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Summer Tournaments: Ruthless

Summer Tournaments: Ruthless

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 and the world of football. 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: Unlucky 13 for Thailand.

Rich: The USA put 13 goals past Thailand in the Women’s World Cup - the biggest ever margin of victory at a World Cup Finals. The USA were ruthless as they battered the Thai team scoring six goals in the final 16 minutes of the match. 

Jack: Copa America kicks off in Brazil.

Rich: Brazil have kicked off the Copa America and the hosts got a much-needed win against Bolivia. They won 3-0. There have also been big wins for Uruguay, 4-0 winners against Ecuador and Colombia, 2-0 winners against Argentina.

Jack: Premier League fixtures announced.

Rich: The Premier League fixtures for season 2019/20 are out and there are some mouth-watering matches to look forward to. Manchester Utd - Chelsea is on the opening weekend that’s August the 9th to 11th but we’ve got to wait until November for Liverpool - Manchester City!

Jack: One final thing in our round-up of the action before we move on to the vocabulary.

Rich: What’s that?

Jack: We want to congratulate Liubomyr from Ukraine someone who has been listening to our podcasts for a long time now.

Rich: Ah, yes. Ukraine won the FIFA under-20 World Cup last week. They beat Italy in the semis and South Korea in the final.

Jack: Congratulations Ukraine and we hope you are happy Liubomyr, Ukraine seem to have some great young players - especially the goalkeeper.

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: margin, ruthless, to batter or to be battered, much-needed, to be out and mouth-watering.

Rich: Let’s start with the word margin. We said the USA’s result against Thailand was the biggest ever margin of victory at a World Cup Finals.

Jack: The margin is the amount of time, votes or, in football, goals someone or a team wins something by. The margin of victory between the USA and Thailand was 13 goals. If it had finished 13-1 the margin would have been 12.

Rich: You often hear the phrase a narrow margin if something was close and margin is often followed by the preposition ‘of’. We often hear the margin of victory could have been bigger.

Jack: The next word is ruthless. Ruthless is an adjective that is used to describe someone that is very determined and doesn’t care if they hurt others to get what they want.

Rich: A team is often described as ruthless if they continue playing to a very high level after the game has been won easily.

Jack: The next phrase is to batter or be battered. It means to hit very hard or cause lots of damage to something.

Rich: It is often used informally in football when one team loses badly. Thailand were battered by the USA. There are lots of words that are used in football in a similar way. Some examples include: thrashed, crushed and annihilated.

Jack: The next phrase is much-needed. This phrase is obviously used to describe something that is needed a lot but it’s interesting how it is used as an adjective.

Rich: We might say something like tourism gives a much-needed boost to an economy or like in the headlines ‘Brazil got a much-needed win against Bolivia’.

Jack: It's often used in football to describe a team that wins for the first time in a while.

Rich: The next phrase is to be out. We said the Premier League fixtures are out.

Jack: This means that the fixtures have been released and they are available. The phrase is often used about books, games and films. Is the new James Bond film out yet? Is FIFA 20 out yet?

Rich: The final phrase this week is mouth-watering. This is usually used to describe food that is delicious. It makes our mouths water because it is so appetising. 

Jack: We can also say a top match is very appealing or mouth-watering. Like Manchester Utd - Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season.

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: margin, ruthless, to batter or  be battered, much-needed, to be out and mouth-watering.

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. Manchester Utd’s Alexis Sanchez scored and captained Chile to a 4-0 win against Japan, Marta became Brazil’s record goalscorer at a World Cup and Andriy Lunin had a great tournament as Ukraine won the Fifa under 20 World Cup.

Rich: But our Player of the Week goes to the USA’s Alex Morgan. Five goals in one match at a World Cup Finals is a brilliant achievement nevermind the opposition.

Jack: The next award is for Team of the Week. France, Germany and the USA are all doing well but our team of the week is Australia who came from behind to beat Brazil 3-2.

Rich: It’s only the second time in the history of the Women’s World Cup that a team has come back from two goals down to win a match.
Jack: And finally, our Goal of the Week. Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema has become the Netherland’s all-time top scorer and scored a cracker against Cameroon.

Rich: But our Goal of the Week goes to Italy’s Aurora Galli who scored the goal of the tournament so far against Jamaica.

Jack: Check out those goals if you haven’t seen them yet.

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.

Jack: But on Friday the biggest football tournament in Africa kicks off and there is plenty of Premier League interest.

Rich: That’s right it’s the Africa Cup of Nations which will be played in Egypt over the next month and has been expanded to 24 teams.

Jack: Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are there for Egypt and Senegal. Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and Tottenham’s Serge Aurier will be in action for Ivory Coast and Newcastle’s Christian Atsu will be playing for Ghana.

Rich: Those are just a few of the Premier League players in action.

Jack: OK, Rich what about predictions? There are 24 teams. Egypt are the hosts and have won it a record seven times. Who is going to win?

Rich: With 24 teams the Africa Cup of Nations is one of the biggest tournaments in football and it’s not easy to predict a winner. I expect Senegal and Nigeria to be strong. Cameroon will want to hold onto the trophy they won last time and Algeria and Morocco have the players and the team that could win it. But, I’m going to go for the favourites, Egypt. With Mohamed Salah and the home fans behind them, I think they will win the tournament again.

Jack: I’m going to back the Black Stars. I think Ghana will win it. 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

USA 13-0 Thailand

Australia 3-2 Brazil

Jamaica 0-5 Italy

England 1-0 Argentina

Netherlands 3-1 Cameroon

Nigeria 0-1 France

(selected results)

Copa America

Brazil 3-0 Bolivia

Argentina 0-2 Colombia

Uruguay 4-0 Ecuador

Japan 0-4 Chile

(selected results)

Headlines

Unlucky 13 for Thailand!

Not a scoreline that Thailand will want to see again!

The USA put 13 goals past Thailand in the Women’s World Cup - the biggest ever margin of victory at a World Cup Finals. The USA were ruthless as they battered the Thai team, scoring six goals in the final 16 minutes of the match. 

Headlines

Copa America kicks off in Brazil!

Eight of the players that helped Brazil beat Bolivia 3-0 have played in the Premier League.

Brazil have kicked off the Copa America and the hosts got a much-needed win against Bolivia. They won 3-0. There have also been big wins for Uruguay, 4-0 winners against Ecuador and Colombia, 2-0 winners against Argentina.

Headlines

Premier League fixtures announced

The Premier League fixtures are out! Who's your team got on the opening day?

The Premier League fixtures for season 2019/20 are out and there are some mouth-watering matches to look forward to. Manchester Utd - Chelsea is on the opening weekend that’s August the 9th to 11th but we’ve got to wait until November for Liverpool - Manchester City!

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?

The USA’s result against Thailand was the biggest ever margin of victory at a World Cup Finals. The margin is the number of goals a team wins something by. 

The USA were ruthless in their 13-0 win against Thailand. Ruthless means to be very determined and to not worry about hurting others to get what you want.

Thailand were battered by the USA. Battered means to be hit very hard or cause lots of damage to something.

Brazil got a much-needed win against Bolivia.  Much-needed is used to describe something that is needed a lot. Another example is: tourism gives a much-needed boost to an economy.

The Premier League fixtures are out. This means that the fixtures have been released; they are available.

Manchester - Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season is a mouth-watering match. Mouth-watering is usually used to describe food but can be used to describe other things that are very appealing.

Alex Morgan scored five times for the USA as they battered Thailand.

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: Alex Morgan (USA)

Team of the Week: Australia

Goal of the Week: Aurora Galli (Italy)

Aurora Galli scored a great goal for Italy against Jamaica. Did you see it?

The Big Match

Africa Cup of Nations

The Premier League season has finished but the football season isn't over yet. This weekend the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Egypt! Rich thinks Egypt will win the tournament but Jack thinks Ghana will come out on top. Who do you think will win?

What are your predictions? 

Cameroon won the last Africa Cup of Nations. Who will lift the trophy this time?

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. Should the USA have continued scoring goals against Thailand? Will the USA win the World Cup?
  2. Do you agree with our choices for Player/Team/Goal of the Week?
  3. Have you checked who your team is playing on the opening weekend of the Premier League season?
  4. Will you be watching the Africa Cup of Nations? Who do you think will win?
  5. Use this week's vocabulary: What's the biggest margin of victory you can remember in a football match? Is it important for teams to be ruthless against weaker teams?

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

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
29/01/2022
TR
5560
points

Phrases
• Rocks on the seaside are always battered by the waves.
• Apart being ruthless it's also against being gentle-lady to hit a team with this score.
• When a film out and critics write down lots of tribute about it, after watching I'm sometimes disappointed about it.
Note
• In the finance, the word "Margin" stands for the percentages of collateral and loan in the portfolio. Amount of first one always more than second one.


hsn's picture
hsn
29/01/2022 17:41
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

Phrases
• Rocks on the seaside are always battered by the waves.
• Apart being ruthless it's also against being gentle-lady to hit a team with this score.
• When a film out and critics write down lots of tribute about it, after watching I'm sometimes disappointed about it.
Note
• In the finance, the word "Margin" stands for the percentages of collateral and loan in the portfolio. Amount of first one always more than second one.

hsn's picture
hsn
29/01/2022
TR
5560
points

Phrases
• Rocks on the seaside are always battered by the waves.
• Apart being ruthless it's also against being gentle-lady to hit a team with this score.
• When a film out and critics write down lots of tribute about it, after watching I'm sometimes disappointed about it.
Note
• In the finance, the word "Margin" stands for the percentages of collateral and loan in the portfolio. Amount of first one always more than second one.


hsn's picture
hsn
29/01/2022 17:38
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

Phrases
• Rocks on the seaside are always battered by the waves.
• Apart being ruthless it's also against being gentle-lady to hit a team with this score.
• When a film out and critics write down lots of tribute about it, after watching I'm sometimes disappointed about it.
Note
• In the finance, the word "Margin" stands for the percentages of collateral and loan in the portfolio. Amount of first one always more than second one.

englishman
29/06/2019
DZ
1734
points

I guess that Algeria will win the cap with Mahrez.
Wow........


englishman
29/06/2019 16:08
Algeria
Manchester City
1734

I guess that Algeria will win the cap with Mahrez.
Wow........

Torofootball
27/06/2019
MX
120
points

1.- Yes, why not? Goals scored in a World Cup is a record, and it is dishonest to stop scoring goals.
France will be a difficult team because they are hosting the tournament.
2.- I agree with you, good choices!
3.- Really looking forward to it! We play against Chelsea.
4.- Egipt have a good manager and Mohamed Salah. Perhaps so..
5.- I remember a Mexico 9-0 win over Martinica, the center forward scored 7 goals. It’s fair play when you don’t give chances. It’s a game and the reflection on the score is important to know where you are.


Torofootball
27/06/2019 05:13
Mexico
Manchester United
120

1.- Yes, why not? Goals scored in a World Cup is a record, and it is dishonest to stop scoring goals.
France will be a difficult team because they are hosting the tournament.
2.- I agree with you, good choices!
3.- Really looking forward to it! We play against Chelsea.
4.- Egipt have a good manager and Mohamed Salah. Perhaps so..
5.- I remember a Mexico 9-0 win over Martinica, the center forward scored 7 goals. It’s fair play when you don’t give chances. It’s a game and the reflection on the score is important to know where you are.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
23/06/2019
DZ
3988
points

1. I have seen USA battering Thailanda with this huge margin. Lots of questions I'm wondering about but I have not any idea on that concern. This remembered me of the outstanding thrash on behalf CRBelcourt against Birmandreis on Algerian Cup first stage with a margin of 13 goals a lot of them achieved by Lalmas. Also in the seventies on World Cup finals I have in mind rutless Yougoslavia battered one Africa team with eleven goals.

Not only because it is about my own country I see perfectly Algeria succeeding in winning this away title.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
23/06/2019 13:13
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

1. I have seen USA battering Thailanda with this huge margin. Lots of questions I'm wondering about but I have not any idea on that concern. This remembered me of the outstanding thrash on behalf CRBelcourt against Birmandreis on Algerian Cup first stage with a margin of 13 goals a lot of them achieved by Lalmas. Also in the seventies on World Cup finals I have in mind rutless Yougoslavia battered one Africa team with eleven goals.

Not only because it is about my own country I see perfectly Algeria succeeding in winning this away title.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
20/06/2019
BR
615
points

Hi,
I admire your efforts to bring excellent podcasts even after the end of the Premier League season. By the way, I agree with all your choices.
The United States have a superb women team and, together England and France, are my guess for the World Cup this year.
For the Africa Cup of Nations, I hope to see Egypt or Senegal winning. Unfortunately it is not easy to watch the games in Brazil.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
20/06/2019 02:28
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

Hi,
I admire your efforts to bring excellent podcasts even after the end of the Premier League season. By the way, I agree with all your choices.
The United States have a superb women team and, together England and France, are my guess for the World Cup this year.
For the Africa Cup of Nations, I hope to see Egypt or Senegal winning. Unfortunately it is not easy to watch the games in Brazil.

ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
19/06/2019
ZW
1749
points

I think my country Zimbabwe is going to win this year's edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.We are underdogs,but we are ready to surprise the big boys. We have not yet won the cup before ,so it is now or never.


ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
19/06/2019 23:21
Zimbabwe
Chelsea
1749

I think my country Zimbabwe is going to win this year's edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.We are underdogs,but we are ready to surprise the big boys. We have not yet won the cup before ,so it is now or never.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74679
2Ukraine33892
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23505
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146938
2Liverpool111456
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58918
6Tottenham Hotspur19506
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Improve your football English.

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Make your prediction for next week's big match.