Football Language Podcast: June 2020 Everton v Liverpool

Football Language Podcast: June 2020 - June 2020 Everton v Liverpool. On this week's football-language podcast we welcome back the Premier League and look back at some of the games that have already been played and of course look ahead to some more of the games taking place. We also explain a football language expression about the rustiness of some of the players after three months without any football. There is also a football-language question about the word 'to ping' and we have predictions - lots of predictions! Listen to the podcast by clicking on the file below - you can also subscribe and listen to all our football-language podcasts - there are hundreds of them dating from way back in 2006! You can improve your English by reading the transcript as you listen, or if you are a teacher of English you can use the transcript to make several listening and/or reading activities for your learners. We have also created a listening gap fill exercise based on a section of this podcast. If you have questions or comments then you can email us at: [email protected] (Damon=DB; Damian=DF). Football Language Podcast: June 2020 Everton v Liverpool Introduction DB: You are listening to languagecaster.com. Welcome everyone to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who are also interested in improving their English language skills. My name is Damon and I'm based in Tokyo, which has just lifted its COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, so all shops and restaurants can open and there are no travel restrictions. Still a bit strange and social distancing and masks are strongly recommended. And this coincides with the return of the Premier League this week, which joined other major football leagues in Europe and elsewhere in restarting. I enjoyed watching a few of the Premier League games, including Manchester City versus Arsenal and Tottenham vs Manchester United. Damian, how do you feel with the point Spurs got against Man United and how is the lockdown in England? DF: Hello Damon and hi to everyone listening in - we hope you are all well. Things here in London are moving towards a lifting of lockdown but there are still many restrictions including of course that football matches have to be played in empty stadiums. But at least football is back! All Premier League games are being shown live on TV here in the UK and as we have been starved of football for over 100 days I have managed to see all of them so far as well as a couple of La Liga games! Watching Spurs play was strange in front of no fans in their new stadium but if I'd been offered a point before the game started I would have taken it but then being one-nil up with ten minutes to go I was disappointed that United equalised from the penalty spot. A 1-1 draw was a fair result I suppose. How about you with Liverpool in the derby? DB: Like you, the result was fair. Neither side really carried much attacking threat, but Everton could have nicked it at the end. Another point and five more to go to win the title. I think it might be more difficult than some people think for Liverpool to get those five points! DF: OK, now what's on the rest of the show? Line up DB: OK, we'll start with a little review of the football news, followed by some English for football language, and this week A we explain 'rusty' a word connected with this strange season as players return to action after the break. We also have a football-language quiz question which this week looks at the verb 'to ping'. After that, we'll take a look back at some of the games this weekend including the big one, for me at least, which was the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool we've already mentioned. You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Welsh) DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com and that message was in Welsh. Remember that you can send on a message in your own language to us here at [email protected]. DB: OK, let's kick off with some good news from the football world. Damian, what good news story have you chosen? Football News - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Good DF: Well, it was not a huge surprise but Bayern Munich wrapped up their eighth Bundesliga title in a row after defeating Werder Bremen 1-0 last Wednesday. They followed that up with another win at the weekend over Freiburg - their 12th in succession - to move ten points clear of second place Dortmund. Robert Lewandowski scored another brace in that game to take his tally for the season to 33 in the league - a record for most goals by a foreign player in Germany. The Bavarian side play Leverkusen in the German cup final in two weeks and of course are still in the Champions League so will be eyeing a treble. DF: Well done to Napoli who also won some silverware as they defeated Juventus 4-2 in a penalty shoot out to win the Italian Cup. The final went to penalties after the game had finished scoreless and this was the first time in six years that Napoli have won a trophy and completes a remarkable turn around for a club that was in turmoil only six months ago. Now, we have mentioned the Black Lives Matter campaign here on the podcast over the past few weeks but in the opening games in England this weekend there were some remarkable images as players not only wore the campaign slogan on their shirts instead of their names but also every player from every team has taken the knee before kick off to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Very powerful images have been shown around the world which is hopefully a start to making changes within the game and indeed the wider society. DB: Yes, great stuff. Bad DB: Now for bad, well the London side Arsenal will be feeling pretty bad after their first two games which saw them lose twice: the first of them a comprehensive loss and then the second occurred after conceding very late on against relegation-threatened Brighton. In addition, they have had a player sent off, another facing disciplinary action after hitting a Brighton player after the final whistle and they have also had three serious injuries including to their first-choice keeper, Bernd Leno. Pretty bad in Russia too for Rostov who were fourth in the top flight and fighting for the title, as six of their first team players tested positive for COVID-19, meaning that the whole first team and coaching staff had to be quarantined - isolated for two weeks. The game could have been postponed if their opponents, newly-formed Sochi, agreed, A but they didn't - causing a lot of anger among football fans in Russia. Rostov, from the south of Russia had to field a youth team, and they went on to lose 10-1 and effectively have their title hopes dashed. What about other bad storis from the week Damian? Howler DF: Well, can I mention the howler, the massive mistake, in the Aston Villa versus Sheffield United game? The Blades, Sheffield United, thought they'd broken the deadlock of a tight game, when a goalmouth scramble saw the ball carried over the line by the Villa keeper. Nyland clearly had the ball in his arms behind the post, but incredibly the goal-line technology didn't function and the referee didn't receive a signal indicating a goal. A howler from the technology as a win would have seen Sheffield United go equal on points with Manchester United in fifth place and keep up their chase for an incredible Champions League place. http://gty.im/1220695072 Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch) DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com and that message was in Dutch. Here's Damon with this week's football language quiz question. Football Language Quiz: Ping DB: It's time for a football-language quiz question and this week we look at the verb 'to ping'. Very simply, we want to know what is the meaning of the verb 'to ping' - does it mean: To badly mishit a shot To score a goal with your head To foul a player in a really bad way To drive or pass the ball with accuracy And we'll have the answer at the end of the show. Next, here's Damian with some more language of football. Football Language: Rustiness/To be rusty DF: The Premier League has recently restarted after a break of over 100 days due to the Covid pandemic and while players have had some time to prepare a€“ maybe three or four weeks of training a€“ it is clear that many are a little rusty. Now rust is something that happens when metal is oxidised a€“ it becomes a brownish, reddish colour. But to be rusty also means that your skills are not as good as they once were because of a lack of practice and this is something that is happening with footballers at the moment as they return to action after the long lay off. Embed from Getty Images Players need to regain match fitness in order to become sharper, to do things quicker and of course to last a full 90 minutes. While watching recent games on TV, I have heard the commentators use such phrases as an a€˜error-strewn gamea€˜ which is a match with a lot of mistakes; 'sloppy passes' (maybe they have been over or under-hit) which are passes that are misplaced as they fail to reach their intended target. Players are not quite up to speed and this means their play may be lacking in quality as they take a while to get match fit. Hopefully, once they have played a couple more matches they should start to regain fitness and become sharper and shake off the rustiness. Other phrases we have looked at this week on our site include showboat and play to the crowd, as well asA nil nil written all over it. Come to the glossary section on languagecaster.com to check them out. DB: OK, with our football language section finished that can only mean one thing - predictions and a look at some upcoming matches. Predictions: DF: Well, with lots of leagues returning after the lockdown we thought it would be an idea to run a new end-of-season predictions competition.