During the Euro 2012 tournament the languagecaster team will explain a football headline that has appeared in the English-speaking press. Today’s headline is Spain start with Silva and end with gold. You can also find many more examples of football phrases here, as well as football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.
Euro 2012 Headline of the Day: Spain start with Silva and end with gold
Today’s headline is from The Irish Times newspaper and is all about the Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy in which Spain destroyed their opponents by 4 goals to nil. The first of these goals was scored by David Silva which rhymes with silver – a colour often associated with coming second, while gold – think of an Olympic medal – is linked with winners or teams coming first. So, here the newspaper has used a pun on the name of the first goalscorer. If the newspaper headline were to be re-written it might say: David Silva scores the first goal in Spain’s Euro win.