Football Language Podcast: Euro 2020 Day 4 – Rue Missed Chances

In this football language podcast we look back at some of the language from day four of the 2020 European Championships and explain some of the phrases from the Guardian news report on the Spain versus Sweden game yesterday. We look at the phrases ‘rue missed chances‘ and ‘stalemate‘. You can read a transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Embed from Getty Images

Football Language Podcast Euros 2020: Day 4 – Rue missed chances

DF: Hello everyone, this is Damian from the Learning English Through Football team – I hope you are all doing well. OK, as regular listeners will know, we are posting a football expression from the Euros every day during the tournament. Yesterday Damon looked at the expressions ‘dipping volley‘ and ‘pull one back‘ from the match between the Netherlands and Ukraine. Today I’m going to look at a couple of expressions from the Guardian report on the Spain versus Sweden match from Group E: stalemate and to rue missed chances.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish).

Here’s the headline from the Guardian online.

Spain and Sweden rue missed chances after Euro 2020 stalemate in Seville (Guardian.co.uk June 14 2021)
This is the headline from the article which sums up the main points from the match by describing the result (stalemate), the venue (Seville) but also that there were opportunities for both sides to win the game. To rue something is to feel regret about something which in this game refers to the many missed opportunities or chances to score a goal. Spain had more chances to score but the Swedish side had two clear-cut chances which were both spurned or missed. Now, a stalemate means that neither side can win and is often used in chess to describe a draw. So, in this case it refers to a draw although it does not usually mean a goal-scoring draw but instead a goalless draw (nil-nil).

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Swedish).

Good Bye

DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com – that message was in Swedish. Don’t forget that there’s a transcript to this podcast and lots of vocabulary support which you can access by coming along to our site. Remember that you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or you can drop us a line at: admin@languagecaster.com.

OK, that’s it for this short podcast – we hope you enjoyed our look back at some of the words and phrases from day four of the 2020 European Championships – the first stalemate of the tournament – and we’ll be back with more tomorrow. Don’t forget you can also come along and play in our predictions competition, vote in our Euro 2020 poll and find lots of football language on our site here at languagecaster.com. Enjoy all the football and we’ll see you again soon. Bye bye.

Learn English Through Football
Learn English Through Football
languagecaster.com

Free football language podcast for learners of English brought to you by Damian and Damon. Interviews, match reviews, predictions all with full language support for football fans around the world who wish to improve their English language skills.

Welcome to the website that helps students interested in football improve their English language skills. Soccer fans can enhance these skills with lots of free language resources: a weekly podcast, football phrases, explanations of football vocabulary, football cliches, worksheets, quizzes and much more at languagecaster.com.

Google | Facebook | Twitter | Mail | Website

Join the discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Euro 2020Episode 742