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International Action

International Action

Where was everybody?

Brazil v Chile at the Emirates Stadium.There were no Premier League fixtures this weekend, which meant Premier League players travelling the globe with their national teams. Some players didn't have far to travel - England were playing at Wembley and Brazil played Chile (1-0) at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. This meant a home game for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and a quick trip across London for Chelsea's Oscar, Filipe Luis and Willian. Fernandinho of Manchester City and Coutinho of Liverpool were also in the Brazil line-up. Other players had a bit further to travel - Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta along with Manchester Utd's Angel Di Maria had to travel to the USA, where Argentina played El Salvador (2-0) and Man Utd's Radamel Falcao travelled to Bahrain to score twice in a 6-0 win for Colombia. With over 90 different nationalites having played in the Premier League, you can usually find a Premier League connection in most international matches. 

What was at stake?

Uruguay are current Copa America ChampionsThe matches involving teams from Africa, Asia and the Americas were international friendly matches. There was little at stake apart from professional pride and a chance for international managers to work with their squads before important tournaments. One of these tournaments is the Copa America, which takes place in Chile in June and July this year. The Copa America is the main international tournament for teams from South America (Mexico and Jamaica have also been invited this year) and Uruguay are the current champions. This current round of friendly matches have been used as warm-up matches for this important event. In Europe, there was much more at stake as teams were involved in qualifying matches for the European Championships, which will take place in France next year.

Who is going to qualify for France 2016?

Hugo Lloris (Spurs goalkeeper) and France qualify automatically.To qualify for the tournament, teams have to finish in the top two of their qualifying group or finish in third place and win a play-off against another team, who also finished in third place. France 2016 will be the first European Championships that will have 24 teams (expanded from 16), so there is a better chance for teams to qualify. The only team that is certain to qualify is France because the host nation qualify automatically. After the most recent matches we are now at the halfway point of qualifying and many of the groups are starting to take shape.

Who has made a good start?

Skrtel and Rooney in international action.The only teams with a 100% record are England and Slovakia. England won their fifth game out of five, when they comfortably beat Lithuania 4-0. It is a match that will be remembered for a long time by Tottenham striker, Harry Kane. He made his international debut, when he came on as a substitute in the 70th minute, and after only 79 seconds he had his first goal in international football! Slovakia's good start is much more surprising, as they have only ever qualified for one major tournament before. The Slovakia team, captained by Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, had a comfortable 3-0 win against Luxembourg and are three points ahead of Spain, who they beat in October, at the top of their group. Belgium had a fine 5-0 win against Cyprus with three Premier League scorers (Christian Benteke, Marouane Fellaini and Eden Hazard) but they are still behind Wales, who had a great 3-0 win away to Israel, with Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale (2) on the score sheet.

Which teams have more work to do?

Dzeko (Bosnia) and Kompany (Belgium) are rivals in qualification for France 2016.There are some big teams that haven't had a good start to the qualifying campaign. The Netherlands could only draw 1-1 at home to Turkey and they are in third place, behind both Iceland and the Czech Republic. New Netherlands coach, Guss Hiddink, is finding it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Manchester Utd manager - Louis van Gaal, who took them to the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer. World Champions Germany are also in a difficult group, they are currently in second place, behind Poland, but there are only three points that separate the top four (Poland, Germany, Scotland and Ireland). Bosnia and Herzegovina won 3-0 away to Andorra, with Manchester City's Edin Dzeko scoring a hat-trick, but they have a lot of work to do if they want to qualify - they are currently in fifth place in their group. Finally Greece, who won the European Championships in 2004, have a huge mountain to climb if they want to qualify. The Greeks are bottom of their group with only two points, a 0-0 draw against Hungary at the weekend, which followed a home defeat to the Faroe Islands does not really help them very much.

Who do you think is going to qualify for France 2016? Will there be any surprises?

Ireland drew 1-1 with Poland in Dublin.

What did you understand?

Activity 1: In this activity, try to answer the questions to show how much of the article you understand.
How much did you understand?

Where was everybody?

There were no Premier League fixtures this weekend, which meant Premier League players travelling the globe with their national teams. Some players didn't have far to travel - England were playing at Wembley and Brazil played Chile (1-0) at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. This meant a home game for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez and a quick trip across London for Chelsea's Oscar, Filipe Luis and Willian. Fernandinho of Manchester City and Coutinho of Liverpool were also in the Brazil line-up. Other players had a bit further to travel - Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta along with Manchester Utd's Angel Di Maria had to travel to the USA, where Argentina played El Salvador (2-0) and Man Utd's Radamel Falcao travelled to Bahrain to score twice in a 6-0 win for Colombia. With over 90 different nationalites having played in the Premier League, you can usually find a Premier League connection in most international matches. 

What was at stake?

The matches involving teams from Africa, Asia and the Americas were international friendly matches so there was little at stake apart from professional pride and a chance for international managers to work with their squads before important tournaments. One of these tournaments is the Copa America, which takes place in Chile in June and July this year. The Copa America is the main international tournament for teams from South America (Mexico and Jamaica have also been invited this year) and Uruguay are the current champions. This current round of friendly matches have been usd as warm-up matches for this important event. In Europe, there was much more at stake as teams were involved in qualifying matches for the European Championships, which will take place in France next year.

Who is going to qualify for France 2016?

To qualify for the tournament, teams have to finish in the top two of their qualifying group or finish in third place and win a play-off against another team, who also finished in third place. France 2016 will be the first European Championships that will have 24 teams (expanded from 16), so there is a better chance for teams to qualify. The only team that is certain to qualify is France because the host nation qualify automatically. After the most recent matches we are now at the halfway point of qualifying and many of the groups are starting to take shape.

Who has made a good start?

The only teams with a 100% record are England and Slovakia. England won their fifth game out of five, when they comfortably beat Lithuania 4-0. It is a match that will be remembered for a long time by Tottenham striker, Harry Kane. He made his international debut, when he came on as a substitute in the 70th minute, and after only 79 seconds he had his first goal in international football! Slovakia's good start is much more surprising, as they have only ever qualified for one major tournament before. The Slovakia team, captained by Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, had a comfortable 3-0 win against Luxembourg and are three points ahead of Spain, who they beat in October, at the top of their group. Belgium had a fine 5-0 win against Cyprus with three Premier League scorers (Christian Benteke, Marouane Fellaini and Eden Hazard) but they are still behind Wales, who had a great 3-0 win away to Israel, with Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale (2) on the score sheet.

Which teams have more work to do?

There are some big teams that haven't had a good start to the qualifying campaign. The Netherlands could only draw 1-1 at home to Turkey and they are in third place, behind both Iceland and the Czech Republic. New Netherlands coach, Guss Hiddink, is finding it diffficult to follow in the footsteps of Manchester Utd manager - Louis van Gaal, who took them to the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer. World Champions Germany are also in a difficult group, they are currently in second place, behind Poland, but there are only three points that separate the top four (Poland, Germany, Scotland and Ireland). Bosnia and Herzegovina won 3-0 away to Andorra, with Manchester City's Edin Dzeko scoring a hat-trick, but they have a lot of work to do if they want to qualify - they are currently in fifth place in their group. Finally Greece, who won the European Championships in 2004, have a huge mountain to climb if they want to qualify. The Greeks are bottom of their group with only two points, a 0-0 draw against Hungary at the weekend, which followed a home defeat to the Faroe Islands does not really help them very much.

Who do you think is going to qualify for France 2016? Will there be any surprises?


Activity 2: Have a go at this hangman game. Can you guess the right word from the article about recent international matches? Remember to use the clues to help you!
Choose the right word before you get squashed!

 

Mesut Ozil's Germany still have work to do if they want to qualify for France 2016.

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What do you think?

Who do you think will qualify for France 2016?

Will there be any surprises?

Do you think international friendly matches are a good idea in the middle of the Premier League season?

 

 

 

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Comments

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
24/03/2021
BR
1512
points

It's not fair to answer those questions now (we're in 2021)!
But I always like to watch international friendlies at any time. It's special to be closer to our brazilian national team when we have the chance, specially because we're not used to watch our best players regularly.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
24/03/2021 14:24
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

It's not fair to answer those questions now (we're in 2021)!
But I always like to watch international friendlies at any time. It's special to be closer to our brazilian national team when we have the chance, specially because we're not used to watch our best players regularly.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
07/07/2020
TR
6510
points

International friendly matches is the worst idea ever.
Boring games , players play for nothing and some injuries before crucial games in the Premier League and Champions League.
I think it's a load of codswallop.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
07/07/2020 00:33
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

International friendly matches is the worst idea ever.
Boring games , players play for nothing and some injuries before crucial games in the Premier League and Champions League.
I think it's a load of codswallop.

Izabela
01/07/2020
BR
1505
points

Nice


Izabela
01/07/2020 03:38
Brazil
Newcastle United
1505

Nice

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
11/07/2016
GH
4768
points

Just as there were surprises to those who qualified to the competition, there's been the exact happening in the competition


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
11/07/2016 05:18
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Just as there were surprises to those who qualified to the competition, there's been the exact happening in the competition

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
10/07/2016
GH
4768
points

I was shocked not to have seen Netherlands at the Euros


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
10/07/2016 06:36
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

I was shocked not to have seen Netherlands at the Euros

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
09/07/2016
GH
4768
points

Yes there has been a lot of surprises


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
09/07/2016 10:05
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Yes there has been a lot of surprises

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
09/07/2016
GH
4768
points

Most of the big fishes qualified with some few unexpected countries some of whom have played very well.


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
09/07/2016 10:04
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Most of the big fishes qualified with some few unexpected countries some of whom have played very well.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
08/04/2016
PS
3705
points

Netherlands are having a bad period,it is a big surprise and a lose.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
08/04/2016 12:28
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Netherlands are having a bad period,it is a big surprise and a lose.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
05/03/2016
PS
3705
points

No they are not.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
05/03/2016 17:20
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

No they are not.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
05/03/2016
PS
3705
points

Yes there will be.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
05/03/2016 17:20
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Yes there will be.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
14/12/2015
ME
3557
points

Honestly, the group E is interesting and of course the match between England and Wales. Other groups are way far from the previous european championships. So many poor quality teams have qualified for Euro 2016. So, yes, surprises are possible this time.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
14/12/2015 14:48
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Honestly, the group E is interesting and of course the match between England and Wales. Other groups are way far from the previous european championships. So many poor quality teams have qualified for Euro 2016. So, yes, surprises are possible this time.

MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
15/11/2015
RW
2320
points

International break is needed to allow players resting and show love to their county


MUGEMANYI's picture
MUGEMANYI
15/11/2015 20:22
Rwanda
Arsenal
2320

International break is needed to allow players resting and show love to their county

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
28/10/2015
ME
3557
points

I think it's very difficult for the players to play the friendlies and the PL but it should be an honour to play for the national team, not an obligation.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
28/10/2015 16:06
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

I think it's very difficult for the players to play the friendlies and the PL but it should be an honour to play for the national team, not an obligation.

Salloum's picture
Salloum
28/09/2015
SY
1308
points

I think Netherlands won't qualify to Europe Cup and this is the surprising for all the world because the bad results


Salloum's picture
Salloum
28/09/2015 20:16
Syria
Manchester United
1308

I think Netherlands won't qualify to Europe Cup and this is the surprising for all the world because the bad results

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19939
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

In this article, you will:

Practise reading.

Find out some facts and figures from recent international matches.

Tips

Recording Vocabulary

How do you keep a record of new vocabulary? There are some great apps you can use on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Here are a couple of suggestions:

  • Evernote is a fantastic tool for storing and categorising vocabulary.
  • Anki is another great tool - you can use it to create flash cards and then test yourself.