Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:08 — 16.8MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Blubrry | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More
In this football language podcast for learners of English, we take a look at the upcoming play-off matches in CAF which will determine the five qualification spots for Africa. 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.
Learning English Through Football Podcast: 2022 CAF World Cup Qualifiers
DF: Hello again everyone and welcome to Languagecaster.com – the football-language podcast for learners of English who love the beautiful game of football. I’m Damian and I’m in a really sunny London – Spring is definitely here – and I am one half of the Languagecaster team with of course the other half being Damon who is based in Tokyo, Japan.
Introduction
Now this is an important week in World Cup qualifying with over 40 countries still in with a shout (or a chance) of qualifying for the finals in Qatar in December. Two rounds remain in both CONMEBOL – that’s the South American qualifiers and in the Asian section, while three rounds will be played over this week in the CONCACAF section – I wonder will Canada make it through for the first time since 1986? Europe has a series of play-offs going on to determine the three remaining places at the finals and in Africa this week sees five play-off matches that will tell us which five countries will play in Qatar 2022. And these five ties from the CAF section will be the focus of today’s podcast – remember we are down to the final round of qualifiers in Africa which means the five winners over two legs go through – winner takes it all!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Swahili)
Egypt vs Senegal
A re-match of the AFCON final of only a month ago is a mouth-watering affair – it’s such a pity that one of these two sides will not feature in the finals. Senegal will be hoping to qualify for their second tournament in a row after going out in the group stage in Russia four years ago. They also played in the 2002 World Cup in Japan where they reached the quarter-finals after an amazing performance which saw them knock out the then holders France – a game I was lucky enough to see in Seoul. Egypt have qualified for the finals on three previous occasions including the last one in Russia where they lost all three games and failed to score a goal. It is interesting that the side holding the record for most AFCON wins (7) has never made it through the group stages at a World Cup. Now of course Senegal won that recent AFCON final which should give them confidence though of course they only did so on penalties after the two sides could not be separated after 120 minutes. Egypt host the first leg and the Pharaohs will be looking to take a lead to Dakar four days later. Yet again we have the two Liverpool forwards, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah up against each other and although this is a difficult one to call I am going to go for Senegal to make it through over the two legs thanks to their quality across the team.
Cameroon vs Algeria
This is a big game between two powerhouses of African football. Seven-time qualifier Cameroon take on Algeria, who have appeared on five occasions at the finals, in the first leg in Doula where Algeria failed to win any of their three recent AFCON matches. Their poor performance in Cameroon – remember that they went into the tournament as holders and on a 35-match unbeaten run – means that Algeria are under huge pressure against the team that as hosts in that tournament finished third. The Indomitable Lions (that’s Cameroon) have changed their manager since the tournament in February with former player Rigobert Song taking over and he will be hoping that the 2021 AFCON leading goalscorer, that’s Vincent Aboubakar can continue with his impressive goalscoring run. Despite the recent drop in form, I still think Algeria’s quality, including players such as Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez and AC Milan’s Ismael Bennacer will see the Desert Foxes through to the finals in Qatar.
Ghana vs Nigeria
Yet another huge game between two of the big hitters (that’s powerhouses) in African football – this time between three-time finalists Ghana (I saw them lose to the USA in the 2014 finals in Brazil) and Nigeria who have played in six previous tournaments, including the last three. Neither side played particularly well in the recent AFCON tournament though at least the Super Eagles from Nigeria qualified for the knock-out stages (where they lost to Tunisia), while the Black Stars of Ghana lost twice and finished bottom of their group. A huge boost for the Nigerian side is that Napoli forward Victor Osimhen, as well as Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis and Leicester City winger Ademola Lookman all come into the squad after failing to make the recent AFCON tournament. This added quality and the fact that the Ghanaian captain Andre Ayew is out suggests that Nigeria will start favourites but like the other two games will yet again be hard to call. I’m going to go for the Super Eagles.
DR Congo vs Morocco
The DR Congo are hoping to qualify for their second World Cup finals after playing in the 1974 tournament when they were known as Zaire. Before that, they will have to overcome a strong Morocco side that has already played in five previous tournaments including the one four years ago in Russia where I saw them play against Iran in St Petersburg. The Moroccan side had a fairly good AFCON tournament only losing out to Egypt on penalties in the quarter-finals while their opponents in this play-off failed to qualify for that tournament. The first leg will take place in Kinshasha and the Congolese side (also known as the Leopards) will be hoping that the home crowd can give them an advantage before the return leg. A prediction? I think it will be the North African supporters from Morocco who will be celebrating next week.
Mali vs Tunisia
Mali are the only side among the ten play-off contenders who have never played in a World Cup finals but they will feel they have a chance, particularly as the first leg is at home and they recently defeated Tunisia in the 2021 AFCON group stages. Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure will make his debut for the country in the first of these play-offs in Bamako which is a boost for the nation ranked 48th in the world. They will face a country who have already played in five World Cup tournaments though Tunisia have never gone beyond the group stage. This will be a tight one to call but I think Mali might just do it.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com. (Ahmed Adam from Sudan)
Contact
Thanks for that message Ahmed. Now, if you want to ask any football-language questions or simply say hello then you can do so by adding a comment on the site, using the forum, we’ve had some questions about the phrase ‘doing the business’ recently, sending an email to us at admin@languagecaster.com or by looking for us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French).
Goodbye
DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster and that message was in French and we’d love to hear from anyone else who might like to share the message, ‘you are listening to Languagecaster.com‘ in their or indeed any other language. We have lots and lots of different languages but we are always looking out for more, especially as the World Cup approaches! And 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 here at languagecaster.com.
OK, that’s it for this short podcast in which we have looked ahead to the final set of qualifying matches in the African section of World Cup qualifying – what do you think of our predictions? Which five nations do you think will progress to the finals? Thanks again everyone for listening and enjoy all the football this week – we’ll be posting some more football language from the World Cup qualifiers over the next few days. Bye bye.
Football Language Podcast: 2022 World Cup Qualification Process
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
