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Brazil's Cristiane celebrates one of her three goals against Jamaica.

Summer Tournaments: Kick-off

Summer Tournaments: Kick-off

Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. In This Week, Jack and Rich talk about the latest action from the Premier League. They keep you up to date with our latest competitions and have lots of football English for you to learn.

Transcript

If the listening is a bit difficult, try listening and reading at the same time.
Read the transcript and listen at the same time.

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: World Cup kicks off in France!

Rich: The Women’s World Cup has kicked off in France with a big win for the hosts. Brazil also got their campaign off to a good start with a 3-0 win against Jamaica. Cristiane scored a hat-trick and became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history in either the women’s or men’s game.

Jack: Portugal win inaugural Nations League.

Rich: Portugal won the first-ever Nations League tournament with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final. Portugal got to the final by beating Switzerland in the semis while the Netherlands beat England.

Jack: Hazard leaves for new challenges.

Rich: Eden Hazard has left Chelsea for Real Madrid but will go down as one of Chelsea’s best ever players. The Belgian won the Premier League twice with the Blues, scored 110 goals and won Chelsea’s Player of the Year a record four times.

Jack: Hazard’s been a great player for Chelsea, hasn’t he?

Rich: He’s scored some brilliant goals. I tell you who will be happy that he’s gone.

Jack: Who?

Rich: Premier League defences!

Vocabulary alert!

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

Rich: Our six words and phrases this week are: to kick off, the hosts, a campaign, inaugural, semis and to go down as.

Jack: Let’s start with an easy one. To kick off. It means to start a football match. You kick off at the beginning of the match, at the start of the second half and after a goal has been scored.

Rich: It can also be used to mean start something more generally. It’s informal. When we say the Women’s World Cup has kicked off we’re saying that it has started. 

Jack: You might also hear it when you see people getting angry or violent. This can happen on the football pitch.

Rich: You might say: He made a really dangerous tackle and the other team were not happy. It all kicked off.

Jack: This would mean that lots of players got angry with each other. It usually involves a bit of pushing and shouting but can become more violent.

Rich: The next phrase is the hosts. The hosts are the team or the country where the match or tournament is taking place or happening.  

Jack: The Women’s World Cup is taking place in France, so France are the hosts.

Rich: When we said the hosts had a big win we are talking about the French team.

Jack: The next word is a campaign. In the headlines, we said Brazil also got their campaign off to a good start.

Rich: A campaign is a series of activities that are planned with the aim of achieving a specific aim.

Jack: In the case of football, these activities are a series of matches and the aim is to win the tournament.

Rich: It’s common to also hear the phrase connected to politics. Politicians campaign to get elected.

Jack: The next phrase is inaugural and is not very common. It means the first of something and is a formal word usually used in an official way.

Rich: Portugal won the inaugural Nations League. It was the first time it had ever been played.

Jack: Again you often hear this word connected to politics. An inaugural speech is the first given by a new president in the USA for example.

Rich: The next word is semis and it’s much more informal and easier to explain. Portugal beat Switzerland in the semis.

Jack: It’s an informal way of saying semi-finals. 

Rich: Our final phrase is to go down as. We said that Eden Hazard will go down as one of Chelsea's best ever players.

Jack: The phrase means to be remembered and recognised by lots of people.

Rich: 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.

Jack: The words and phrases are: to kick off, the hosts, a campaign, inaugural, semis and to go down as.

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. The easy option would be to choose Portugal’s, Cristiano Ronaldo. He got a hat-trick in the Nations League semis and captained his nation to the trophy. 

Rich: But we’re not going to choose Cristiano, we’re going to choose Cristiane. At 34 years and 25 days, she became the oldest ever player to score a World Cup hat-trick when she scored three times for Brazil against Jamaica.

Jack: And whose record did she beat? That’s right, Cristiano Ronaldo's for his hat-trick against Spain in the World Cup last year.

Rich: The next award is for Team of the Week. At the World Cup the hosts, France looked good in their 4-0 win against South Korea as did Norway, Brazil and Spain.

Jack: But there’s only one team that has won anything this week and that’s Portugal who as hosts won the inaugural Nations League.

Rich:  And finally, our Goal of the Week. Goncalo Guedes winner in the final for Portugal was pretty good but there have been some great goals at the World Cup so far.

Jack: Cristiane’s free-kick for Brazil was good and England’s Ellen White scored a great goal in their win against Scotland.

Rich: But our Goal of the Week goes to Italy and Juventus forward Barbara Bonansea. It wasn’t the prettiest goal but it was a 95th-minute winner to shock one of the favourites, Australia, in Italy’s first match at the tournament for 20 years.

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, there are international friendlies and this Saturday the Copa America kicks off in Brazil.

Jack: It’s a massive tournament and Brazil are the hosts this time and surely they will win it. The Brazilians haven’t won it since 2007 so my prediction is they will win it again. What’s your prediction, Rich?

Rich: There are 12 teams in the tournament including. Ten from South America plus special invitations for Qatar and Japan. Three groups of four teams with 8 teams qualifying for the quarter-finals. The favourites have to be Brazil and Argentina with Chile, Uruguay and Colombia all having a good chance. Brazil are the hosts and are Jack’s pick but I just think it’s time that Lionel Messi won a tournament with Argentina. So, I think the Copa America will be won by Argentina this time.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this football round-up.  Let us know your predictions and join the discussion at the bottom of the page on the Premier Skills English website. 

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.

Results

Women's World Cup

France 4-0 South Korea

Brazil 3-0 Jamaica

Australia 1-2 Italy

Norway 3-0 Nigeria

Spain 3-1 South Africa

England 2-1 Scotland

(selected results)

Nations League Final

Portugal 1-0 Netherlands

Headlines

World Cup kicks off in France!

Amandine Henry scores one of France's four goals as the hosts thrashed South Korea 4-0.

The Women’s World Cup has kicked off in France with a big win for the hosts. Brazil also got their campaign off to a good start with a 3-0 win against Jamaica. Cristiane scored a hat-trick and became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in World Cup history in either the women’s or men’s game.

Headlines

Portugal win inaugural Nations League

Cristiano Ronaldo lifts the Nations League trophy for Portugal.

Portugal won the first-ever (inaugural) Nations League tournament with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final. Portugal got to the final by beating Switzerland in the semis while the Netherlands beat England.

Headlines

Hazard leaves for new challenges

Eden Hazard is leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid.

Eden Hazard has left Chelsea for Real Madrid but will go down as one of Chelsea’s best ever players. The Belgian won the Premier League twice with the Blues, scored 110 goals and won Chelsea’s Player of the Year a record four times.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

We looked at six pieces of football English that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?

When we say the Women’s World Cup has kicked off we’re saying that it has started. 

The hosts are the team or the country where the match or tournament is taking place or happening.  The Women’s World Cup is taking place in France, so France are the hosts.

Brazil got their World Cup campaign off to a good start. A campaign is a series of activities that are planned with the aim of achieving a specific aim. In this case, the activities are a series of matches and the aim is to win the World Cup.

Portugal won the inaugural Nations League. It was the first time the tournament had ever been played. Inaugural means the first of something and is usually used in an official way.

Portugal beat Switzerland in the semis. This is an informal way of saying semi-finals. 

Eden Hazard will go down as one of Chelsea's best ever players. To go down as means to be remembered by lots of people.

Brazil's Cristiane became the oldest player in World Cup history to score a hat-trick in either the women's or men's game.

Can you use the words in bold in a different sentence? Write a sentence at the bottom of the page. If you're not sure, listen to the audio for more explanations and examples.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Cristiane (Brazil)

Team of the Week: Portugal

Goal of the Week: Barbara Bonansea (Italy)

Barbara Bonansea scored in the 95th minute to give Italy a famous win against Australia.

The Big Match

Copa America

The Premier League season has finished but the football season isn't over yet. This weekend the Copa America kicks off in Brazil! Rich thinks Argentina will win the tournament but Jack thinks Brazil will come out on top. Who do you think will win?

What are your predictions? 

Who do you think will win the Copa America?

Five Questions

What do you think?

Jack and Rich have spoken about This Week in football. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.

  1. Are you watching the Women's World Cup? Why/why not? 
  2. Did you watch the Nations League? Did Portugal deserve to win?
  3. Are you happy or sad that Eden Hazard has left Chelsea for Real Madrid?
  4. Will you be watching the Copa America? Who do you think will win?
  5. Use this week's vocabulary: Will Eden Hazard go down as a Premier League legend? How do you think a team/country benefits from hosting a football tournament?

Let's get the conversation started and create a community!

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
31/01/2022
TR
5556
points

What do you think?
3. There is a rumour that E.Hazard unhappy in Real Madrid , couldn't find so much chance to play and wants to leave. Maybe he returns to Premier League.
Phrases
• This officer wasn't able to get off the law after getting lots of bribes.
• In the case of health, walking is the most recommended activity.
• Florence Nightingale will go down as a British lady who dedicated her whole life to the patients and founder of modern nursing. Four hospitals in my country named after her.


hsn's picture
hsn
31/01/2022 18:06
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5556

What do you think?
3. There is a rumour that E.Hazard unhappy in Real Madrid , couldn't find so much chance to play and wants to leave. Maybe he returns to Premier League.
Phrases
• This officer wasn't able to get off the law after getting lots of bribes.
• In the case of health, walking is the most recommended activity.
• Florence Nightingale will go down as a British lady who dedicated her whole life to the patients and founder of modern nursing. Four hospitals in my country named after her.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
15/06/2019
DZ
3988
points

Yes, I am. I enjoyed seeing France women beating Norway after their trash against Korea.

I did watch the European Nations League final and I was surprised to see how Ronaldo'team was by far better than Netherlands.

I am happy for Edern Hazard leaving the blues. In fact even if he achieved a great deal of records there he also had lot of troubles with the two Italien managers, Conte and Sarri, not mentioning Morenho harassment. I am sure he will end his carreer in a more spectacular exhibition.

I promises myself to watch some Cupa America matches which are used to be so technical, spectacular and thrilling. My favorite is Uruguay.

Some great tournaments bring lots of benefits for hosting countries. It is both a privilege and a challenge. Well ruled nations would get lots of advantages from it like wealthy activities, ground for improving skills and aknowledgments from around the globe. In fact in some caees it is really an entertainment show and a cheering rally.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
15/06/2019 15:12
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

Yes, I am. I enjoyed seeing France women beating Norway after their trash against Korea.

I did watch the European Nations League final and I was surprised to see how Ronaldo'team was by far better than Netherlands.

I am happy for Edern Hazard leaving the blues. In fact even if he achieved a great deal of records there he also had lot of troubles with the two Italien managers, Conte and Sarri, not mentioning Morenho harassment. I am sure he will end his carreer in a more spectacular exhibition.

I promises myself to watch some Cupa America matches which are used to be so technical, spectacular and thrilling. My favorite is Uruguay.

Some great tournaments bring lots of benefits for hosting countries. It is both a privilege and a challenge. Well ruled nations would get lots of advantages from it like wealthy activities, ground for improving skills and aknowledgments from around the globe. In fact in some caees it is really an entertainment show and a cheering rally.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
15/06/2019
BR
615
points

I am watching the Women's World Cup and I enjoyed seeing The Lioness winning their games.
Unfortunately I couldn't be able to watch the Nations League final, but as a Spurs fan I liked to see Chelsea losing Hazard, their best player. Despite of it, he will be gone down as a legend.
Hosting a football tournament offers an amazing opportunity for the hosts win, or at least make a great campaign. Support from the fans always help. So I would say Brazil is the strongest team to win Copa America as well as I see France as one the favorites to win the Women's Cup.

Just a suggestion. Take a look at Sékou Koita's goal for Mali against Italy in the quarterfinals of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. It was a very beautiful goal.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
15/06/2019 12:59
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

I am watching the Women's World Cup and I enjoyed seeing The Lioness winning their games.
Unfortunately I couldn't be able to watch the Nations League final, but as a Spurs fan I liked to see Chelsea losing Hazard, their best player. Despite of it, he will be gone down as a legend.
Hosting a football tournament offers an amazing opportunity for the hosts win, or at least make a great campaign. Support from the fans always help. So I would say Brazil is the strongest team to win Copa America as well as I see France as one the favorites to win the Women's Cup.

Just a suggestion. Take a look at Sékou Koita's goal for Mali against Italy in the quarterfinals of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. It was a very beautiful goal.

Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
14/06/2019
UA
4417
points

Unfortunately, 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup is completely ignored ((( For me it's the most interesting tournament this summer, and that's not only because Ukraine will play against South Korea in the final on Saturday, but also due to the fact we could see a lot of prospects and future big names.


Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
14/06/2019 16:28
Ukraine
Watford
4417

Unfortunately, 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup is completely ignored ((( For me it's the most interesting tournament this summer, and that's not only because Ukraine will play against South Korea in the final on Saturday, but also due to the fact we could see a lot of prospects and future big names.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6570
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5556
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33833
3Spain29407
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23395
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20437
8Turkey20094
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146582
2Liverpool111201
3Chelsea90118
4Arsenal86319
5Manchester City58708
6Tottenham Hotspur19417
7Newcastle United10560
8West Ham United7652
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Everton4533

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Improve your football English.

Practise your listening skills.

Make your prediction for next week's big match.