic madness. The ongoing redemption of one Steve M from Fulford will provide extra appeal from an Anglo-Saxon perspective. And the early signs are good, it has to be said: Munich’s Meterologisches Institutes predicts clear, sunny skies for this evening. The league’s first English football teacher will not need to bring an umbrella.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

Vocabulary

tongue in cheek manner: Not being so serious

‘Wally with the Brolley’: The idiot (wally) carrying the umbrella (brolly)

malicious rumours: Nasty gossip

bedazzled his audience: Impressed greatly those watching him

curtain-raiser : The opening game of the season

pits Double winners Bayern Munich against : To play against (one team versus another)

HM’s Bestest XI: A humourous reference to the England national side

to dampen: (The enthusiasm) Despite some problems people are still enthused by this year’s football

saying a lot of extremely flattering things: Saying very nice things

Schalke have miraculously snared Real Madrid icon Raúl: Schalke have signed Raul

the perennial favourites : Every year they are the favourites, the team to beat is always Bayern

Teutonic: Adjective to describe something German

The World Cup is a week old and if you are struggling to keep up or simply have no idea what’s going on and you need some language for those World Cup conversations, then here’s a list of 6 talking points to help you through till next week at least. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

1. Vuvuzela

If you don’t know what a vuvuzela is then you are on the wrong site. Annoying drone of angry bees or fantastically atmospheric backdrop to the tournament? There is talk of a ban but that would be hard to implement and extremely unfair to the hosts. Should it be banned? Let us know here.

2. Lack of Goals

The atmosphere is fantastic, the stadia are brilliant, Messi looks like he is up for it but where are all the goals? After the first set of matches there were a total of only 25 goals from 16 matches which makes it fewer than the Italia 90 World Cup which is long-regarded as the most boring in recent times. No one wants to lose the first game but where is the sense of adventure that teams had in Germany 2006?

3. The Ball

The Jabulani, the official World Cup football, has been called the roundest ball ever produced by Adidas. They would though. Commentators, managers and fans are suggesting that the misplaced passes, over-hit crosses, goalkeeping mistakes and the lack of decent long shots have been caused by the unpredictability of the ball. How can it be unpredictable when the ball is the roundest ball in football history? Stop complaining and get on with it, after all, it’s only a ball. continue

The winter transfer window is about to close, meaning that clubs have only a few more days to buy, sell, loan and trade players. Speculation abounds as gossip, whispers and rumours fill newspapers and websites with the language of football transfers.

One area that my football-loving students find difficult to understand is the language used to describe the world of football transfers, particularly when they appear as headlines in newspapers or websites. Let’s take a look at some of the headlines that have recently appeared on the Sky Sports website and see if we can break down their meaning a little.

Strachan eyes Nak deal

Espanyol confirm Boro interest

Stoke to hijack Pompey keeper

Norwegian snubs English interest

Kaboul seals return to Spurs

continue

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In this video worksheet post we use a clip from the excellent The History Of Football [2002] [DVD] on the 1966 World Cup final between Germany and England. There is also a worksheet, transcript and answer sheet below. The report lasts for 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Transcript

Bobby Moore and Uwe Seeler were out in the middle exchanging international compliments and meeting the referee Dienst of Switzerland.

The West German attack had bite and purpose, on they came again. An English defensive lapse gave the ball to Haller… and that was it. One down after 12 minutes spurred the English attack. This time a chance came to West Ham’s Geoff Hurst – it’s the equaliser!!

It’s there. Peters has scored. If only they could keep the lead for a few desperate minutes against the West Germans, now a team playing their hearts out to keep in the running. Germany would not let up then seconds before the final whistle, agony for England. Webber scored. It had to be extra time. Then Geoff Hurst, cool and collected, had the ball in the net. No! It bounced out. ‘Goal!’ claimed England. ‘No goal!’ protested the Germans. The referee consulted the linesman who’d been in line with the posts and goal it was.

When there was only a minute to go England still had no thought of being content with that one goal lead racing to beat the whistle, Geoff Hurst saw an opening in the defence and achieved a hat trick.

Bobby Moore lead England up to the Royal Box to receive the Jules Rimet Cup and the winners’ medals. To be here as winners of the FA Cup has often been described as the summit of a footballer’s ambition, how much greater is the triumph they enjoy now.

Three years go Alf Ramsey set out on the hard road that lead to the World Cup. Only the optimists thought he could possibly succeed, certainly not West Germany whose team now ran a lap of honour. They were very sporting losers. Finally it was England that the whole world of sport was now cheering.

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This week’s main report looks at the World Cup play-off match between Ireland and France. Listen to our Irish football correspondent, Brendan, discussing whether Ireland can cause a huge upset and make it to South Africa 2010. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Listen to the report here

Once FIFA decided to move the goalposts late in the World Cup qualifier campaign and seed the play-off draw, football fans here in Ireland greeted the draw with fear and trepidation. In the end those fears were realised when Stephen Piennar drew the name of France out of the bowl, made more difficult when we discovered that we’d have to play the second leg in Paris. continue

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In this video worksheet post we use a clip from the excellent The History Of Football [2002] [DVD]on the topic of Folk Football. There is also a worksheet, transcript and answer sheet below. The report lasts for 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Folk Football Worksheet | Transcript

(for audio only, click here)

Transcript
The legend, whether true or not, is still enacted year in, year out by the people of Kirkwall, Scotland, making it one of the last strongholds of the game, which for hundreds of years dominated Britain.

The game itself is remarkably similar to other long-abandoned folk matches played on the island. The pitch is the entire town; the players number in their hundreds; the goals are local landmarks a mile apart. One goal was generally all it took to win the game, although that could take a whole day. In Kirkwall, two sides compete: the ‘up-the-gates’ and the ‘down-the-gates’. Their struggle for the ball, or ‘baa’, is deeply symbolic. continue