Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A great week for Chelsea and Bayern Munich as they win their domestic titles but not such a good one for Gianfranco Zola who was sacked by West Ham. These stories and more feature in this week’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which can be heard on our weekly podcast. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.
Good
Congratulations to Chelsea for winning their fourth English League title after demolishing Wigan 8-0 last Sunday. Striker Didier Drogba was the league’s top scorer, the team scored a huge total of 103 goals during the season, while they also had doubles over Liverpool, Arsenal and crucially Manchester United, meaning that the title deservedly returns to the team from West London. There was celebration in Bavaria as well as Bayern Munich won their 22nd title – a record – after a 3-1 away victory at Hertha Berlin last weekend. They face Bremen in the domestic cup final this weekend and then play Inter Milan the following week in the Champions League final – great times for Munich and their manager Van Gaal who amazingly was under pressure way back in autumn.
Well done Atletico Madrid. After having seen off English opposition in the shape of Liverpool in extra time in the semis, the Spanish team finally get some silverware by beating plucky English team, Fulham. The team from Madrid, who are always in the shadow of their bigger and more successful city rivals Real Madrid, finally have something to celebrate after overcoming the London side in extra time with a strike from goal poacher, Diego Forlan. Atletico are now in with a shout of the double as they are in the Copa del Rey final where they take on Sevilla on the 19th of May. And they’d love to get two trophies with the possibility of Real Madrid ending up with nothing this season despite having spent a‚¬250 last summer.
Bad
It’s all ended in tears for Zola at London club West Ham. Every football fan loves the little Italian and there were high hopes when he replaced Alan Curbishley in 2008 at the helm of the Hammers. But after finishing a respectable ninth in 2008 they just scraped home this season, missing relegation with only one game and five points to spare. The new owners of West Ham, Sullivan and Gold, were increasingly outspoken in their criticism of the coach and it looks as though they were looking for a way to ease him out the door. A sad and sour end to Zola’s time at West Ham as he was sacked last week. I wonder where he’ll go next?
Many of the preliminary World Cup squads were announced this week and there were some surprises. Totti will not be travelling with Italy, Van Nistleroy did not make the Dutch squad, Cambiasso is out of Maradona’s Argentina but perhaps the biggest news was the fact that Dunga the Brazilian coach refused to include Ronaldinho and Adriano in his squad, news that divided the football-crazy nation. Bad for Dunga maybe?
Ugly
In last week’s Italian cup final there was surely one of the ugliest fouls ever seen as Roma’s Francisco Totti chased down Inter’s Balotteli, who had skipped past him, and scythed him down from behind (watch the video here) with no attempt to get the ball. It was a possible leg-breaking tackle and the red card and subsequent four-game ban seems lenient when you watch the replays. Totti said it was revenge for Balotteli’s behaviour in a game last year when the Inter player signalled to the Roma fans to be quiet after he scored, and because Balotteli had called him ‘granddad’ during the game. He won’t do that again.
Vocabulary
had doubles over : Beat a team twice during the season (To do the double over)
to see off: to beat; to defeat, to finish someone’s chances
plucky: brave, spirited, gutsy (often ‘plucky’ can sound condescending)
preliminary : Early, not the official deadline yet
to end in tears: end badly; not finish well
at the helm: lead; be in charge
to ease out the door: to force to resign; to fire; to sack
to scythe down: to kick someone wildly and make them fall over; to hack down; a scythe is a tool (like a long curved knife) to cut grass and wheat
lenient: not tough; tolerant; forgiving
