
World Cup Cliche – Slow Starters
The World Cup cliche ‘slow starters‘ is often used when talking about Italy, the Azzuri. In the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain, they drew their first three games and since then they have a reputation for not winning their opening game. In the same tournament, of course, they went on to be crowned champions, so the cliche slow starters also has the inference that they will get stronger. The adjective ‘notorious‘ is often added to the cliche to give ‘Italy are notorious slow starters‘. With just two days to go before the start of the tournament, England, Italy’s first opponents, will be hoping the cliche is true!
- Example: Italy are notorious slow starters in international tournaments.