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Medium: Comeback

Medium: Comeback

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 comeback

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 comeback.

Jack: Don’t go away. Come back! Come back can be a phrasal verb which means return. 

Rich: He came back very late last night will often mean that he returned home very late last night.

Jack: In a football match a team can come back to win. This happens when a team is losing at one point in the match and wins in the end.

Rich: A team might come back to win 2-1 or 3-2 for example.

Jack: But in this episode, we’re going to concentrate on the noun comeback, not the phrasal verb. 

Rich: Comeback is a compound noun - a compound noun is a word that is made from two or more individual words. In this case, come and back.

Jack: It can be used in a number of ways but let’s start with how it’s used in football. It has the same meaning as in the example we have just used.

Rich: It’s used to describe how a team was losing but won in the end. 

Jack: To win from a losing position. Manchester Utd staged a great comeback when they turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win against Manchester City last week.

Rich: Notice the collocation we use with comeback. A team stages a comeback. Manchester United staged a great comeback.

Jack: When talking about football we also often say a team produced a great comeback. Manchester United produced a great comeback to win 3-2.


Rich: We said earlier that the phrasal verb come back is used to mean return. 

Jack: The noun comeback is often used in this way. We often talk about singers or pop groups who make a comeback.

Rich: A singer may have retired or not done anything for a few years and then makes or stages a comeback.

Jack: A singer might produce a comeback album or have a comeback tour.

Rich: When a footballer is injured we often say that a player is on the comeback trail. This is used to describe a player that has been injured for a while and is now on their way back to fitness - on the path towards fitness.


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

  • What's the best comeback you can remember?

Write your answers in the comments section below.

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Comments

Michaelsun
20/02/2022
CN
738
points

I remember the worst comeback is Li Xiang came back in 2008 Olympic.


Michaelsun
20/02/2022 12:39
China
Manchester United
738

I remember the worst comeback is Li Xiang came back in 2008 Olympic.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
12/05/2021
BR
1512
points

When Liverpool knocked out Barcelona in the Champions League on their tittle running in 2019.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
12/05/2021 15:59
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

When Liverpool knocked out Barcelona in the Champions League on their tittle running in 2019.

hsn's picture
hsn
02/02/2021
TR
5560
points

• I’ve watched many matches in which losing team staged comeback. When team (A) beat at the beginning of the game with a high score but after oppenent team (B) stages comeback and win at the end it means alarm bells are ringing for team (A).

• Both of Virgil and Matip-Liverpool are on the come back trail. I hope they get recovery soon.


hsn's picture
hsn
02/02/2021 18:27
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

• I’ve watched many matches in which losing team staged comeback. When team (A) beat at the beginning of the game with a high score but after oppenent team (B) stages comeback and win at the end it means alarm bells are ringing for team (A).

• Both of Virgil and Matip-Liverpool are on the come back trail. I hope they get recovery soon.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
17/07/2020
TR
6539
points

The best two comebacks that I will never ever forget are
1. The Camp Nou night when we scored 2 goals in stoppage time to reach the promised land and won the Treble on 26th May 1999.
2. The other unforgettable night is when Rashford scored a last minute penalty against Buffon to lead us through the Quarter Finals and gave us a win over PSG when everyone on the planet underestimated United.

I can call them the nights of Rashford and his Gaffer :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
17/07/2020 00:23
Turkey
Manchester United
6539

The best two comebacks that I will never ever forget are
1. The Camp Nou night when we scored 2 goals in stoppage time to reach the promised land and won the Treble on 26th May 1999.
2. The other unforgettable night is when Rashford scored a last minute penalty against Buffon to lead us through the Quarter Finals and gave us a win over PSG when everyone on the planet underestimated United.

I can call them the nights of Rashford and his Gaffer :)

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
16/07/2020
UA
6578
points

The best comeback is definitely "Istanbul miracle".


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
16/07/2020 03:33
Ukraine
Liverpool
6578

The best comeback is definitely "Istanbul miracle".

Izabela
15/07/2020
BR
1505
points

Nice


Izabela
15/07/2020 17:05
Brazil
Newcastle United
1505

Nice

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74676
2Ukraine33885
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23505
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146938
2Liverpool111453
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58908
6Tottenham Hotspur19499
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Learn more football vocabulary.