Summer Tournaments: A Cheeky Finish

Introduction  

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.

Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

Jack: We want you to use and practise these phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Rich: If you listen to us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Jack: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 

Rich: Let’s start with our headlines! 

Headlines

Jack: VAR controversies dominate World Cup.

Rich: VAR keeps hitting the headlines at the World Cup. It favoured Germany in their 3-0 win against Nigeria. The German's first goal was allowed to stand despite an attacker being in an offside position. VAR then favoured England against Cameroon. Cameroon were first penalised for a backpass then VAR overturned a disallowed goal for offside for England and then disallowed a goal for Cameroon that had originally been given. England went on to win 3-0.

Rich: Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Egypt.

Jack: The biggest football tournament in Africa kicked off last weekend with a 1-0 win for the hosts, Egypt, against Zimbabwe. Premier League players have already been among the goals with Manchester CIty’s Riyad Mahrez getting on the scoresheet for Algeria in their 2-0 win against Kenya. 

Jack: Premier League strikers calm nerves at Copa America.

Rich: Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez got his second in two matches as Chile beat Ecuador, Manchester City's Sergio Aguero was on target as Argentina got their first win of the tournament against Qatar and Chelsea's Willian got one and Liverpool’s Firmino scored another with a cheeky no-look goal in Brazil’s 5-0 win against Peru.

Jack: A goal without looking at the ball. That could be embarrassing.

Rich: It would be for me! I’d probably trip over my laces and fall face first on the pitch.

Jack: It’s true. You probably would.

Vocabulary alert!

Rich: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.

Jack: Our six words and phrases this week are: to stand, a backpass, a disallowed goal, to be among the goals, to get on the scoresheet and cheeky.

Rich: Let’s start with the verb to stand. We all know that the most common meaning is to stand on our legs but did you know that it has another meaning that we are using in football a lot more now we have VAR.

Jack: If a goal stands it means it is permitted within the rules and a goal is given. We usually see or use the phrase ‘the goal was allowed to stand’ after there has been a discussion between the referee and assistants or more common these days - after the referee has consulted VAR.

Rich: The next word is backpass. A backpass is when a defender passes the ball to the goalkeeper who picks it up. This is not permitted and an indirect free kick is awarded if the keeper picks up the ball for a backpass.

Jack: The next phrase is a disallowed goal. This is the opposite of a goal standing. A goal can be disallowed for a number of reasons.

Rich: There might be a foul, it might be offside or the ball might have gone out of play or not crossed the goalline.

Jack: The next two phrases are similar. To be among the goals and to get on the scoresheet. They both mean to score a goal.

Rich: To be among the goals often means a player has been scoring lots of goals recently or it’s often used to describe a striker who has scored after not scoring for some time. We say a player is back among the goals.

Jack: To get on the scoresheet is used more generally to describe any player who scores a goal. The phrase is often used in reports after a game rather than in a live match.

Rich: The final word is an adjective. We said Roberto Firmino scored a cheeky no-look goal.

Jack: Cheeky describes something that is possibly a little rude or lacking respect but usually in a funny way.

Rich: It is often used about students who talk back to their teacher to make other students laugh.

Jack: OK, so there are our six words and phrases. Listen to this part of the podcast again if you are not sure how to use them.

Rich: The words and phrases are: to stand, a backpass, a disallowed goal, to be among the goals, to get on the scoresheet and cheeky.

Football Awards

Rich: Right, every week, we give out three Matchweek awards. 

Jack: The awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week.

Rich:  In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices.

Jack: Let’s start with Player of the Week. We’re going to go with Manchester Utd’s Alexis Sanchez. He didn’t have a great season in Manchester but he’s playing well for Chile as his country goes for a third Copa America trophy in a row.

Rich: The next award is for Team of the Week. The Netherlands, England, Germany, the USA and France all topped their group at the World Cup with maximum points.

Jack: We’re going to give the Team of the Week to France as they are already through to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought win against Brazil.

Rich: Finally our Goal of the Week and we’re going to go back to the Copa America for this one.

Jack: Our Goal of the Week goes to Roberto Firmino’s cheeky no-look goal for Brazil against Peru. How can he do that in an international tournament? I have no idea!

Matchweek Prediction 

Jack: Every week, Rich predicts the result of one big match. The Premier League season is over, but there is still plenty of football.

Rich: The Women’s World Cup continues as does the Copa America in Brazil and the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Jack: One of the most anticipated group matches at the Africa Cup of Nations is in Group D when Morocco take on Ivory Coast. This match is on Friday. Who do you think will win Rich?

Rich: I have to say I’m not totally sure. Morocco got a very fortunate win in their first match against Namibia. An 89th-minute own goal gave them a 1-0 win. However, they have some great players such as Ziyech at Ajax and Hakimi at Real Madrid. Ivory Coast also have some big names like Crystal Palace’s Wilfried and Tottenham’s Serge Aurier. Two teams qualify from each group and I expect to see both teams in the next round so I’m going for a draw in this one. Final score: Morocco 1-1 Ivory Coast

Jack: If you know more about the teams at the Africa Cup of Nations, Copa America or Women’s World Cup join the discussion on the Premier Skills English website and let us know your opinions.

Rich: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.