Good, old-fashioned wing play, bad news for Rooney, and some more FIFA-related scandal all feature on this week’s football podcast as well as more bad news from Italy, while explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post.[/gss-content-box]
Good
Great for Tottenham Hotspur and GarethA Bale in the Champions League. The London side continued with their second half performance of the first tie – when Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick – into the second leg. In this match at White Hart Lane, Spurs overcame the European Champions, Inter, 3-1, and Bale again impressed with two fantastic assists that came after he made mincemeat of the Inter right side of defence, using power and pace to get to the line before crossing for first Crouch and then Pavlyuchenko to tap in. Sensational wing play from the new Welsh Wizard.
Bad
On the 5th of November every year in the UK thousands of effigies called ‘Guys’ are burnt onA bonfires around the country to remember a failed plot to blow up the 1605 government. In a twist on this tradition a huge effigy of Wayne Rooney will be burnt in one town in the south of England, with up to 15,000 people expected to watch the doll, dressed in a Manchester United shirt and holding his new five-year contract, go up in flames. A sign that the United strikers recent actions – scandals involving prostitutes, criticising his club, then deciding to sign a new contract for a huge increase in salary – have made him public enemy number one – at least in one part of the UK.
Ugly
I suppose we should not really expect much from an undemocratically elected organisation such as FIFA to act in an open and transparent manner but the way that nations are chosen to host the World Cup is now beyond a joke. Rumours of vote rigging, gift giving and bribery abound which leaves a really bad taste in the mouth. Why has this simple decision of choosing the best country to hold the tournament now turned into a circus? Ugly yet again for Sepp Blatter and FIFA.
Vocabulary
hatrick: Scoring three goals (originally from cricket, when a bowler gets a batsman out with three successive balls)
White Hart Lane: Tottenham Hotspur FC’s home ground
Spurs: The nickname of Tottenham Hotspur FC
(to) make mincemeat of: To destroy, to beat comprehensively
Welsh Wizard: A term often used to describe the Wales and Manchester United player, Ryan Giggs. Gareth Bale also plays for Wales
effigy: Dummy, model, likeness, statue
bonfire: Large outdoor fire
public enemy number 1: (in this context) A very unpopular person
vote rigging: Buying votes
transparent: Clear, open
to host: To organise the tournament; where the competition takes place
abound: Is widespread, is common
leaves a really bad taste in the mouth: To be something bad, to make people feel bad
