[print_link] | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the UglyIn this week’s football review section we look back at some of the big stories from the world of football to help learners of English improve their vocabulary. This week we congratulate Gareth Bale on his world-record transfer, worry about England’s injury crisis and hope Wayne Rooney can recover soon. You can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.
This week’s football review
Good
It was hardly a surprise but the transfer saga of the close season was finally completed on the day before the deadline when former Spurs star Gareth Bale moved from London to Madrid for a new world record transfer fee of a‚¬100 million. The Welshman became the latest ‘Galáctico‘ to be signed by Real Madrid presidentA Florentino Pérez after the previous arrivals of Zidane, Kaka, Ronaldo and Beckham over the past 15 years. Bale will be under intense pressure to succeed at the Bernabéu but he has the strength, talent and character to do well. The question is if Bale is worthA a‚¬100 million how much would his team mate Ronaldo cost? Or Messi for that matter?
Bad
World Cup qualifying matches take place over the next few days but there is some bad news for England as they have an injury crisis. Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Phil Jones and Glenn Johnson have all been ruled out of Friday’s match against Moldova and are doubtful for the crunch tie against Ukraine on Tuesday.
Ugly
Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney is out of England’s World Cup qualifiers (and was unable to play in his side’s defeat by Liverpool last weekend) due to a training-ground injury. He had a deep cut on his head that required 10 stitches and will be out for another couple of weeks. The United star’s photo of the injury appeared in many UK newspapers – very ugly indeed!
Vocabulary
the transfer saga: A long story – in the world of transfers it often suggests a long and boring transfer story!
for that matter: This phrase is adding some emphasis – indeed.
an injury crisis: When a lot of players are unable to play for a team due to injuries we often call this an injury crisis.
crunch tie: An important match
is out of: Will not play in
10 stitches: The cut needed to be ‘joined’ together using a type of thread.