So, it’s done! Liverpool legend and scorer of 118 goals for the club, Michael Owen, has signed for Manchester United. Is it really true? Can it be true? Many Liverpool fans will be left stunned at the thought of their hero on his way to their biggest rivals.

As Schopenhauer said, truth passes through three stages - first it is laughed at, then it faces violent opposition, and then it is accepted as obvious.

Ridicule

Well, this ‘truth’ follows that pattern. As the first hints of the news spread across the internet, most people thought it was a joke, after all Owen’s biggest fan seemed to be Hull City’s Phil Brown - and Hull City are no Manchester United. The idea seemed laughable.

Opposition

Then, the news was confirmed and the forums began to fill with angry comments - from Liverpool fans: ‘He can rot in the “Stretford End” for all I care!’, ‘My boyhood idol, F****n gutted he went there. I’ll never enjoy watchin him play again.’ et cetera. But deep down everyone knows that Michael Owen is a very calculating player, who looks out for himself. On leaving Real Madrid he commented that he owed Liverpool nothing and he certainly will not be expecting a warm welcome if he returns to Anfield in the Manchester United shirt.

Accepted

And finally, although it’s a bit early to say definitely, it seems as though most pundits recognise that this transfer deal is a great idea for both the player and the club. Owen is on a free transfer, so there are only reduced wages to pay. Owen has a great strike rate when he’s fit and can be used sparingly from the bench or in cup competitions, and finally Fergie gets to stick two fingers up to Liverpool FC.

***

I’ve just seen Owen in the new Man U kit and it made me shudder!

Vocabulary

To take the Michael: This is a version of to take the Mickey, whcih means to tease, to make fun of, to say a cruel joke.

Stunned: Very surprised, uable to move or think

Laughable: unbelievable, crazy

Gutted: very, very disappointed, feeling sick because something bad has happened

Pundit: reporter, journalist, commentator

Stick two fingers up at: flip the bird, show the finger, make an obscene (rude) gesture

Last week, saw the confederations Cup reach its climax with an exciting game seeing Brazil come from two goals down to beat the USA 3-2. The USA certainly impressed the worldwide audience by beating Spain and going close against the South American powerhouse. Perhaps their world ranking of 12 is merited. In other news, it looks like Real Madrid are buying just about everybody - after Ronaldo and Kaka, Benzema from Lyon looks poised to join the Spanish giants for 35 million euro. When will it end?

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Check out this week’s featured post - The Language of Football Transfers in 4 Easy Steps

And listen to something from our back catalogue - The Seven Stages of Being a Manager

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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PREDICTION

Last week Damon and Damian looked at the Confederation Cup final - Damon went for a narrow 1-0 Brazil victory while Damian chose a tight penalty-shoot-out win for the USA.

The result - Brazil 3 - 2 USA - Damon 2 - 0 - Damian

Spanish fans saw their team win the ‘third place’ spot with another 3-2 victory over South Africa.

This week’s prediction features Vélez Sarsfield v Huracán in their last game in the Primera Division de Argentina’s Clausura race. Vélez are second and Huracán, who have been playing some great football but have off the field problems, are first. Should be a corker!

Damon: Vélez 2-2 Huracán - And that will mean the Clausura title for Huracán

Damian: Vélez 1-2 Huracán - Huracán to shake off their unlucky loser tag and win to take the title

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FOOTBALL LANGUAGE

This week, we look at a phrase often used in the transfer window - to be poised. This means to be waiting, ready to move quickly, that something will happen soon. The word poise has the nuance of something balanced delicately. The phrase is usually used in this way: a club is poised to make a bid for (name of player) / a team is poised to swoop for (name of player) / a player is poised to agree a move to (name of club). On the back pages this week, we can see that Tevez is poised to agree a move to Manchester City and Barcelona are poised to make a 25 million pound move for Liverpool’s Mascherano.

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Huracan have been around since 1908. Their fans are known as Quemeros, the burners, because the area of Buenos Aires that they play used to be an area for burning rubbish. How many titles have Huracan’s fans seen their side win in the professional era?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about which English football team Michael Jackson and his friend, Uri Geller went to watch was - Exeter.

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This week’s POLL

This week’s poll asks which team do you think will win the 2009 / 10 Premier League? Go to the site, click on your choice in the side bar and leave a comment.

_________________________________________________________________________

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

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

The summer transfer window is upon us which, of course, means that clubs are allowed to buy and sell players for a fixed period of time. In this teaching ideas post we take a look at the language of football transfers. You can download the worksheet here and to help you understand there is also a vocabulary list containing the words in bold at the foot of this post and a Football Transfer Crossword to help you practise these words.

Introduction

A transfer is when a footballer moves from one club to another and this can come about in two ways: either the club decides to sell the player or the player chooses to leave the club. Simple. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. The whole process is a compete mess as:

• club managers attempt to buy the best players within their budgets
• players look for higher salaries and a better chance of winning trophies
• agents want to earn large fees from their clients
• fans are full of hope or dread at the prospect of buying someone new or selling one of their stars
• press speculation fuels the whole process.

So, here is a brief guide to the language of football transfers in four easy steps.

1. Speculation

The transfer process usually begins in the media with rumours and gossip linking players (and managers) with different clubs. A player may be unhappy with the way he has been treated by his club and is angling for a move away, or if a bigger club is showing interest, the player is flattered and suggests it would be a dream move for him - though we all know that it just means more money. Of course, the player may not wish to move and instead vows to stay and commits his future to the team. Speculation is particularly rife, or common, when a player is nearing the end of his contract as clubs can buy the player at a cheaper price. As we mentioned earlier, the club may well wish to get rid of the player and so they make him available and allow him to contact another club.

2. Contact

Officially, a club is not allowed to talk to another player while he is contracted to a club but they can ask permission to do so, particularly if the club suggest they are open to offers for the player. The press may report that officials from the two clubs were seen talking but if this happens while a player is still under contract, then it is known as tapping up and is illegal and could mean a fine or another form of punishment. If the talks go well then the press may suggest that the teams are close to a deal and that a bid has been made but if there are any problems then the deal falls through and no one is going anywhere.

3. The Transfer

There are two set periods in the year when teams can buy and sell players and this is known as the transfer window. A club will decide how much a player is worth, a price is put on his head and then will enter into negotiations with another club. When the two agree a fee and the player is happy to move, then we say that he has signed for another club, he has moved, he has been transferred and that the club has sealed the deal. Sometimes, if it has been a particularly quick affair and maybe rather surprising, the press say a player has been snapped up by another team.

Not all transfers involve money. Sometimes a player moves to another club on a free - costing nothing - as he is out of contract, deemed not good enough or that he has been a loyal servant and can make some money from a move (usually at the end of his career). Another transfer that does not involve cash is the loan deal which sees a player being lent or loaned to another club for a set period of time, while a swap deal sees two players changing clubs, one player joining one team and the other moving in the opposite direction.

4. Money

Football is a huge business and the money involved in transfers helps to keep it running. If a player is still under contract at his original club then the new club has to pay some money to secure the player, a transfer fee, and usually, the better the player, the higher the fee. The current transfer record is £80 million paid by Real Madrid to Manchester United for Portuguese star Ronaldo. The player will also receive a signing-on fee along with his new contract and, of course, his agent will also benefit. It is not usual these days for a club to pay the full fee up front but rather it is paid in installments which may last for years in some cases.

So, the transfer process is now complete. However, the business of football, the intense media hunger for stories and the fans’ desire for success all mean that transfer speculation soon begins again and before you know it, the transfer window is open once more and the whole procedure starts again.

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• Take a look at some of the back pages of the English newspapers to see lots of the language mentioned in the post above. You can also check out the BBC football gossip page.
• Let us know if you come across any other language connected to transfers
• What do you think of the transfer window so far? Who should or shouldn’t your team buy?

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Here are explanations of some of the words and phrases from the reading above. Download the worksheet for free here. You can also practise the vocabulary with a crossword: PDF version | Answers

linking: Connecting, suggesting a move

is angling for a move away: The player wants to move away

are showing interest: When a club wish to buy a player

is flattered: The player is being praised so he feels good

a dream move: A move (transfer) that the player has always wanted

vows to stay with the club: The player does not want to move clubs, promises to stay

committing his future: The player is determined not to move, he really wants to stay

Speculation is often rife: When there is a lot of gossip about a transfer

to get rid of the player: To fire or sack a player

make him available: Put him up for sale, offer him

open to offers: The team are willing to sell

were seen talking: The clubs are in discussions

tapping up: An illegal approach to sign a player

close to a deal: The two sides have almost agreed on the transfer

a bid has been made: The buying club has offered money to the selling club

the deal falls through: There are difficulties with the transfer and it is called off

a price is put on his head: There is a price tag for the player; how much it will cost to buy him

agree a fee: The two clubs are happy about how much the player costs

he has signed for another club: The player has moved to another club

has moved: The player has moved to another club

has been transferred: The player has moved to another club

sealed the deal: The player has been bought

snapped up: A player has been bought by another team (quickly)

on a free: The player costs nothing to buy

out of contract: The player is a free agent, no longer connected to the club

a loyal servant: A player that has stayed a long time at one club

the loan deal: An agreement between teams that sees a player move to another club for a short period of time but that he still belongs to the first club

under contract: When a player still belongs to a club

a transfer fee: The money paid between the two clubs for a player

transfer record: The most money paid for a player

a signing-on fee: Money received by a player when he joins a new club

paid in installments: To pay a bill in parts, i.e. not the full quantity

A busy week in football saw Brazil reach the Confederation Cup final where they will meet outsiders, the USA after they ended Spain’s amazing unbeaten run in the semi-final 2-0. I think you’ll find one of our correspondents here at languagecaster tipped the US side to make the final! Meanwhile, Estudiantes and Gremio hold the advantage after the first legs of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals and transfer gossip continues as clubs in Europe prepare for the new season.

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Check out this week’s featured post - The Copa Libertadores semi-finals

And listen to something from our back catalogue - Review of last year’s European Championship finals

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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PREDICTION

Last week we both went for a Tunisian home win in the World Cup qualifiers from the African zone. The game, however, finished 0-0 which will have pleased the away team’s fans but not those who rely on the tipping team here at languagecaster.

This week’s prediction features the Confederations Cup final between Brazil and the USA

Damon: Brazil 1 - 0 USA (Brazil won’t let the US pull off another upset)

Damian: Brazil 1-1 USA (America to win on penalties)

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FOOTBALL CLICHE

This week’s featured cliche is  football is a funny old game and it means football is unpredictable: that we just don’t know what is going to happen, or that anything could happen in football. In Spain they use the expression ‘El Futbol Es Asi‘ which means football is like that, i.e. there is nothing you can do about it, while in American football, commentators often use the expression ‘that’s why we play the game’ to convey the same meaning.

Click here for more football cliches

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Michael Jackson passed away this week but do you know what English football team he famously turned up to see with friend Uri Geller a couple of years ago?

a) Leicester City

b) Manchester City

c) Exeter City

d) Bristol City

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about when North Korea last qualified for the World Cup final - 1966.

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This week’s POLL

This week’s poll asks which team do you think will win the 2009 Confederations Cup that is taking place in South Africa? Brazil or the USA? Go to the site, click on your choice in the side bar and leave a comment.

_________________________________________________________________________

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

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

Last week we looked at South Africa, this week we visit South America and the continent’s biggest club competition the Copa Libertadores. As you read the post, look at the names of countries and the nationality adjectives. Then try the quiz to check your knowledge.

The semi-final places were decided this week, and it’s an all Brazilian semi final on one side with Gremio taking on Cruzeiro. the other semi sees Argentina’s Estudiantes take on Nacional from Uruguay. It’s the first time for twenty years since a Uruguayan team has been in the semi-finals of the Copa, but it will be difficult for them to beat the Argentinian team Estudiantes, who haven’t conceded a goal since the knockout stage began. As for the teams from Brazil, Gremio qualified for the knockout rounds as top seeds and will be quietly confident of beating Cruzeiro, who are struggling in the domestic league, and perhaps lifting the trophy for the third time in their history.

My money is on Estudiantes vs Gremio in the final.

Focus on language

In this post there are several country names and nationality adjectives (nationality adjectives are often the same as nationality nouns - used with people from the country).

Country names:
Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil

Nationality adjectives:
Argentinian team, Uruguayan team, Brazilian semi-final

Do you know the country names and nationality adjectives for the other countries in South America?

Download the Nationality Adjectives Worksheet pdf.

Try the ONLINE QUIZ with audio

As Real Madrid continue to build their new dream team, other teams are beginning to make moves in the transfer market, World Cup qualifiers continue - good news for North Korea (a 0-0 draw against saudi Arabia sees them through to the World Cup), not so good for Argentina (they lie fourth in the South America table after losing 2-0 away to Ecuador), and of course, in South Africa, the Confederations Cup is in full swing. In other news, politics and football get mixed up as some of Iran’s football team wear green wrist bands in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi who recently lost an election in Iran in controversial circumstances.

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Check out this week’s featured post - The Confederations Cup

And listen to something from our back catalogue -The Copa Libertadores

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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PREDICTION

Last week, we looked at a game from the Confederation Cup, South Africa v Iraq:

Damian’s prediction: S. Africa 2-0 Iraq - a home banker
Damon’s prediction: S. Africa 1-1 Iraq - a return to Asian-Championship winning form

The result - South Africa 0 - 0 Iraq - Damon 1 - 0 - Damian

This week, we turn our eyes to the World Cup qualifier between Tunisia and Nigeria.

Damian’s prediction: Tunisia 2-0 Nigeria - Tunisia on fire
Damon’s prediction: Tunisia 1-0 Nigeria - Tunisia to win comfortably but unspectacularly

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FOOTBALL CLICHE

This week’s featured cliche is ‘it was a game of two halves’ which is one of the biggest football clichés. Of course football is a game of two halves! The first half and the second half. But sometimes this cliché is true. For example, in the Confederations Cup, Spain beat New Zealand 5-0. Four goals came in the first half, while in the second, New Zealand tightened their defence and only conceded one goal. A game of two halves - the first full - fantastic goals from Spain, and the second - good defence from New Zealand.

Click here for more football cliches and football phrases.

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

This week, North Korea qualified for the World Cup in South Africa. When was the last time this country went to a World Cup?

a) 1962

b) 1966

c) 1990

d) 2002

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about which country won the first ever FIFA Confederations Cup in 1997? was - Brazil.

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This week’s POLL

This week’s poll asks which team do you think will win the 2009 Confederations Cup that is taking place in South Africa? Go to the site, click on your choice in the side bar and leave a comment.

_________________________________________________________________________

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

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

In this teaching ideas post we look at the FIFA Confederations Cup which is taking place at the moment in South Africa. You can find a short reading about the tournament below along with a printable worksheet (with answers) here. There is also a short vocabulary list at the foot of this post.

The FIFA Confederations Cup kicks off in South Africa this week with eight teams taking part in a warm-up for the 2010 World Cup finals. The eight sides include the six conference winners - the teams that have won the international tournaments in their respective regions - as well as the hosts, South Africa and the current world champions, Italy. So, New Zealand represent Oceania, Egypt are the current African Nations Cup holders, Spain won the Euro title in 2008, the USA won the CONCACAF regional trophy, Iraq represent the best in Asia, while Brazil are the reigning Copa America champions.

Since FIFA took over the running of the tournament in 1997, Brazil and France have both won it twice, with Mexico winning the other one. Initially it was played every two years but since 2005 it has been decided to play the competition every four years, taking place the year before the World Cup.

The tournament offers a good chance for South Africa to demonstrate that they can smoothly organise an international football competition 12 months before the real thing takes place. It will also bring in some much-needed revenue for the local economy though there will hardly be any supporters travelling from overseas. In fact, there are no guarantees that the venues will be full at all during the competition thanks to high ticket prices.

There are other problems. Many of the players have just finished a tough season in Europe, meaning that managers in the top leagues there will be hoping that their star players do not get injured or become burned out. Fans are also suffering from an excess of football and it looks like TV audiences will be low too, so sponsors will not be happy.

So, which team is going to lift the trophy on June 28th? Most people’s favourites include Brazil and Spain, while betting against the Italians is never a good idea. New Zealand and Iraq are seen as the outsiders but a good tip for dark horses of the tournament can be the US team who will make life hard for Brazil and Italy in the group stage. Indeed, with some luck they may progress to the final where, I think, they will lose to Spain.

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Vocabulary

Here are explanations of some of the words and phrases from the reading. Download the worksheet here

hosts: The team playing at home, the country organisng the competition

current world champions: The last team to win the World Cup

represent: To act on behalf on

reigning: The current champions, the team that last won the trophy

revenue: Money, income

venues: The places where the games take place, the stadia

burned out : To be extremely tired, have nothing left after playing too much football

betting against: To think they will not win, to gamble on an another team

outsiders: A team with little or no chance

dark horses: A team that not many people think will win but may have a chance

Languagecaster’s season may have come to an end but football continues and this week has been a busy one with lots of World Cup Qualifiers, the Confederations Cup in South Africa and Real Madrid signing Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. The fact that these two players have won the last two Ballon d’Or awards means that on this week’s featured podcast from our back catalogue, we take a look at the European Player of the Year Award.

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Download this week’s featured podcast - The Ballon d’Or

Download the latest podcast - A look back at the 2008-9 season

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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PREDICTION

Though the predictions battle between Damon and Damian is over we will be featuring one big game a week over the summer period in order to offer you our expert views. The Confederation Cup starts this weekend and hosts South Africa take on Asian champions Iraq.
Damian’s prediction: S. Africa 2-0 Iraq - a home banker
Damon’s prediction: S. Africa 1-1 Iraq - a return to Asian-Championship winning form

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FOOTBALL CLICHE

This week’s featured cliche is to be over the moon which means to be overjoyed; elated; very, very happy - especially after scoring or winning. This cliché is not as popular as it used to be in the 1970s when it seemed that every player mentioned it at least once when being interviewed. The opposite is, of course, to be as sick as a parrot.

Click here for more football cliches

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which country won the first ever FIFA Confederations Cup in 1997?

a) Mexico

b) Brazil

c) France

d) Germany

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about which was the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup was - Japan.

_________________________________________________________________________

This week’s POLL

This week’s poll asks which team do you think will win the 2009 Confederations Cup that is taking place in South Africa? Go to the site, click on your choice in the side bar and leave a comment.

_________________________________________________________________________

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

Languagecaster is getting ready for the upcoming World Cup season by launching a weekly newsletter. Below is a list of 8 good reasons why you and your friends should subscribe to languagecaster’s newsletter. 

Subscribe to the newsletter by Email

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1. Win an international football top

Simply by signing up for languagecaster’s free newsletter you will automatically be entered into a draw to win a fantastic prize. Choose from either a Brazilian or England football top (as seen above) and we will post it on to the winner wherever she or he may be. For free. This offer will run until the start of September and the winner will be announced in our first podcast of next season. If you want to know more about the jerseys - both of which are UK L size - then read the review here.

2. Free

Talking of which, just click here and you can sign up to the newsletter via feedburner. You will then receive languagecaster’s newsletter every Thursday or Friday and - just like the materials and content on the site - it will cost you nothing. 

3. Useful teaching tips

Our site has lots of teaching tips and ideas for English-language teachers who want to use football-related topics in their classes. Everything from how to make the best use of a listening transcript to having students review vocabulary with word searches and crosswords will be featured each week. 

4. Football quiz

Everyone loves a quiz and each week our newsletter has a question related to a current football story. Of course you can keep up to date with all the football news, complete with language support for learners of English, in our good, the bad and ugly section on the show.

5. Football clichés

Clichés are overused expressions or sayings that are often difficult to understand for learners of English. At the end of the day, football is full of them and so in each week’s newsletter we focus on one that will hopefully not leave you as sick as a parrot or over the moon…

6. Predictions

We pick out the big games from each week and with our wealth of footballing knowledge ;) we try and predict the scores. Can you do better than our two ‘experts’? Probably.

7. Keep up to date with all the latest news

Each week at languagecaster.com we have lots of new posts, podcasts, football expressions, fan reports, readers’ comments, new teaching ideas and lots of football news. The best way to keep up with all of this is through the newsletter.

8. Football Poll

The newsletter will keep you up to date with our latest football polls and surveys - a fun way for football fans to practise their English. Students can vote in one of the polls and then write a comment explaining their choices. Check out the example below.

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How can I subscribe to languagecaster’s newsletter?

Simply click on the link below and an email subscription request will appear. Fill in your email address and the spam prevention box and that’s it. The next languagecaster newsletter will arrive the following Friday.

Subscribe to the newsletter by Email

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Subscribe to the weekly podcast
Follow us on Twitter

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In 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 to look forward to.

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Download the latest podcast - A look back at the 2008-9 season

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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Check out our weekly football phrase - English for Football

Click here for more football expressions and football cliches

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This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Which Asian nation was the first team to qualify for the South Africa 2010 World Cup?

a) Australia

b) S. Korea

c) N. Korea

d) Japan

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about which was the last team to retain the European Cup / Champions League was a) AC Milan.

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Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

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

Download the latest podcast - Fans’ review of the season

On this week’s show we look back at the Champions League final, look forward to the FA Cup final and ask some fans what they really thought of their teams’ performances this season.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

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 link above to read more about the stories from last week, complete with explanations of key vocabulary.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

Chickens Come Home to Roost

This week’s English for football is, ‘the chickens come home to roost‘. This expression is used to say that something bad has happened because of mistakes, or bad behaviour, in the past. Someone did something wrong in the past and now trouble has come, or there is a big problem. It is close to the idea of ‘karma‘ in many Asian religions, or the phrase, ‘you reap what you sow‘. last weekend, Newcastle United were relegated from the premier league and many people think the chickens have come home to roost, that Newcastle’s past mistakes have resulted in their failure. For example, they first hired Sam Allardyce as manager and then soon sacked him, hired Kevin Keegan and forced him to leave, and have since had two more managers this season. They also bought expensive players with big wages but with little impact on the pitch. Their actions meant that the chickens came home to roost.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…this week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Manchester United failed to retain the Champions League trophy this week. Which was the last team to win two European Cups in a row?

a) AC Milan

b) Juventus

c) Nottingham Forest

d) Liverpool

Answer next week.

The answer to last week’s question about how many trophies Alan Shearer won in his career - b) 1 (The Premier League with Blackburn).

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.
You can also follow us at Twitter

Come along to our online shop and browse books and DVDs related to football and English language teaching and learning.

For all students of the beautiful game

On this week’s show we look back at the Champions League final, look forward to the FA Cup final and ask some fans what they really thought of their teams’ performances this season.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

The football season in Europe is almost over and so on this week’s main report for languagecaster we have three fans talking about how their teams performed during the season just gone by. First up Damon interviews Liverpool fan, Tim which is followed by an interview with Chelsea supporter Simon and finally Ill be talking about the topsy-turvey season that my team Tottenham have just had.

Two points from the first eight games of the season saw Tottenham’s worst start to a league campaign in almost a century. This came despite the fact that many had tipped them to do well, but yet again the club imploded and we failed to turn expectation into reality.

The acrimonious departure of Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United and Robbie Keane’s shock move to Liverpool meant that we were short of striking options at the start of the season, which meant that a lot of pressure was placed on the new players to perform well. Unfortunately, one of those high-profile signings, David Bentley from Blackburn, proved to be a huge disappointment despite a wonder-goal against Arsenal early in the season.

Manager Juande Ramos was sacked in October without recording a win and in his place came Harry Rednapp from Portsmouth to a sceptical but desperate set of fans. Despite some poor away performances around the turn of the year, he generally did well, helping the club to move away from the relegation zone and reaching the Carling Cup final, losing only on penalties to Manchester United. He also strengthened the side by bringing back Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane but perhaps his most important signing was Wilson Palacios from Wigan - the type of player that Spurs have been crying out for for years and one who allowed Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric to finally start showing what he can do. Modric only scored once for the club - the winner against Chelsea in our best performance of the season - but his ability, skill, technique and bravery were there for all to see - our player of the season without a doubt. Harry wants to build the team around him next season and there are hopes and rumours that yet again we might be the team to challenge the ‘big four’ next year. But as Spurs fans know more than most, it’s the hope that kills us…

The end of the season in Europe comes ever closer and that means for our final predictions of the season languagecaster turns to domestic cups, relegation battles in Spain, Champions League spots in Italy, and a big game in the Brazilian League.

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

Returning to London after a weekend away, I got on the tube at the same time as Shefield United fans returning home after their Championship play-off final at Wembley. I approached one fan, who was holding a limp team-flag and asked him the score, “lost one nil” he replied. Well, after all the whingeing and the pocketing of £25,000,000 (from West Ham, ed.), Sheffield United, the Blades, failed at the last hurdle to make it to the Premiership and I’m delighted.

Download the latest podcast - The Winners!

The seasons in Europe are coming to a close, but the titles in Italy, England and Spain were decided last week. Languagecaster salutes the three champions of these countries.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

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, the Baggies go down,and goalkeepers criticise refs in the good the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. 

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

To Clinch

This week’s English for Football expression is the phrase to clinch which means to grab, or in football, to win, to attain. We use this expression when talking about winning prizes, awards, competitions and cups. So, as we approach the end of the season in Europe, we can see that teams like Barcelona, Manchester United and Inter Milan have all clinched their respective league titles. Last week, Steven Gerrard clinched the Player of the Year Award, while next week Burnley are hoping to clinch promotion to the Premier League in the play-off against Shefield United. To clinch.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

Current Newcastle boss Alan Shearer played 559 league games scoring 283 goals. How many trophies di he win in that time?
a) 0
b) 1
c) 2
d) 3

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question, ‘How many players have been sent off (got a red card) after tackling Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso this season?’ was c) 6)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter or on our Facebook page

For those of you who are interested in footballing matters, check out our Amazon affiliated store at languagecaster’s shop. Lots of great books, DVDs and more.

For all students of the beautiful game

The leagues around Europe are reaching their climaxes and on this week’s show languagecaster takes a look at how three of the big leagues were decided. We also…

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

Three of the big European league titles were decided last week as Inter Milan won in Italy, Barcelona in Spain and Manchester United in England. All three teams won before the season actually finished, suggesting it was relatively easy, however, they didn’t completely get it their own way.

Here’s a look back at how these three teams became champions of their respective domestic leagues.

Barcelona won their 19th Spanish title without even having to kick a ball as their nearest rivals Real Madrid lost for the third time in a row giving the Catalan side an unassailable lead. This was their first La Liga in three years and was thoroughly merited by a team that was universally regarded as the best in Spain from the word go. Actually, that’s not quite true as Barca began the season in poor form losing to Numancia in the first game under new manager and former midfield maestro, Pep Guardiola. Little did we know at the time that that would be one of only two small blips to their season that has seen them lose only 4 times. They moved top of the table in week 7 and have stayed there since and that’s despite an unbelievable 17 wins from 18 matches from second place Real Madrid, with at one stage a suggestion that they might catch Barcelona. However, the Catalan side inflicted a 6-2 thrashing on Madrid and that was that.

Barca have scored more goals than anyone else in Spain - 104 - with Henry, Messi and Eto’o accounting for 71 of those goals. They have also conceded fewer than any other team and have a goal difference of + 71. They have also played with a style that has left many wondering if this team is even better than the Dream Team of Cruyff. It certainly plays in a similar manner and of course, there may still be more to come as Guardiola’s team play manchester United in the Champions League final next week which could lead to an unprecedented treble for them.

Talking of trebles, Inter Milan had won the previous three Italian titles before this season started and with a new manager in the charismatic Jose Mourinho in charge it seemed there would be little doubt which side would be lifting the Scudetto title at the end of this season. And so it proved to be as the Nerazzurri won their 17th Italian championship with three games remaining.

They went top early in the season and like Barcelona they have been there since, thanks in part to their wonderful defensive consistency but also due to the poor performances of their rivals. Juventus, AC Milan and Roma were never in the title race and all three clubs will look to new faces - managerial and playing staff - next season.

Inter will also have fresh faces next year but one player who is staying is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Swedish striker, who yet again is the club’s top scorer, this time with 22 goals and with the talented Mario Balotelli alongside him Inter’s fans will be hoping for their fifth title next season along with a Champions League victory - their first in forty years.

Like Inter Milan, Manchester United also retained their title, in fact, they won the English Premier League for the third year in a row to give them a total of 18 domestic league titles. This number puts them alongside Liverpool as the two most successful teams in English football history.

Though they won the league with one game to spare, the title race was a close-run affair as their huge rivals Liverpool led for much of the early part of the season. Too many home draws for them and an amazingly consistent run of clean sheets for United after Christmas, meant that Ferguson’s men moved top in January and remained there till the end. Like Inter, much of their success has been built on sound defence rather than all-out-attack but it could also be argued that they have two of the best forwards in the Premier League in Wayne Rooney and 18-goal Cristiano Ronaldo.

They are already favourites to win the title again next year such is the strength in depth of the squad but of course, before all that, they have to defend their Champions League title against Barcelona next week.

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

After a very low-scoring affair last week, Damian looks set to clinch his second predictions title in a row. Damon needs some points fast from this week’s set of matches which includes a huge game in Poland, the exciting Bundesliga title race, the relegation battle in the Premier League, the Championship play-off, the Champions League final, as well as Liverpool against Tottenham. What a week!

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

In this teaching ideas post we ask Brendan, a Manchester United fan, to review his team’s title-winning season for us. Read the interview below and then practise your reading skills and vocabulary with the printable worksheet below. You can also find more teaching ideas here and lots more football language in languagecaster’s football glossary.

Worksheet (Reading Skills): Manchester United Season 2009 pdf

How would you sum up the season?
All in all, a pleasing season given our huge commitments in all competitions. We were only a penalty shootout away from playing the most amount of games possible in a season - the World Club Cup, League Cup, FA Cup, Charity Shield, Premiership and Champions League. The most pleasing aspect being the fact that we pipped our most fervent rivals Liverpool to the title. And knocked them off their perch.

What were the key moments of the season?
When we arrived back from the World Club Championships we had a tough fixture against Stoke away which we manged to win with a late goal from Carlos Tevez. A tough place to win at any stage and also a place where Liverpool slipped up. Other notable mentions, 18 year-old Macheda’s goal against Villa in stoppage time while we were going through a slump and also Howard Webb’s timely intervention against Tottenham and on a personal note Michael Carrick’s goal against Pompey.

Were you ever worried about not winning?
In fairness, Liverpool pushed us all the way this season. At the beginning of the year, I thought that a final points tally in the early 80’s would suffice. As it happens, United could win on Sunday against Hull and finish with 90 and still only win by 4 points. So, until Michael Carrick scored a late goal against Wigan last week I was always worried. But isn’t that what fans are supposed to do?

What was the darkest moment of the season?
A game at which I was in attendance. Old Trafford 14th of March: Man Utd 1 Liverpool 4. Didn’t see it coming but as I said to fellow disconsolate fans leaving the ground, it is still retrievable. And it was.

Who was your player of the season?
Due to the severe workload, United had to use most of their squad at various stages this season, so in many ways it was a squad effort rather than being down to one outstanding performer. However, Nemanja Vidic played most games and was probably our most consistent performer (save for the Liverpool match)

Can you win again next season? Who will be your main challengers?
Yes we can. A lot depends on the future of messers Tevez and Ronaldo. The challengers will be the same as any other year, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. The transfer window will be key. As will the retention of our pensioner manager!!

Download the latest podcast - The Copa Libertadores

It’s the 50th anniversary of the biggest football competition south of the equator. and languagcester takes a look at the Copa Libertadores and makes a bold prediction.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

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 link above to read more about the stories from last week, complete with explanations of key vocabulary.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

To Lose Your Grip

This week’s English for football is to lose your grip. To grip is the action of holding something with your hand tightly, or firmly. If you have a strong grip, you have a strong hold, you control something. To lose your grip means you lose control. In football, teams can lose their grip of the game, which means they have lost control and the other team has become stronger. If you are a manager and you lose your grip, you have lost control of the direction of the team, you do not know what to do. Many people think that Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, has lost his grip and his team have started to lose direction. He has no idea how to stop their bad results, he has lost his grip.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

How many players have been sent off (got a red card) after tackling Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso this season?

a) 4

b) 5

c) 6

d) 7

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question, ‘The Bundesliga started in 1964. Which team won that first title?’ was a) FC FC Köln)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter or on our Facebook page

For those of you who are interested in footballing matters, check out our Amazon affiliated store at languagecaster’s shop. Lots of great books, DVDs and more.

For all students of the beautiful game

While the season in Europe is coming to a close, things in South America are just beginning to hot up, so languagecaster takes a look at the biggest cup competition south of the equator.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

The most important club competition in South America is of course the Copa Libertadores and this year is a particularly important one as it is the 50th edition of this prestigious tournament.

Teams from the 10 South American countries that make up CONMEBOL were joined this year by sides from Mexico making a total of 38 teams at the start of the competition way back in January. Since then, the tournament has lost some big names including Argentina’s River Plate and Lanús, as well as last season’s winners, LDU Quito from Ecuador. Two other teams to fall by the wayside were Guadalajara and San Luis, both from Mexico, but neither of which were beaten on the pitch. Instead, due to the outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus in that country, both teams withdrew at the start of the knockout stage. This caused quite a lot of uncertainty and a huge fixture-pile up ensued. This meant  that some clubs are already through to the last 8, and others have played one leg of the first knock-out stage. Two teams, Boca Jrs and Uruguay’s Defensor, have yet to play their last 16 match.

So far, we do know that Brazil already has 3 teams in the quarter-finals with Cruzeiro hoping to make it four if they beat Universidad de Chile this week. Guadalajara’s withdrawal allowed São Paulo to get through and Palmeiras made it in dramatic style after beating compatriots, Sport Recife, on penalties. Argentina should have two teams in the last 8 with Boca Jrs favourites to beat Uruguay’s Defensor and Estudiantes already 3-0 up from the first leg away from home against minnows from Paraguay Libertad. That leaves Nacional from Uruguay, who benefited from the flu outbreak, to make it and surprise package Caracas from Venezuela: though neither side is expected to make it through to the semis. Nacional play Palmeiras, while fellow Brazilians Grêmio play the Venezuelan side.

So who is going win it this year? The Brazilian contingent looks strong, but while Boca are still there the Argentinians always have a chance such is their experience and tradition in the Copa Libertadores. Boca to beat Estudiantes in the semi-final but then to lose out to São Paulo in the final. There, you heard it first on languagecaster.com.

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

After a 7-5 win last week, Damian has a seemingly unassailable lead of 12 points over Damon in the predictions battle. This week sees our two experts predicting matches from the Premier League, the exciting Bundesliga title race, important games in France and Spain, as well as the UEFA Cup final and a quarter-final match from the Copa Libertadores.

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

On many of the pages of languagecaster’s site you can find language connected to football, such as cliches and phrases. In this teaching ideas post we take a look at some of the words and phrases that players might say while playing a match, the kind of language that you can hear - or use - on the pitch. There are online crosswords and quizzes, as well as printables that practise the vocabulary below. You can also check out languagecaster’s football glossary which has a huge selection of football vocabulary.

Receiving the ball to feet with a man on

Overseas players moving to an English-speaking environment often feel frustrated at their lack of communication skills. However, one area where they can improve quickly is with the language on the field of play. As you can imagine, players do not have much time during a game, so quick and clear communication with your team mates is key. For example, when you see an opponent coming towards one of your own players, you are not going to shout ‘Be careful John, there is a member of the opposing side approaching’. Instead, the phrase ‘man on‘ is used to warn your team mate. How about if you want to tell one of your players that he or she is free and has time to look up and pass or dribble with the ball? You could explain all of that to them but it’s much better to simply shout ‘time‘.

Many of the phrases used by players in a game are similar to these expressions in that they are made up of only one or two words to help with this rapid communication. So, though you might know the meaning of the words ‘head‘, ‘out‘ and ‘time‘ away from the football pitch, on it they tend to have different meanings.

Below is a list of some of the more common expressions (with online and printable quizzes) you might need when playing football in an English-speaking environment. Next time you play a game how about trying to use some of them with your team mates?

Vocabulary: Playing the Game

Man on: A warning given to a team mate with the ball that an opponent is nearby; be careful there is someone near you.

To feet: This is used by one of your team mates when he / she wants you to pass to their feet, a simple pass on the ground. Sometimes it is shortened to feet.

Chest: This is used by one of your team mates when he / she wants you to give them the ball on their chest. This expression might be heard at a throw-in.

On my head: This is used by one of your team mates when he / she wants you to give them the ball on their head. This expression might be heard at a throw-in and sometimes it is shortened to head.

Time: This is what you can say to one of your team mates when he/she receives the ball and has time to move with the ball - it is the opposite of man on.

Square: This is what you say to a team mate when you are standing to their left or right, i.e. beside them and you want them to pass to you. You can also say square it.

Push up: You can hear this phrase when one of the defenders tells the rest of the defence to move forward and away from their own goal. It is often used to catch people offside. Similar to the phrase get out.

Through ball: A through ball is one played quickly (usually first time) in order to a team mate who is running in on goal. An effective weapon to break down a defence.

One-two: This is sometimes known as a wall pass and means to give and then quickly receive a pass from one of your team mates. It can be an effective tactic in crowded areas to allow players to get free.

Easy ball: This expression is used to tell your team mate to play a simple rather than a difficult ball as your team wants to keep possession. Don’t give away the ball!

Get out: Often shouted by one of the defenders to the rest of his defence to try and push back the opposing attackers or to catch them offside. This is similar to push up.

Mark up: This is said by players when defending a corner, free kick or other set piece and means to ensure that an opponent is not free, in other words get close to them.

First time: Don’t trap or control the ball, hit it when it arrives.

One-touch: Similar to first time in that the player usually has no time to control the ball so he or she needs to pass it or shoot quickly.

Hold: This is said to a team mate who has the ball that he or she should keep it a little longer, don’t pass it just yet. This is particularly used for telling a centre forward to hold on to possession.

Teaching Ideas

The Football Lexicon (below) is a book with hundreds of different football expressions and along with many other football-products can be bought from languagecaster’s shop

These are only some of the words and phrases used on the football pitch. We would be interested to hear of any more that you have heard about, please post a comment below and let us know.

Download the latest podcast - The Bundesliga run-in

There are only four games left in the Bundesliga and still five teams can win the title. This week’s podcast focuses on the final run-in to an action-packed season in Germany and looks at the battles at the top and the bottom of the league.

• Download the latest free worksheets and transcripts here.

• Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

Barcelona win in the Bernabeu and come back from the brink at Chelsea, 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 link above to read more about the stories from last week, complete with explanations of key vocabulary.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

Men against boys

This week’s English for Football expression is the phrase men against boys. In football, this refers to when one team is much better than another team mainly due to the fact that they have more experience, thus, men against boys. It can also refer to the gulf, or gap, in class between the two sides. So, last night’s Champions League semi-final second leg at The Emirates was described by the British media as being a game of men against boys as the more experienced Manchester United easily defeated the inexperienced Arsenal team. Men against boys.

Click here for a collection of more football expressions and football cliches.

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And finally…

This week’s QUIZ QUESTION:

The Bundesliga started in 1964. Which team won that first title?

a) FC Köln

b) FC Bayern Munich

c) SV Werder Bremen

d) Borussia Dortmund

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question about which player has not played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid was b. Raul Gonzalez)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

You can also follow us at Twitter or on our Facebook page

For all students of the beautiful game

There are only four games left in the Bundesliga and still five teams can win the title. This week’s podcast focuses on the final run-in to an action-packed season in Germany and looks at the battles at the top and the bottom of the league.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

Hans: Yes, another very interesting season in the Bundesliga is coming to a close. And at the top of the table, no less than five teams are still in the running for the title.

Right at the top is Wolfsburg. Most people haven’t heard of Wolfsburg but they’ve been in the press this week, very strangely because their coach Felix Magath, former international player, has decided to quit the club. That’s right. Quit the club four days before the end of the season whilst they’re at the top - three points clear of second which happens to be the mighty Bayern Munich.

Apart from Bayern fans, I would imagine nobody in Germany wants them to win. So behind them are Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg and either of these three can still sneak up, they are currently playing very well with tough games to go for all teams. So, who is going to win the Bundesliga, Nicholas?
N: I think Berlin is going to win.
H: Berlin? What a good choice! Well, I hope Wolfsburg win but I would love Berlin to win as well.

Now we are going to look at the bottom of the table and there the same number five, five teams are still in line for the drop. Please remember in the Bundesliga a new system kicked in this year. The bottom two drop automatically but third last goes into a play-off with the third best team from the 2nd Bundesliga. As usual, it’s the same old teams down there: Karlsruhe and Borussia Moenchengladbach occupying the bottom two spots but just above them, Bielefeld, Cottbus and Bochum are also in danger of the drop. So, Nicholas, who do you think will get relegated this season?
N: I think Cottbus will go down.
H: Cottbus? Yes, and they’ve been down before. Thank you Nicholas.

As already mentioned, managers are moving at a strange time in the season. Magath’s move to Schalke has taken everyone by surprise but Klinnsmann’s move away from Bayern Munich hasn’t surprised too many people. in Stuttgart, Markus Babbel has just signed a long-term contract, he’s a new young manager and some listeners might remember him from his playing day.

So, to wrap up the Bundesliga according to my son N, the team to win will be Hertha Berlin, going down will be Karlsruhe, Borussia Moenchengladbach and joined by Energie Cottbus. And now Nicholas, which is the best team in Germany?
N: Freiburg.
H: Freiburg. It happens to be my home team - a quick plug - and they are sitting top of the 2nd Bundesliga. See you next season with the big boys. Auf wiedersehen, aus der Bundesliga…

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

Damian increases his lead to 10 points in the predictions battle after a ‘Barcelona-esque’ 6-2 mauling of Damon last week. On this week’s show we feature two domestic Cup finals, as well as big games from the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A and a possible title-deciding derby match in Scotland

Download the latest podcast - Barcelona and Real Madrid

A look at the rivalry between these two giants of Spanish football. The two teams have met 157 times with Real Madrid coming out top 68 times to Barca’s 59.

Download the latest worksheets and transcripts here.

Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?
Listen to the podcast, read the posts, then leave a comment.

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

Boring Champions League semis, the race for La Liga title, injuries, football and influenza, and a the chop for a manager in the Bundesliga all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the link above to read more about the stories from last week.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

To Park the Bus

This week’s English for football is ‘park the bus‘. Many people say that this phrase was first said by Jose Mourinho when he was Chelsea’s manager. He was describing a negative Tottenham team who played very defensively in a meeting between the two London clubs some years ago. To park the bus, means to play very defensively, to get a lot of players behind the ball, to have no attacking play. Imagine a bus parked in front of the goal. It is almost impossible to score, so people use ‘to park the bus‘ to mean one team was very negative, boring and defensive. This week’s Champions League semi finals were not very exciting and Barcelona have accused Chelsea of playing very negatively, of ‘parking the bus‘ in front of goal.

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And finally…

QUESTION:

Which of the following players has NOT played for both Barcelona and real Madrid?

a. Ronaldo

b. Raul Gonzalez

c. Luis Figo

d. Samuel Eto’o

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question which South American club team that has been in more than one Copa Libertadores final has won all of them was c. Independiente.)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

For all students of the beautiful game

Fears that Madrid would copy Chelsea’s match against Barça on Tuesday had arisen before tonight’s clasico. Minutes after the kick off at eight o’clock, Real gave the impression that they were not going to dance in the same way as the Stamford Bridge guys. A recovered Robben was threatening from the right flank while Abidal was trying to stop him without success. This busy beginning had an early reward for Real when they scored first. Higuain lit the euphoria in the Bernabeu. That euphoria was not going to last long. With Barça’s common temperament, Guardiola’s guys reacted quickly. Like Tiger Woods’ approaches around the green, Messi bent a pass to Henry who with his majestic control hit Casillas’ net.

After this exciting beginning, Barça has ridden along the Bernabeu during the whole match, like if it were the Grand National.  A few reflections I have got from this Clasico:

1st. I recommend to everyone to record this match, because today all the Barça players have shown the best version of themselves. I am sure that this Clasico, apart from the magnificint result, 2-6, the triumph is something new in football. It’s a slightly evolution from Cruyff’s typical rotation. Barça has shown its credentials by rotating the ball, but also speeding up the game very, very much. Facing this strategy, the rival becomes knocked out. There’s nothing that can stop the ability that Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Henry and Yaya have to structure the centre. It’s like playing pool on the football field, though far more exciting.

2nd. Piqué has consolidated himself as the new star in this scenario. The central defender has worked with Puyol by consolidating a strong defence. Despite the error of the second goal that left Ramos alone, Piqué has shown that he can carry the ball and to open game in the mid-field. This role will be crucial on Wednesday against Chelsea, when Marquez won’t be there. This ability, that Puyol lacks, is very appreciated to make the transition from the defence towards Yaya or Xavi.

3rd. Guardiola has honoured his words from last August when he said to all the Culés that he could not promise results, but he could certainly promise effort. Well, he certainly has broken all the standards as a coach, and what is even better, everybody enjoys this Barça.

4th. I hope that Chelsea won’t get to the UEFA Champions League final because it would be the victory of speculative football against wonderful football. In these days, we all know where excessive speculation has taken us, to a big fallout. Don’t let Chelsea mess up such a beautiful game like Barça’s.

… to be continued in these exciting weeks that still to come!

Download the latest podcast - Barcelona and Real Madrid

A look at the rivalry between these two giants of Spanish football. The two teams have met 157 times with Real Madrid coming out top 68 times to Barca’s 59.

Download the latest worksheets and transcripts here.

Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?
Listen to the podcast, read the posts, then leave a comment.

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

Boring Champions League semis, the race for La Liga title, injuries, football and influenza, and a the chop for a manager in the Bundesliga all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the link above to read more about the stories from last week.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

To Park the Bus

This week’s English for football is ‘park the bus‘. Many people say that this phrase was first said by Jose Mourinho when he was Chelsea’s manager. He was describing a negative Tottenham team who played very defensively in a meeting between the two London clubs some years ago. To park the bus, means to play very defensively, to get a lot of players behind the ball, to have no attacking play. Imagine a bus parked in front of the goal. It is almost impossible to score, so people use ‘to park the bus‘ to mean one team was very negative, boring and defensive. This week’s Champions League semi finals were not very exciting and Barcelona have accused Chelsea of playing very negatively, of ‘parking the bus‘ in front of goal.

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And finally…

QUESTION:

Which of the following players has NOT played for both Barcelona and real Madrid?

a. Ronaldo

b. Raul Gonzalez

c. Luis Figo

d. Samuel Eto’o

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question which South American club team that has been in more than one Copa Libertadores final has won all of them was c. Independiente.)

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

For all students of the beautiful game

This week, Barcelona visit their great rivals Real Madrid in La Liga’s El Clasico. Madrid are only four points behind the previously unstoppable Barcelona and would love to get closer. On this week’s show we look at the rivalry between these two famous clubs.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript

This weekend sees one of the biggest matches in world football when Real Madrid and FC Barcelona play at Madrid’s Santiago Bernebeu Stadium. The fact that there are only four points separating the two sides adds spice to the game as the title is very much up for grabs but with such a huge amount of history, tradition, passion and rivalry  between the two sides it would not really matter if they were playing a pre-season friendly. Madrid and Barcelona simply don’t do meaningless games.

Since the early 2000s, the game has become known as El Clásico -  but before that it was simply called ‘El derbi’, the derby of Spain. However, the game is unlike any other derby when local fans hope for bragging rights when their team wins, instead this has national pride at stake and not just because these two sides are the most popular around the country. It’s much deeper than that. Barcelona’s supporters see their team as representatives of the Catalan region - the club motto is ‘mes que un club’ - more than a club, while Madrid fans on the other hand, view their side as Spain’s team.

The first league match was in 1929 with Real Madrid winning away in Barcelona 2-1 though a few months later Barcelona did the same and the rivalry was up and running. Since then, the two sides have met 157 times with Real having won 68 and Barca 59. There have been 30 draws, the last of which was a wonderful 3-3 occasion in Barcelona in 2007.

To emphasise the animosity that exists between the two clubs look no further than their transfer policies. Though some players have played for both clubs (normally from overseas) very few have directly made the crossover. Luis Enrique became a cult figure in Barcelona after his defection from Madrid in 1996. Going the other way in 1994 was Michael Laudrup who won titles in Madrid after being discarded by Barcelona - a huge mistake by the Blaugrana. But perhaps the biggest transfer story was the one involving Luis Figo in 2000. His move from Barcelona to Real Madrid left the Catalan fans feeling betrayed and every time Figo returned to play at the Camp Nou he received a hostile reception including famously a pig’s head thrown at him in the Champions League semi-final of 2001. Figo of course had the last laugh as his side went on to win that season’s Champions League title - the club’s ninth.

Barcelona have also won Europe’s major tournament but only on two occasions - the last being in 2006. They have 18 domestic titles which would be an excellent record in any other country but when your major rival has won La Liga 31 times it means that Barcelona still have some way to go in being top dogs in Spain.  Beating Madrid this week would be a good start.

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

With only a few weeks remaining the predictions battle between Damon and Damian is still neck and neck. This week, we feature two big games between teams at the top and bottom of the league in England, the Madrid-Barca derby in Spain, as well as important matches from the top of the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 in France. In addition we have the second leg matches from the Champions League semi-finals.

The surreal nature of watching your team at midnight on a hotel TV in Laos - complete with the electricity cutting out every 15 minutes - was one thing but watching Tottenham collapse in 25 second-half minutes alongside my Manchester United supporting brother was another. Painful? What do you think? It has been 20 years since the last Spurs victory at Old Trafford and frankly a defeat like this probably means at least 20 more years till we get the next chance.

The main talking point after the game was a penalty decision given by Howard Webb that helped to bring United back into the game. According to Tottenham players and coaching staff the referee’s incorrect decision after an hour turned the game United’s way which may have been so but other factors lead to Tottenham’s 25 minutes of madness:
1. The controversial penalty only made it 1-2. Tottenham were still winning at that stage. Where was the mental strength? The nous? The ability? Would another team have laid down so quickly in similar circumstances? We are what we are - a mentally weak team in 10th place in the Premier League.

2. Spurs player Jermaine Jenas reckoned that the referee collapsed under the Old Trafford pressure when awarding that penalty decision. That is brilliant coming from a player that formed part of a midfield that collectively collapsed under the same Old Trafford pressure.
3. Manager Harry Rednapp complained that he could see no way back into the game for United until the penalty incident with Spurs 2-0 up. Has he never watched football before? United always turn up the heat in the second half of matches at Old Trafford towards the end of the season, particularly when they are chasing a game. Indeed, before the penalty itself, the home side had already started to pepper the Tottenham goal.

4. Rednapp did nothing to counter the tactical changes that United made at half-time. It was clear that Spurs full-back Corluka was being drawn inside to cover a deep-lying Berbatov, which then allowed an on-fire Rooney to be free on an Aaron Lennon-less left-wing. React Harry, react! Take off one of your central defenders, have the other one pick up Tevez, send on one of the holding midfielders (Zokora or Huddlestone) to mark Berbatov and replace Corluka with a full back who can defend ( Alan Hutton), one who Alex Ferguson, no less, wanted to sign.

5. The whining over the referee’s performance also covers up the fact that by selecting Heurelio Gomes in goal we have thrown away 6 points in the last two away games (United and Blackburn). Infuriating enough when we were playing badly (e.g. Fulham (a), Stoke (a), Villa (h)) but recently when we have been playing well it is even more so. Not your signing Harry but Cudicini is and you still do not play him.

6. Blaming the referee is, of course, a ridiculous exercise but here goes anyway. Howard Webb is an appalling referee, not so much because he makes mistakes - hey, we all do - but that he loves the limelight. Good luck to Everton fans and players in the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

7. And finally not forgetting Alex Ferguson. The ‘great’ man suggests that the penalty was indeed lucky but since they did not get one the week before against Everton it kind of evens things out. Ferguson is referring to the possible penalty that should have been given for a foul on Wellbeck in the FA Cup semi-final. Forgetting the fact that Everton also had a strong penalty claim turned down (on Steven Pienaar) and thus evening out matters means nothing to Sir Alex. In addition, the logic behind his latest comment simply makes no sense. If I punch someone for no reason that person then cannot complain as someone else had previously hit me. Ridiculous of course but unsurprising from the most graceless of managers - some feat when you include Rafa Benitez and the myopic Wenger.

Still, at least I am not a Newcastle United fan!

We were recently asked by soccerpro.com, a leading sporting goods supplier, to see if we would be interested in reviewing some of the soccer uniforms from their online range of goods. Since both of us at languagecaster still harbour ambitions of playing football, we took up their offer and asked for two soccer jerseys: the famous yellow Brazilian jersey and the new England jersey.

The Nike Brazil Home Jersey (see above left) is advertised as having new DriFIT Material for optimum moisture control but whether it was the typical cold London weather or the fact that I am unable to run as much as I like to think I can, means I never really noticed this feature. However, the 100% polyester top was comfortable and wearing the famous yellow jersey seemed to give me an improved touch - despite my obvious lack of ability!

The Umbro England Home Jersey (see above right) is also 100% polyester making it comfortable in warm conditions but the big talking point about this jersey is the retro look around the collar. It will be interesting to see what England fans think of this style change. Personally I am not a fan.

Overall we are pleased with both the product and the service from soccerpro, with delivery to the UK proving to be fast and convenient. To buy these products and more go to soccerpro.com

Download the latest podcast - The Premier League Run in

Download the latest worksheets and transcripts here.

Check out this week’s predictions. Can you do better?
Listen to the podcast, read the posts, then leave a comment.

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The latest football news - The good, the bad and the ugly

Andrei Arshavin’s fantastic display against Liverpool, AZ Alkmaar, the Wembley pitch and Serie A all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly section feature in this week’s Good, the Bad and the Ugly section of languagecaster’s football podcast. Each report has key vocabulary explained.

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Weekly football phrase (audio and text) - English for Football

Sucker punch

This week’s EFF is ‘sucker punch‘. Punch means to hit, and this phrase originally comes from boxing. it means to hit, to punch, someone when their guard is down, when they are not ready. In football a sucker punch means a goal that is scored when the other team  wasn’t prepared: they give an easy goal away. In the 4-4 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal this week, Arsenal made a quick break from a Liverpool corner and scored a sucker punch goal - there were few Liverpool defenders to stop Arsenal. The goal was scored quickly and easily by Arsenal. It was a sucker punch.

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And finally…

QUESTION: Which South American club team that has been in MORE THAN ONE Copa Libertadores finals has won all of them?

a. Boca Juniors

b. Penarol

c. Independiente

d. Gremio

Answer next week.

(The answer to last week’s question how many times Everton have won the FA Cup was b - five))

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Go to languagecaster.com to read more posts, write comments and read our huge collection of football phrases and cliches!

Write to us at admin@languagecaster.com if you want to have your say on our weekly podcast.

For all students of the beautiful game

There are only five games to play in the Premier League and no doubt there will be more twists and turns at this exciting stage of the season and so on this week’s show we take a look at the Premier League title race.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

Transcript
With only five games remaining in the English Premier League, tension is high as three clubs are still in with a shout of winning the title. On this week’s main report we hear the opinions of a Manchester United fan on the final run in that will decide which team will become the 2009 English champions.

Damian: So Brendan, it’s been an important week in the Premier League for the clubs at the
top of the top of the table, hasn’t it?
Brendan: That’s right Damian all of the ‘big four’ in the Premier League were in action.
Chelsea drew with Everton, Manchester United beat Portsmouth but I suppose the standout
game was the game between Liverpool and Arsenal, which ended 4-4. Liverpool really
needed to win that game because going in to the series of matches they were one point
behind Man United and played a game more so it effectively means, with the United result,
that they now lead by three points over their nearest rivals and have a game in hand.
Damian: Yes, you’ve mentioned some of the impact that these results will have on the final
destination of the title, for example do you think Chelsea are out of the running?
Brendan: Well, Guus Hiddink the manager of Chelsea, the newly appointed manager who
also, of course, manages the Russian national team, he has conceded the title. He thinks
now that they trail Manchester United by six points and have played a game more … that
that is too much of a mountain to climb. So, he says they will focus on the Champions
League and the FA Cup.
Damian: OK, how about Liverpool, what do you think about their chances?
Brendan: Liverpool are still in the title race. Alex Ferguson himself said that although
Manchester United are now in a better position than they were on Monday he has been in
the game for too long to, at this stage, say that the title has definitely going to Old Trafford.
They are … there are gonna’ be lots of games to come, there are still five games to go and
anything can happen, one defeat for Man United and a victory for Liverpool and the title race
will be blown wide open yet again.
Damian: So Brendan, who will be holding the Premier League trophy at the end of May?
Brendan: Well, as a Man United, obviously, fan I am hoping that we can win the title at the
end of May. It’s all about consistency at this stage of the season and trying to eke out results
and because we have the experience of players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who’ve
won the title many times, and also a manager who’s won the title many times I’m hopeful
that that experience will get us over the finishing line, although it will be close.