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Learn English Through Football Podcast: To Go Top
In this football language podcast we look at the phrase, ‘to go top‘ and some of its variations. We also look back at some language from the latest round of Champions League games and look ahead to this season’s Copa Libertadores final. We also look ahead to this weekend’s football with our predictions competition – including the final of CONMEBOL’s big club final and Der Klassiker from the Bundesliga. You can read the 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.
Hello
DF: You’re listening to language caster’s Learning English Through Football Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name is Damian and I am based in London where the weather is cold – very cold! I wonder what the weather is like in Tokyo where the other member of the Languagecaster team Damon is based?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Portuguese from Brazil)
Today’s Show
DF: That message was from one of our listeners in Brazil – I know that he is a Vasco da Gama fan so I wonder which team he wants to win this season’s Copa Libertadores final which takes place this weekend. We will be looking ahead (or previewing) that game a little later on in the show; when we will also hear from Damon with his predictions on that and three other big games from the weekend.
So, in addition to that stinger from the Brazilian football fan, we will have some more stingers, or messages, in different languages throughout today’s show. See if you can guess what languages they are – we’ll let you know at the end.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)
Right, on today’s podcast, in addition to previewing the Copa Libertadores final, we will look at some language from this week’s Champions League group stages: To blow a lead. And we will also explain the expression ‘to go top‘ along with some variations of this phrase. We will also look ahead to some of the big games this weekend in our predictions competition including Der Klassiker which sees Borussia Dortmund host Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
To Blow a Lead
Manchester City have been going through a bad run of form recently – five defeats in a row followed by a 3-3 home draw in the Champions League against Feyenoord and this means that we can say that City are in crisis. Remarkably, it looked as if they were going to break their poor run when they went three-nil up in the second half against their Dutch opponents on Wednesday. But they made mistakes, switched off and appeared to panic which allowed the Dutch side to stage an amazing comeback and draw 3-3. So, in this case we can say that Manchester City blew a lead; they blew a three-goal lead to only draw the game.
When a team blows a lead in a game, it is often because they are not confident and Man City have been described by their own boss Pep Guardiola as being ‘fragile’ which means they can easily break. It seems so strange to see City like this – they never used to blow leads – and it could get even worse for them as their next game in the Premier League is against leaders Liverpool.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a Zaragoza fan)
To go top
We use the verb ‘to go‘ to describe when teams move position in the table – usually up the table (so their league position changes). So, for example if a team in second place are one point behind the leaders and they defeat the leaders in their next game then they would go top of the table: they would go up one position to first. In the Championship this week, Sheffield United beat Sunderland in a top-of-the-table clash to go top – they now lead the Championship; they are in first place.
We can also use other positions with this verb; so not just when a team goes top. For example, Brighton drew with Southampton this week to move up to second in the Premier League table; they have gone second in the table. If my team Tottenham wins at home to Fulham – not a given considering how inconsistent we have been – then they will move up from 8th to 5th – they will go 5th in the league.
Now, the big game in the Premier League this weekend sees first against second with Liverpool taking on Manchester City. If City win, they cannot go top as they are too far behind the leaders Liverpool who will be top at the end of the day no matter what the result is. The Reds will stay top at the end of the weekend.
Another way of saying this phrase is ‘to move top‘ or ‘to move second‘. What does ‘to go top‘ mean in other languages? Is there a similar expression in your language?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from a Ferencvaros fan)
2024 Copa Libertadores Final Preview
The biggest game in South American club football takes place this weekend with the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores final between Brazilian sides Botafogo and Atlético Mineiro. The all-Brazilian final means that the last six tournaments will have been won by teams from Brazil – a dominance which is unprecedented (this means that it has never happened before). Atlético Mineiro have previously won the trophy back in 2013, while Botafogo have never won this competition but are many people’s favourites to win this season in Buenos Aires at the home of River Plate. We’ll be looking at some of the words and phrases that emerge from this game in next week’s show – you can drop us a line on social media to let us know if you come across any interesting words and phrases from the game – in any language of course.
Glossary
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)
So, you can find out more about some of the words and phrases that we have already discussed in today’s show, as well as hundreds more football expressions and cliches by coming along to our football-language glossary.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)
Predictions
DF: Here’s Damon with his predictions for this week.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Irish)
Contact
DF: So, if you want to let us know your predictions or if you have any questions or comments about any of the language from today or any other football language then drop us an email at admin@languagecaster.com. Don’t forget we also have a football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have on the language of football. So please spread the word and give us a like or a follow.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Thai).
Goodbye
Thanks for that message, which was in Thai. We also heard some stingers in Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Irish and French. How many of those did you guess right?
Now, just before we go we’d like to let you know that we have been making some changes at Languagecaster in particular some behind the scenes changes which hopefully means things will be a little quicker. If you notice anything that’s not working then please let us know also.
Thanks everyone for listening today – we looked at the phrases, ‘to go top’ and ‘to blow a lead’. Let us know if you hear these words, in any language, during this week’s football. And don’t forget there’s a transcript for this podcast with lots of vocabulary support for you. Enjoy all the football this weekend and we’ll be back early next week with a new football language expression. Bye bye!
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
