Medium: Knock out
Medium: Knock out
Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.
This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.
Summary
Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to knock out.
You can find more lessons on the side of this page.
Transcript
Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.
Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time.
Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.
Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.
Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is knock out. Have a listen to this:
Jack: I love knockout matches.
Rich: I don’t, I think league matches are better. Anyone can knock out anyone else in a cup match. The league is a much better competition.
Jack: Here we are using knockout as an adjective and as a phrasal verb.
Rich: To knock a team out of a competition means to eliminate them from the competition. Liverpool knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League last season. Liverpool continued to the final and Barcelona went home.
Jack: We can use it as an adjective, too. We often speak about knockout matches or the knockout rounds or stages of a competition.
Rich: The knockout stages are what comes after the group stages of a competition. In the knockout stages, the winners go to the next round or stage and the losers are eliminated.
Jack: The phrasal verb knock out has a more general meaning.
Rich: It means to cause someone to become unconscious. A footballer could be knocked out by an accidental elbow from an opponent or even a ball that hits him or her in the face.
Jack: We are knocked out by something. This could be an elbow, a football, a boxer’s punch or even alcohol and drugs.
Rich: The aim of a boxing match is to knock each other out. When the referee in a boxing match counts to ten the fight stops and the fighter that is standing has won by knockout.
Jack: We might describe the final punch in a boxing match as the knockout blow. The punch that finally won the fight.
Rich: We can use this phrase knockout blow in other contexts. It is used to describe the final action or event that caused something to fail. Listen to these examples:
Jack: The injury was a knockout blow to his hopes of playing in the World Cup.
Rich: The economic crisis delivered a knockout blow to the company’s finances and it soon went bankrupt.
Jack: There is the final whistle!
Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.
Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Discuss
- Do you prefer watching knockout matches or league matches?
- Can you remember a match when a small team knocked out a much bigger team?
Write your answers in the comments section below.
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Comments
07/08/2023
points
I don't really have a preference as long as it's an interesting football match.
Yup I remember when Morocco knocked out Portugal in World Cup 2022.
07/08/2023 14:48
Manchester City
383
I don't really have a preference as long as it's an interesting football match.
Yup I remember when Morocco knocked out Portugal in World Cup 2022.
16/02/2022
points
I prefer knockout match.
Chinese women football knocked out Japanese football team.
16/02/2022 06:41
Manchester United
738
I prefer knockout match.
Chinese women football knocked out Japanese football team.
28/10/2021
points
I prefer watching knockout matches.
28/10/2021 00:39
Manchester City
110
I prefer watching knockout matches.
26/04/2021
points
I prefer knockout macthes. They brings more emotion and excitement.
I remember when Mazembe knocked out S.C Internacional ath the FIFA Club World Championship in 2010.
26/04/2021 16:02
Arsenal
1512
I prefer knockout macthes. They brings more emotion and excitement.
I remember when Mazembe knocked out S.C Internacional ath the FIFA Club World Championship in 2010.
01/12/2020
points
By the way, I don't like boxing because of the possibility for a boxer to fall under the knockout blow. Heavy blows, indeed, may cause a lot of severe problems in the future as we often can see, e.g. Mohammed Ali would finally get Parkinson's disease due to such traumas during his long and victorious career.
01/12/2020 02:41
Liverpool
6439
By the way, I don't like boxing because of the possibility for a boxer to fall under the knockout blow. Heavy blows, indeed, may cause a lot of severe problems in the future as we often can see, e.g. Mohammed Ali would finally get Parkinson's disease due to such traumas during his long and victorious career.
01/12/2020
points
Lately, poor Jimenez has been literally knocked out by Luiz.
01/12/2020 02:33
Liverpool
6439
Lately, poor Jimenez has been literally knocked out by Luiz.
01/12/2020
points
In 1969 a team from the second by force division of Soviet football Karpaty (Carpathians) L'viv won the National Cup. They were promoted to the first division the following year though, after becoming the winner of the second division. Nevertheless, I think it was a glorious feat - being underdogs and overcoming several stronger teams of the upper football layer. So, it was a SERIES of matches in the later stages of the competition.
01/12/2020 02:31
Liverpool
6439
In 1969 a team from the second by force division of Soviet football Karpaty (Carpathians) L'viv won the National Cup. They were promoted to the first division the following year though, after becoming the winner of the second division. Nevertheless, I think it was a glorious feat - being underdogs and overcoming several stronger teams of the upper football layer. So, it was a SERIES of matches in the later stages of the competition.
01/12/2020
points
I prefer watching knockout matches to league matches because they require full demonstration of skills NOW, not for a PERIOD of time when there are opportunities sometimes to loosen the reins.
01/12/2020 02:22
Liverpool
6439
I prefer watching knockout matches to league matches because they require full demonstration of skills NOW, not for a PERIOD of time when there are opportunities sometimes to loosen the reins.
24/11/2020
points
I prefer watching league matches.
Yes, It was 2010 Lech Poznań knocked out Manchester City in Polend. In addition Lech learned City fans to something more commonly described as 'The Poznan' ;)
24/11/2020 09:52
Chelsea
351
I prefer watching league matches.
Yes, It was 2010 Lech Poznań knocked out Manchester City in Polend. In addition Lech learned City fans to something more commonly described as 'The Poznan' ;)
06/08/2020
points
There is a result I can never forget when MK Dons knocked out our Manchester United from EFL Cup in August 2014 during Louis Van Gaal era and defeated us by 4-0 .
It turned to the poorest performance I have ever seen from the Red Devils.
Btw , I think that was the key game for Dele Alli to join Spurs later on.
06/08/2020 00:04
Manchester United
6524
There is a result I can never forget when MK Dons knocked out our Manchester United from EFL Cup in August 2014 during Louis Van Gaal era and defeated us by 4-0 .
It turned to the poorest performance I have ever seen from the Red Devils.
Btw , I think that was the key game for Dele Alli to join Spurs later on.
05/08/2020
points
I think I like both of them as league matches give you another chance to bounce back and knockout matches help you to see high tempo matches and maybe extra-time and even penalties.
05/08/2020 23:57
Manchester United
6524
I think I like both of them as league matches give you another chance to bounce back and knockout matches help you to see high tempo matches and maybe extra-time and even penalties.
06/06/2020
points
I prefer knockout matches because there is no repeat of them.They include high level of tempo and very much goal position.
Yes. In my country one of the super league finalist team eliminated from knock-out cup match.
It was legend.
06/06/2020 16:51
Tottenham Hotspur
5550
I prefer knockout matches because there is no repeat of them.They include high level of tempo and very much goal position.
Yes. In my country one of the super league finalist team eliminated from knock-out cup match.
It was legend.
28/03/2020
points
To tell the truth, I love both of them because these mathes are different and the feeling is another.
I remember the Barcelona-PSG which was an unforgettable match. 6-1
28/03/2020 09:31
Chelsea
3396
To tell the truth, I love both of them because these mathes are different and the feeling is another.
I remember the Barcelona-PSG which was an unforgettable match. 6-1