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The competition is in full swing and some of the big clubs have laid down their markers already. the highlight so far has to be Holland vs Italy: another Dutch masterclass.

On this show we ask three ladies for their predictions and see if they match our other listeners and readers’ opinions. We also

• Look back at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the football news
  
• Introduce a football expression in English for Football
• And continue the languagecaster predictions competition

Transcript

Damian (DF): Right now, Euro 2008 is taking place and all the people in Thailand are watching the games including a football fan who we found here today. Hello how are you doing?
Tak: Hello! Very good.
DF: Can you please introduce yourself.
Tak: OK, sawahdii kap I am Tak from Thailand, Bangkok.
DF: Which team do you think Tak is going to be the winner of Euro 2008? (more…)

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So which team do you think will win Euro 2008? How about the dark horses? Which team will underachieve and who will be the player of the tournament? Simply click on the comment link at the foot of the post and tell us your predictions for Euro 2008 which we will then add to the table below.

Click here to see all the predictions

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 Enhanced Podcast [13:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to the first of our summer specials which sees us focusing on the big football action taking place over the summer: World Cup qualifiers; Copa Libertadores action and of course, the European Championships.

On this show we look back at the history of the European Championships as well as focusing on this year’s version. Who will be the dark horses? The flops? The player of the tournament? The winners? Download the show to hear our expert analysis. In addition, we:

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

Transcripts for the main pieces of the show can be found below.

How many different countries have won the World Cup? When France won in 1998 they became only the seventh country to do so in 18 tournaments. How about the European Championships? Well, this is the 13th time that the competition has been held and remarkably there have been nine different winners of the tournament in that time. This may be due to the fact that the strongest teams focus more on the World Cup but it may also have to do with the strength in depth of the European game. (more…)

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The Good

It’s been good for Brazilian side Fluminense and Ecuadorian side LDU Quito as they make the Copa Libertadores Final for the first time in each of their club’s history. Fluminense came from behind to beat defending champions Boca Juniors while LDU Quito beat Mexican side America to become the first team from Ecuador to ever reach the final of this competition. Also good for managers as the managerial-merry-go-round starts. (more…)

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Despite winning last season’s prediction crown Damian cannot rest on his laurels as a new summer competition begins this week with four games from the European Championship. Can Damon find his tipping form or like England is he doomed to being an underachiever?

08 Summer Pod 1

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The latest home defeat to a team from the Gulf, this time Bahrain, has meant the Thai national team’s World Cup qualifying hopes have all but disappeared. Played in extremely humid conditions and in front of only a half-full Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, the home side played all the quality football but a lack of concentration at key moments in the match ensured the Thais stay rooted to the bottom of the group without a win. Though it is still mathematically possible for them to make the final group stage nothing short of a miracle is now required if the Thais are to qualify for their first ever World Cup finals.

With Japan defeating Oman 3-0 it looks as if they will join the very physical Bahraini side to the final group stage though on this performance the Gulf state will not be troubling any teams in South Africa in 2010. But at least they are still in with a chance unlike Thailand who yet again failed to give their football-crazy fans something to really cheer about.

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The Japanese national side played an Asian Qualifier for the South Africa World Cup 2010 on June 2 in Yokohama, which they won 3 - 0 against Oman. In this match, Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic) and Daisuke Matsui (Saint-Étienne) played very well and I really admired their performances. They are definitely the key-players for Japan!! In five days, Japan will have another match against Oman but this time Japan is the away team and it will be really hard to get used to the temperature and climate of Oman as it is so humid there now. It will surely be a tough game but Japanese people hope that we will win the game!! Don’t miss it!!

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Here are your predictions for Euro 2008. The winners, dark horses, flops and top players of the tournament according to our readers and listeners.

European Championship 2008

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 Enhanced Podcast [9:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Another season at languagecaster is over and this week we look back at the big news stories of the last year.

For learners of English there are also:

• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists
• Online quizzes and crossword puzzles
• Weekly blogs from our football-crazy writers in fans’ forum

компютри втора употребаTranscript

Damian: As we have reached our final show the languagecaster team thought it would be good to look back at some of the highs and lows of the 2007-8 season. First up is Damon with a review of the Premier League Title Race.

Damon: The 2007/8 Premier League title race was one of the most exciting in recent times with Chelsea and Arsenal pushing Manchester United all the way in a three-horse race. The Gunners were the early pace setters but a run of injuries to key players, as well as a lack of depth and experience in the squad ensured another trophyless year for Arssene Wenger’s men. No trophies either for Chelsea though they took the title race down to the wire only losing out on the final day to allow Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to retain their title, their seventeenth overall. With the league’s top scorer and player of the year, Ronaldo, in their ranks and an attacking style that often left opponents in their wake, Manchester United were worthy champions again.

Relegation (Damian)

Some say that with the top four in the Premier League a closed shop the relegation race is a much more exciting affair, that is, any one of up to 12 teams are battling to survive and not go down to the Championship. And so it proved yet again as the final relegation spots were decided on the last day of the season. Joining the bottom side Derby were Birmingham City and Reading after Fulham pulled off a dramatic escape in May to avoid the drop.

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 Enhanced Podcast [24:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The languagecaster season is over! But of course, there is plenty more football being played. Join us again in June for our Euro 2008 Summer Podcasts. On this week’s show we review the year.

We also:

• Review the football week in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a football expression in English for Football
• Find out where David Beckham is in Beckham Watch
• And continue the weekly battle in the predictions competition

For learners of English there are also:

• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists
• Online quizzes and crossword puzzles
• Weekly blogs from our football-crazy writers in fans’ forum

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On this week’s good, the bad and the ugly we feature lots of winners, some losers and Joey Barton! Click on the links below to find out more about the stories we feature.

Good

Manchester United are the winners of the Champions League for the third time in their history after beating Chelsea on penalties. United’s double of Premier League and Champions League is a fitting tribute to those lost in the Munich air disaster 5o years ago. They remained unbeaten in 13 matches during the competition and in Ronaldo they had the leading scorer with 8 goals. Worthy champions indeed.

(more…)

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After 42 weeks of predictions, Damian is crowned languagecaster’s Predictions King. Behind for the whole race, he pipped Damon at the post with a devastating show of predicting power in the last week. He got the result correct for ALL ten games - a first at languagecaster - with two perfect scores to bring Damon back to earth with a crash. Last year Damon was champion but it all ended in tears after he followed his heart not his head last week. Damian correctly predicted a boring 1-0 victory for the Premier League side, Portsmouth, in the FA Cup. While Damon went for Roma (more…)

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 Enhanced Podcast [7:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Premier League is over and on this week’s show we ask some fans what they thought of their team’s performance during the season.

For learners of English there are also:

• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists
• Online quizzes and crossword puzzles
• Weekly blogs from our football-crazy writers in fans’ forum

Transcript

Derby
DB: Hans, can you sum up the season for us?
Hans: Disappointing. That’s about it. Disappointing.
DB: Low points?
Hans: Lots, lots and lots. Pretty much every weekend was a low point, except when we beat Newcastle 1-0 at Pride Park.
DB: So that would be the high point, would it?
Hans: That would be the high point, yes.
DB: Player of the season?
Hans: The fans. Sellout crowd every week at the home games so, the fans, no player.
DB: What are you looking forward to next year?
Hans: Promotion. (more…)

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 Enhanced Podcast [19:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Premier League is over and on this week’s show we ask some fans what they thought of their team’s performance during the season. The predictions battle also goes down to the wire with only two points separating Damon from Damian.

We also:

• Review the football week in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a football expression in English for Football
• Find out where David Beckham is in Beckham Watch
• And continue the weekly battle in the predictions competition

For learners of English there are also:

• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists
• Online quizzes and crossword puzzles
• Weekly blogs from our football-crazy writers in fans’ forum

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Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster’s Full Podcast’s Good, Bad and Ugly section - a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our online quizzes and crosswords, worksheets and English for football phrases as well as the Learners’ Podcast.

• crucial - vital, important

Ryan Giggs scored the crucial second goal in Manchester United’s 2-0 win.

• to tip to go down - to predict a team will be relegated

Damon had tipped Fulham to go down all year. (more…)

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