Learning English Through Football Podcast: 2021 Copa Libertadores Final Palmeiras vs Flamengo

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In this football language podcast for learners of English who love the beautiful game, we look at some words and phrases from the final of the 2021 Copa Libertadores between Palmeiras and Flamengo. 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: 2021 Copa Libertadores Final Palmeiras vs Flamengo

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DF: Hello again everyone, this is Damian from the Languagecaster.com team and we hope you are all well. Now, on this extra football language podcast we feature some of the language used to describe the 2021 Copa Libertadores Final between two Brazilian sides Palmeiras and Flamengo which took place in the Estadio Monumental in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay this weekend. And so to do this, we use reports on the game from The Guardian (here in the UK) (November 27 2021) and from the BBC.

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

See off/After Extra Time/Retain the title

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This is how the Associated Press reported on the final in their headline. The first verb is ‘to see off‘ which is another way of saying to defeat a team; so to see off someone or something is to overcome or beat an opponent; so in this example, Palmeiras defeated Flamengo in the final. The headline goes on to add information about this victory – it happened in extra time after the two sides drew 1-1 after 90 minutes and also the phrase ‘retain the title‘ which means to win the title for the second year running – Palmeiras defeated Santos in the 2020 final.

Pounce on an error/Slot the winner

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This quote from the BBC described the winning goal from Palmeiras substitute Deyverson. To pounce on an error means to quickly take advantage of a mistake from the opposition (to capitalise) and this is what the Palmeiras substitute did in extra time after an error from the Flamengo defender. He won the ball from the former Manchester United player Pereira and then beat the keeper with a shot – he slotted the ball past the keeper (although the keeper did get a touch). Now, as the goal turned out to be the goal that won the Libertadores title it is described in the report as slotting the winning goal.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Brazilian fan).

Good Bye

DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com – that message was from a Brazilian fan and remember that if you would like to send on a similar message to us in another language, we would be delighted to hear from you. 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. We also have a football language forum where fans of the beautiful game can ask and answer questions on all kinds of football language – come along and join in the football language discussion.

OK, that’s it for this short podcast on the 2021 Copa Libertadores Final between Palmeiras and Flamengo which Palmeiras won after extra time to retain the title they won in January. Congratulations to them and to all their fans in Sao Paolo – drop us a line if you are celebrating and of course don’t forget you can also come and find lots more football language on our site here at languagecaster.com, including our football glossary and of course over ten seasons of podcasts too! Enjoy all the football this week and we’ll see you again soon. Bye.