Stories from the top and bottom of the Premier League, UEFA, Brazil and Argentina all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly on languagecaster’s football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories. Explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the page.[/gss-content-box]
Good
An extremely good weekend for Premier League side Liverpool as they demolished Aston Villa 5-0 while their rivals at the top of table both lost. Chelsea were beaten by Tottenham 1-0 and fellow Londoners, Fulham beat leaders Manchester United 2-0 after Scholes and Rooney were sent off. Is the title race back on?
Well done Yossi Benayoun of Liverpool and Israel. The midfielder has been out injured for his club for the past two weeks with a pulled hamstring but is close to recovery. Now, instead of taking the safe option and resting during the international fixtures to get himself fit for Liverpool’s title push, the Israeli international wants to play, and captain, his side in their top of the group clash against Greece – a win would see them top the group. A footballer showing commitment and a recognition that country comes before club. Good for him!
Bad
Bad times for English Premier League side Newcastle United as they lose at home to Arsenal 1-3 and fall into the relegation zone. That’s one win in 13 games for the Magpies. Caretaker manager Chris Hughton has recently come under fire with the media suggesting players are not happy with him though the coach suggests he still has the dressing room. Next up for Newcastle is Chelsea, so it may get worse before it gets better.
It has been a bad week for Argentinian side San Lorenzo who were many people’s tips to do well this season in the Clausura championship. They lost 0-1 at home in the Copa Libertadores last Thursday – their third straight defeat in the tournament – and then slumped to a 0-3 home thrashing at the hands of Colon at the weekend in the Clausura. In that game they had three players sent off in a remarkable 6 minute spell. Troubled times for San Lorenzo.
Ugly
The European football organisation UEFA have stated that a club from Macedonia were involved in match-fixing in a Champions League qualifying game in 2004. UEFA have set a disciplinary hearing for April 17th and it will be interesting to see what kind of punishment they give the Macedonian side. Pretty ugly.
Brazilian superstar Pele accuses current Brazil stars Ronaldo and Robinho of taking recreational drugs in a nightclub. On hearing the news, Robinho threatens to sue the former Brazilian striker. However, Pele strongly denies that he made such allegations and Robinho now says he has no bad feelings against Pele at all. It seems that the power of the tabloid press has yet again been misused to sell newspapers – pretty ugly.
Vocabulary
Here are some of the words from the good, the bad and the ugly section from this week’s show. You can download the podcast here
they demolished Aston Villa 5-0: Liverpool thrashed (easily beat) Villa 5-0
commitment: Loyalty
fall into the relegation zone: the team is now in one of the bottom three places in the league
has the dressing room: The coach still has the authority over the players
many people’s tips to do well: Many football fans thought the team would win
Clausura championship: One of two championships played in Argentina each year.
their third straight defeat: The team has lost three times in a row
slumped to a 0-3 home thrashing at the hands of Colon: Were beaten badly 0-3 by Colon at home
remarkable: Amazing; unbelievable
match-fixing: When a team or player tries to arrange the score of the game before it is played in order to win money
taking recreational drugs: Taking drugs for fun – not to improve performance (e.g. cocaine)
denies that he made such allegations: Pele said he did not accuse Robinho of those things
