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The first ever Languagecaster.com podcast sees Damon and Damian broadcasting from the streets of Tokyo as they look back at some of the main football news of the week. They also speak to Hans our German correspondent about the upcoming Bundesliga 2006-07 season, while Brendan talks about the Manchester United-Liverpool match at the weekend (with a worksheet here). There is also a worksheet for this report (complete with answers) which can be downloaded here.
Transcript Interview with Hans on German football
Damian Fitzpatrick interviews Freiburg native Hans von Dietze (October 31st 2006)
DF: Yes, today we welcome back Hans who was a regular feature on our World Cup Podcast, hello Hans how are you?
Hans: Hi, how are you?
DF: Thanks for coming back in, today we are going to talk a little bit about Germany and German football and my first question to you is after the World Cup how did Germans feel about the post-Klinsmann era?
Hans: Good question. Obviously Klinsmann was sadly missed when he chose not to sign another contract. But the eraa€™s going very well, Germany has had a couple of trial games theya€™ve won them, theya€™ve had emphatic victories over all their group teams so far so they are sitting very comfortably at the top and everybody seems to be rather happy with the situation.
Generally, generally there is a continuation of the World Cup euphoria and ita€™s been sparked along by a movie that has come out called a€˜Germany, A Summer Fairytalea€™ it was taken throughout the World Cup – they had a reporter following the team in the dressing room, on the pitch, on the bus and in the hotel and ita€™s currently in the cinemas in Germany. And so everyonea€™s re-living that a€˜feel-gooda€™ time that we had in Germany so everyonea€™s happy.
DF: Good, good. Now, domestically in the German league this year, which teams are doing
well?
Hans: The team of the moment is Werder Bremen who have just performed superbly they are an all attacking team, they go for goals, they score goals, Klose is their best-known striker. Theya€™ve got 27 goals in the last a€¦ in the nine games so far, so scoring three a game, which is wonderful. Have scored 14 goals in the last three games, including victories over Bayern Munich and two away games. Theya€™re sitting on top a€¦
DF: And who is their nearest rival?
Hans: Well, Bayern Munich is, as always is a€¦one of the contenders, if not sitting on top. At the moment Bayern Munich are struggling a little a bit, they havena€™t quite got their game together theya€™ve had a couple of losses and not scoring many goals, young strike force, Podolski, whoa€™s come from Koln, and Mackay and Roque Santa Cruz. So, other teams are Schalke, who you have talked about earliera€¦ who are sitting in third at the moment closely followed by Stuttgart.
DF: Ok, now you mentioned Bayern Munich and they are still in the Champions Leaguea€¦
Hans: Yes, doing very well, three wins in three gamesa€¦
DF: So tell us a little bit about the three teams that are left in the Champions League.
Hans: The three German representatives are Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Werder Bremen. Of these three, Bayern Munich look fairly safe to move into the next round. Hamburg, by contrast, look fairly safe not to move into the second rounda€¦
DF: They have no points
Hans: No points from their games and they dona€™t really look like they will get much out of this competition. Werder Bremen is in the tough group with Chelsea and Barcelona and depending on results Werder Bremen could knock Barcelona out of the tournament, so the Germans have their fingers crossed.
DF: Good, now the Champions League, I mean, a German team hasna€™t won the Champions League since I think 2000, 2001 since Bayern Munich won it?
Hans: Bayern Munich, yes.
DF: What about German teamsa€™ chances to win the actual competition this year, what do you think?
Hans: Well, to quote Rummenigge from Bayern Munich he stated that Bayern Munich can not win the Champions League that they would be lucky to make it into the quarter finals. His reasoning is that they just cana€™t compete financially with the big clubs in Europe and this was brought along by the sale a€“ or the moving – of Michael Ballack to Chelsea. Bayern Munich just couldna€™t hold onto him.
DF: Did Bayern Munich receive any money for this?
Hans: No it was a free transfer, he had finished his contract and didna€™t sign a new one. Bayern Munich pieced their team together from players who dona€™t quite make it in other teams, Van Bommel being a good example at the moment.
DF: Coming from?
Hans: Coming from Barcelona
DF: Ok yes
Hans: And they dona€™t really think that a German team has a chance in Germany, though the way Werder Bremen is playing at the moment, youa€™ve got to rate them as a chance. If they can maintain this throughout the season
DF: Do you honestly think they can take Barcelona?
Hans: I think they can, and here we are, I think they will.
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Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
Hola Spanish H
Thank you for the kind comments.
We will be focusing on La Liga in future podcasts – Zaragoza have started well this season but can they maintain it this season?
Great Podcast, keep going. When are you talking about Spanish football? Zaragoza to win!
Boo to Man U. Liverpool yey, nice review of their game.
Nice one, although the sound is a bit hissy on the right hand speaker, I think it’s your mike. Did you hear about poor Gazza? In a fight last night.
Good work guys, keep up the good work, I especially liked Han’s interview in the toilet. Good questions though.
wonderful!