This Week: Words of wisdom

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

In This Week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

If you are listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org where you’ll be able to download the podcast.

On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.

Today, I have got something special for you. You see, in my hunt for football stories, I came across a collection of quotes from footballers and managers about life, the beautiful game and everything. So I thought I could share some wisdom from the world of football through the medium of a quiz and that would also give me the chance to look at some interesting and useful language along the way.

But before I start, I want to give you the answer to last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last week, the football phrase was **********. It means the trophies that a club receives for winning a league or cup competition. When Guardiola first took over the reins at Manchester City, he was disappointed not to win any ********** in his first season.

Congratulations to Daniel_06 from Mexico, Hayato from Japan, XuanHung from Vietnam - I’m really sorry for getting your country wrong last week XuanHung. Congratulations to Hasan from Turkey, Alex from Ukraine, Mohamedanower from Egypt, Shiho from Egypt, Ahmed Amr from Egypt, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Desap from Indonesia, welcome to the podcast Desap. Well done to Ryohei from Japan, Ken from Japan, Sharnhoiste from Korea, welcome to the podcast Sharnhoiste. Congratulations to Denis2000 from Belarus, Goku from Japan, Leandro Higuita from Colombia, Chen Meng Tso from Taiwan, Schewa Dovski from Germany, Bicooz from Egypt, Taha Gashout from Libya and Takateeto from Japan.

You all managed to work out that the phrase I was looking for was silverware.

Welcome also to Cin from Mexico, it’s lovely to have you here, but you didn’t get the answer right. I hope you will have a go at getting this week’s phrase, though it is a really difficult one.

Keep listening till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

Now it’s time for the quiz.

Quote number 1

The first quote is from the late Brazilian legend Pelé. I’m going to read you the quote but I’m going to remove a word. I want you to try to think of the word that I have taken out of the quote. OK! Here’s quote number 1.

The more difficult the _________, the greater the happiness in winning.

The more difficult the what? What makes the happiness in winning greater? What do you think?

The more difficult the _________, the greater the happiness in winning.

If you’re thinking the opponents or other team, that’s not right. You could say the stronger the opposition, the greater the happiness in winning, but that’s not the quote.

The answer is:

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.

The noun victory means an occasion when you have won. The word victory is quite common. You can describe the winner as the victor, but that’s not very common. The adjective victorious is also quite common. You might say, the champions faced a tough team but they were victorious in the end, meaning they were the winners in the end.

Quote number 2

The second quote is from one of the greatest players in the game, the Argentinian Lionel Messi. Listen to the quote and try to guess what the missing word is.

Here’s the quote:

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to _________ and work hard for it.

What do you have to do as well as working hard? You have to fight to reach your dream. Messi says you have to work hard and what else?

The answer is:

You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.

To sacrifice means to give something up that is valuable or important in order to achieve something even more important. Most commonly, people make sacrifices to help other people that they love. For example, I might sacrifice some of my own desires, perhaps for things that I’d like to buy, because I need or would prefer to spend the money on my children. I am very fortunate because I don’t need to sacrifice much, but many parents sacrifice a lot of their own dreams and desires for their children. There is another meaning of the verb which means to kill an animal or person as an offering to a god or gods. Some cultures in the past used to make sacrifices because they thought it would please their god. I don’t think that’s what Messi was saying though, he wasn’t making sacrifices to the god of football. He was not doing other things that he might have wanted. When his friends were going out and having fun, he was training and making sure he was fit and healthy. Those are the sorts of things a footballer has to sacrifice if they want to be as good as they can be.

Quote number 3

OK. The third quote is from the ex-Everton and Manchester United player Wayne Rooney. Listen to the quote and guess what the missing word is:

I just hate losing and that gives you extra _________ to work harder.

What do you get from losing according to Wayne Rooney? I really like this quote. I think that this shows a really important attitude, especially for someone working in a really competitive business. There are quite a few words that could fit into this gap. Losing gives you extra motivation to work harder or extra purpose to work harder but those aren’t the things Rooney said. Do you think you know this one?

The answer is:

I just hate losing and that gives you extra determination to work harder.

Determination is the ability to keep doing something or rather to keep trying to do something even though it’s difficult and you may have failed many times. I think it’s one of the most important qualities. If you can’t do something and you quit because it’s too difficult, you’ll never achieve anything special. I don’t think anyone is born with enough talent that they don’t need determination to develop their talent into a skill. Learning a language, learning English is hard and to become really fluent takes a lot of determination. I think that everybody listening to this podcast already knows this and you have all shown that you have strong determination ... or you wouldn’t be listening.

Quote number 4

The next quote is from another footballing legend who was the greatest footballer in the world when I was growing up. Even after an infamous performance in 1986 which knocked England out of the World Cup, he was still admired by football fans. I am, of course, talking about the great Diego Maradona. Listen to the quote and try to guess what the missing word is.

When people succeed, it is because of hard work. _________ has nothing to do with success.

What according to Maradona has nothing to do with success? I’m not sure I agree with this quote. What do you think Mazradona is dismissing as a reason for people becoming successful? It could be money. Do you think he said money has nothing to do with success? It wasn’t money. Here’s the answer:

When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.

I understand why successful people might want to think that, but there are lots of things that make a person successful and they are not all down to hard work. I mean, no matter how hard I worked, I was never going to be a professional footballer. You need talent and a natural ability. If you are born with these things, that’s lucky ,isn’t it? And there are people who work incredibly hard, arguably harder than footballers that never see anywhere near their levels of success. I don’t want to diminish the hard work and determination of professional footballers, but there are lots of people that work really hard and are not that successful.

The phrase to do with is interesting. It means concerning or related to. It’s really hard to define it exactly. Listen to these examples:

My car won’t start. I think the problem has something to do with the starter motor.
The team’s victory had a lot to do with the new tactics that they used.
Why are you so interested? It has nothing to do with you!

So when Maradona says that luck has nothing to do with success, he’s saying that there is no relationship between luck and success.

Quote number 5

The next quote is from one of the greatest managers to have held the reins at a Premier League club. Listen to this quote from Arsene Wenger and try to work out what the missing word is:

If you do not believe you can do it then you have no _________ at all.

What do you have none of if you don’t believe you can succeed? I can think of a couple of words that you could use in the gap, but the missing word fits best. The answer is:

If you do not believe you can do it then you have no chance at all.

The word chance is quite interesting. It normally means an occasion or opportunity to do something. So if you visit Buckingham Palace in London, you might get the chance to see King Charles. We also use the word for less unusual opportunities. I wanted to go to the bank earlier but I was really busy so didn’t get the chance. If you have a chance, then something is a possibility. If you have a good chance, you have a strong possibility. If you have a small chance of something, it’s possible but not likely. And if something is impossible, then you have no chance at all. It’s sometimes collocated with the verb stand. I don’t think you stand a chance of winning. I like this quote. You have to believe that you can succeed. If you don’t believe in yourself, then you’ll never achieve your dreams.

Quote number 6

The next quote is from the great Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Listen to the quote and try to work out what the missing word is:

Football is played with your _________. Your feet are just the tools.

I think that this quote is especially true of a midfielder, especially of an attacking midfielder who has the role of a playmaker as well as trying to score goals. If the quote was from a striker, I think the missing word might be different. What do you think the answer is? Pirlo said:

Football is played with your head. Your feet are just the tools.

Playmaking midfielders have to use their brains when they play. I think that a striker might have said that football is played with your heart. Did anyone else think that could have been the answer? Whether it’s head or heart, your feet are just the tools. The word tools means the equipment you use to complete a job. Normally tools are things like hammers and screwdrivers. I have a tool box in my garage that’s full of tools for fixing things ... or trying to fix things. However the word tool can be used to talk about any equipment. So different jobs have different tools of their trades. For a photographer, a camera is a tool. For a teacher, it’s books and board markers. In the quote, Pirlo was using the word slightly figuratively, but he wanted to highlight the role of his intelligence in his football.

Quote number 7

Quote number 7 infamous in England. I first heard it from a friend and colleague who I used to work with on Premier Skills. In fact, he was one of the people who started the project in the first place. His name is Michael and he has retired now, but I miss working with him. These words were said by a famous manager. He was a player as well and played 17 seasons, but today he is remembered more for his time managing Liverpool. His name was Bill Shankly and there’s a statue of him outside Anfield. Listen to the quote and see if you can guess what the missing word is.

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can _________ them it is much more serious than that.

The phrase ‘a matter of life and death’ is normally used to make sure people understand that something is so important that lives are at stake. If it goes wrong, people may die. However, I think it’s used more commonly in a jokey figurative way, just to say that something is really important ... but not actually a matter of life or death. Can you work out the missing word? I can _____ them it is more serious than that. The word means to tell someone that something is true, in a way that makes them feel confident. Do you know what the missing word is?

Here’s the answer:

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.

The verb to assure means to make someone sure. If you are sure, you know something to be true and you are confident about it. When a teacher asks you a question, if you answer the question with uncertainty in your voice, they might ask you are you sure? What’s the capital of Colombia? Bogota? Are you sure? Yes ... I’m sure. I’m certain. So that feeling of certainty is what you give someone when you assure them. We also use the word reassure when we make someone feel more confident about something they already knew or at least had a feeling about.

When my friend first told me this quote, I laughed, but the longer I knew him, the less convinced I became that it was a joke. Some people take football really seriously.

Quote number 8

The next quote is from the most successful manager in the history of the Premier League. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and led Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. The quote is:

I’ve never played for a _________ in my life.

What do you think Sir Alex Ferguson has never played for in his life? What can you play for? You can play for a club? But it can’t be that because he played for six clubs in his senior career. I suppose it could be a person, but words for people are often a bit rude and I wouldn’t have chosen to test you on that. Can you think of another possibility?

Here’s the answer:

I’ve never played for a draw in my life.

This is another idea that I like. Unless you are playing against children, you should always play to win. I’m not going to explain what a draw is ... it will be in the language challenge, but I know that you know that word.

I did find lots more quotes that I’d like to share with you, but this podcast is already long enough.

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again. I have spoken about eight useful words and a phrase which are:

• victory
• sacrifice
• determination
• to do with
• chance
• tools
• assure
• draw

I have found examples of these words in news stories online and edited them slightly and have removed today’s vocabulary so I want you to fill in the gaps with the words and the phrase from the podcast.

Number 1. Australia captain Alyssa Healy says her side showed 'grit and _________' to grind out the victory which ensured they retain the Ashes.

Number 2. Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got _________ It' has reached number one on the charts following her death.

Number 3. West Ham are in with a good _________ of signing Edson Alvarez despite Bayern Munich being interested in the midfielder..

Number 4. In the Fifa Women’s World Cup, New Zealand’s _________ over Norway has been described as an upset for the ages.

Number 5. You can currently save over £100 on this mitre saw in the Power _________ sale on the website.

Number 6. Rashford told the club website: “I can _________ you that I will give everything to help the team reach the level we are capable of.”

Number 7. The young rider has started his campaign well having made some big lifestyle changes. The Italian said: "I’ve _________ a lot; no more parties, no more staying out late, in bed at 10, every night.”

Number 8. In the FIFA Women's World Cup: Canada and Nigeria ended in a _________ after Christine Sinclair’s penalty was saved.

Leave your answers to the language challenge in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrase.

This week’s football phrase is the ******** **** **** ** *****. This is a really difficult expression that we use to say that the bad things that someone or a team is experiencing now are because of what they did in the past. So if a team sells their goal keeper and best defenders and then they concede lots of goals you could say that their ******** have **** **** ** *****. I’m going to have to give you a big clue. This phrase talks about a farm animal and what it does when it goes to sleep. I’m really not sure if that’s going to help anyone.

If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

Before I finish, I am going to go through the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. Egyptian Premier League side Al Ahly have handed the reins to Marcel Koller in a bid to improve their fortunes next season.

Number 2. Deep-lying playmakers are often known for their vision, technique and passing.

Number 3. Two women have been kicked out of house for three months after a raft of complaints about their antisocial behaviour were made to the council.

Number 4. Plans are back on track to build a new leisure centre in Halifax after they were put on hold due to rising costs.

Number 5. As a coach, you need to be ahead of that curve; you have to anticipate things before they happen.

Number 6. Facebook’s twitter rival Threads has become the fastest growing app in history, hitting 100 million users in five days

Number 7. England head rugby coach Steve Borthwick praised his players for maintaining their composure after going behind to Wales in the second half to go on and claim a 20-10 win in Cardiff.

And that’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.