The World Cup

Hello everybody and welcome to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and we hope by now you're very excited about football or soccer.

This is the World Cup time of year so this comes every four years actually and we've

got a lesson all about it.

That's right.

So as everyone may or may not have heard, we are actually in the middle of the World

Cup and as you say it's a football or soccer competition.

Now soccer is only used in the United States.

That's right.

It's used in the United States although football can be confusing in a place like Australia

where they have two different games that are called football.

That's right.

So it's a little bit difficult at times to tell someone that you play football and they

think you play American football or Australian football or soccer.

So it's a little bit confusing.

It can be, yeah.

All right.

So we have a great lesson all about the World Cup.

We're going to explain a little bit and so let's listen to the dialogue for the very

first time.

What are you doing?

What am I doing?

What am I doing?

Don't you know what day it is?

Um, no.

It's only the day when the world's biggest sporting event is kicking off.

What?

The World Cup.

The first match is today.

It's Mexico versus South Africa.

It's going to be a really good match.

Both teams have a very strong offense and have skilled players.

I think that South Africa will probably dominate the first half since they are the host country

and all.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

The only sporting event we watch at home is the Super Bowl.

This is bigger than the Super Bowl, man.

Teams from 32 countries compete against each other every four years and fight to win that

trophy.

They first start in a group stage with eight groups, each group having four teams.

The top two teams pass on to an elimination stage before going on to the semifinals and

the quarterfinals.

Sounds interesting, but soccer doesn't really appeal to me.

Are you kidding?

Over 700 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup.

It's a very exciting and nerve-wracking sport.

Each nation is cheering on their team, hoping they will become the next champion.

So far, Brazil is the team with the most titles under their belt.

They're really good.

All I know about soccer is that you can't use your hands and that players are always

falling down trying to get a free kick or penalty kick.

It seems like a sissy sport to me.

Whatever.

I'm going to go watch the opening match.

All right, we're back.

So obviously, two people discussing or fighting over the World Cup and soccer.

One of them doesn't really like it.

But he came up with some really interesting points and explained a couple of interesting

things.

So let's take a look at some of that vocab on Language Takeaway.

Language Takeaway.

So, okay, the very first phrase here is a very important one.

We're talking about sports.

This game is called a sporting event.

That's right.

So a sporting event is an event, I guess you would say is a performance or something that

happens occasionally, but related to sports.

That's right.

So an event can be a game itself or a tournament.

You've heard maybe of well, the UEFA Cup, that's the European Federation of Football

or whatever it is.

So basically, you have this tournament for European soccer teams.

But the World Cup is also an event and a very important game could also be an event.

So this basically means a sporting match or a sporting competition.

That's right.

Now it may sound confusing as to why you put the ing in sport.

It should be maybe sports event or sport event, but I'm not really sure why we add the gerund

to sporting event.

We always just say it this way.

It's a set phrase.

So let's remember that it's sporting event.

This is the world's most important sporting event, for example.

Okay, very good.

Now we went and we talked about the first match, Mexico versus South Africa, and they're

talking about the teams and how they both have a very strong offense.

Okay, so offense is a part of the team.

Basically it's a group of players who are trying to score.

That's right.

Okay, so when you're good at offense, it means you're good at scoring.

And the opposite of offense is what?

Defense.

Defense.

So offense, defense.

You can say they have a very strong defense.

That means that it's very hard to score against them because their defenders, their goalies,

they're all very strong.

That's right.

So we're talking about an offense and a defense, both very important parts of a team.

And so the guy continued and made a little bit of a prediction saying that South Africa

will probably dominate the first half.

Okay, so you know that football matches are split into halves.

You have first half and second half.

To dominate here means to be stronger than someone else.

So to control the ball or to have possession or to be the one that is the strongest team

on the field.

That's right.

So you can dominate by having a very strong defense or you can dominate by having a very

strong offense or both.

Dominate means be stronger than.

That's right.

Okay, now let's move on to the other guy who doesn't really like soccer.

And he says, I have no idea what you're talking about.

All I know is that I watch the Super Bowl.

Okay, now this is a very American thing, the Super Bowl.

That's right.

We mentioned earlier that in America, most people call the game soccer, not football.

Well, that's because in America, we have a different game called football.

That's right.

And so the Super Bowl is like the most important game in the football world.

It's the game that happens every year at the very end of the season.

That's right.

So this is what we usually call American football.

So you've probably seen it on TV as well.

And the Super Bowl is basically the name of the final sporting event of American football.

Just like we have World Cup, we have the Super Bowl.

And the winner of the Super Bowl is the best team that year.

That's right.

All right, so now let's go on to explain a little bit about how the World Cup works.

The guy went on to explain that there are 32 countries competing.

And basically, we have three parts, an elimination stage, a semifinals, and quarterfinals.

Okay, so basically, this describes the different levels because obviously, 32 teams can't compete

for one trophy at first.

You have to make the numbers smaller.

So 32 becomes 16, becomes 8, becomes 4, becomes 2.

That's right.

And so we have different groups for these.

The first one is the elimination stage when some teams lose and they go home.

That's right.

And after that, then we have a quarterfinals.

So what is quarterfinals?

The quarterfinals are when you have eight teams that are basically the top eight teams

of the competition.

And they will play against one other opponent.

So the winner passes on to the next stage, which would be the semifinals.

Well, the math makes sense because quarter has to do with four, right?

So in the quarterfinals, eight teams become four.

And in the semifinals, four teams become two.

That's right.

And then what happens after the semifinals?

And then we have the final, where basically the two top teams will compete against each

other and there will be one champion.

USA!

USA!

And this is when it gets very nationalistic.

People are very proud of their countries.

Of course, of course.

And so this basically is what happens and how we get our champion.

And well, now let's explain a little bit very quickly about two things that happen in the

game during gameplay when we have a free kick and a penalty kick.

Okay, so a kick, you know, you just kick the ball.

But sometimes when the ball goes out of bounds or when a player is injured or there's a foul,

then that player or his teammate can take a special kick.

All right.

And so a free kick is, it's just a kick from anywhere, right?

A free kick is a kick that you get basically according to the referee who says, okay, stop

the game.

He's going to kick from inside the lines.

That's right.

So wherever you are fouled, wherever somebody maybe hit you wrong or something happened

from that position, you will kick freely towards the goal or wherever you want.

You can pass to your other players as well.

That's right.

But a penalty kick is a bit different because you have to be in a special place when you

do it.

That's right.

A penalty kick is when you are fouled inside the box, what they call it, in the area very

close to the goalie.

So if you commit a foul there, then the other player will receive a penalty kick and it

will just be him against the goalie and he must kick the ball.

I think it's approximately 10 meters if I'm not mistaken.

Yes.

And this is why it's very dangerous because you're so close to the goalie and no one can

stop you.

And so when fouls happen inside that special box, it's usually bad news for the goalie.

Yeah, of course.

So this is what happens during a penalty kick and well, basically you have no defenders.

So it's just you, the goalie, and it can get, as you said, very complicated for the goalie.

So all right, so we've taken a look at a lot of things on Language Takeaway.

Let's move on now to three phrases on Fluency Builder.

Fluency Builder.

Okay, so this is a great word to describe how I felt last week when I watched the England

versus America match.

I thought it was a nerve-wracking game.

That's right.

Okay.

And we heard this in the dialogue, right?

Yeah, you said it was a very nerve-wracking game or in the dialogue the guy said, it's

a very exciting and nerve-wracking sport.

So if something's nerve-wracking, what does it mean?

Well basically if you break it down, nerves are those things in your body, in your skin

that make you feel.

So if someone hurts you, you feel it because of your nerves.

So something that is nerve-wracking makes you nervous.

It makes you anxious.

It makes you feel very sensitive.

That's right.

So of course the sporting event is so exciting and you're worried that your country or your

team will lose that you're very nervous and you're very excited, you're very anxious.

A lot of things are going on.

Maybe you're sweating, maybe you're drinking a lot.

You don't want to know.

You don't want to see your team lose and so you get very nervous.

That's right.

And now of course if your team is in the World Cup, you are cheering on for your team or

you're cheering them on.

Okay, so this is an interesting phrase because maybe you've heard the word to cheer before,

you know, go team, go team.

This is cheering.

But we often say I want to cheer him on.

So this on to me means like I want to cheer him on to victory.

I want to push them towards some goal.

And so you hear this a lot.

Let's cheer them on or he was really cheering me on.

It made me feel good.

Motivating you.

Motivating you.

So to cheer someone on, cheer them on.

All right.

So obviously this is why we have cheerleaders, right?

Girls that cheer.

Give me an A. Give me a B.

These are the girls or the group of girls that cheer teams on.

Or men too.

I've seen male cheerleaders.

That's true.

All right.

And now when we talked about Brazil, they are the team with the most titles under their

belt.

Okay, we're not talking about a real belt here, are we?

No.

No.

Under your belt or under their belt in this case means that in their history, they have

the most titles.

That's right.

I think it may come from boxing or one of those sports where you actually wear a belt

that says your title.

And I think, if I'm not mistaken, sometimes a boxing belt will have various titles on

the belt.

Right.

The championship belts.

Yeah.

Because they wear it afterwards.

I've never heard that before, but it does make sense.

But the important thing to remember here is that it's not just sports.

You could say he has 10 years of experience in marketing under his belt.

That's right.

So that means he's experienced at marketing.

That's right.

So that's right.

As you said, you can use it for work experience, you can use it for titles in work, or maybe

in education you can say he's got three master's degrees under his belt.

Wow.

All right.

So a lot of great stuff there.

We've taken a look at a lot of vocab, so I think we should listen to our dialogue again

and we'll be back to talk a little bit more.

What are you doing?

What am I doing?

What am I doing?

Don't you know what day it is?

Um, no.

It's only the day when the world's biggest sporting event is kicking off.

What?

The World Cup.

The first match is today.

It's Mexico versus South Africa.

It's going to be a really good match.

Both teams have a very strong offense and have skilled players.

I think that South Africa will probably dominate the first half since they are the host country

and all.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

The only sporting event we watch at home is the Super Bowl.

This is bigger than the Super Bowl, man.

Teams from 32 countries compete against each other every four years and fight to win that

trophy.

They first start in a group stage with eight groups, each group having four teams.

The top two teams pass on to an elimination stage before going on to the semifinals and

the quarterfinals.

Sounds interesting, but soccer doesn't really appeal to me.

Are you kidding?

Over 700 million people watched the final match of the 2006 World Cup.

It's a very exciting and nerve-wracking sport.

Each nation is cheering on their team, hoping they will become the next champion.

So far, Brazil is the team with the most titles under their belt.

They're really good.

All I know about soccer is that you can't use your hands and that players are always

falling down trying to get a free kick or penalty kick.

It seems like a sissy sport to me.

Whatever, I'm going to go watch the opening match.

All right, so the World Cup, as we said, it gathers over 100 million people to watch the

final in 2006.

Now, this sport is not very popular in North America.

It's not totally true because Mexicans really follow football.

That's right.

But I think in America, in the United States, it is one of the less popular sports.

I was thinking the other day, maybe number five on our list of popular sports.

Maybe because you have American football, the NFL, you have Major League Baseball, you

have the NBA, you have the NHL, and I think maybe before soccer, you probably either have

golf or tennis before soccer, even though the United States does have its own Major

League Soccer.

Yep, MLS, Major League Soccer.

And my hometown team is Chicago Fire, pretty good team.

I heard they're very good.

And the LA Galaxy, I think, is the other best team in the States.

That's right.

Now, the United States did host the 1994 World Cup, and I think this is where a little bit

of more interest started to come up.

And I think Major League Soccer was formed prior to the World Cup in the United States.

That's right.

Well, there's another part of it.

I mean, as young people, as children, we almost all played soccer.

I played soccer.

I know a lot of my friends did as well.

It's not popular everywhere, but a lot of people play it.

And there's not really an audience for soccer in America once you're in the professional

realm.

And so the problem is when you pass college, you don't think of it as the NBA, for example,

because there's not as big of an audience.

And so people just end up doing their normal jobs as opposed to being professional soccer

players.

I think that has a big something to do with it is the fact that there is not as much money

in this sport professionally as, for example, the NBA.

Or prestige.

Exactly.

Although, this is the, on the other hand, these players that do make it and they really

want to play, they go abroad and they go play in the European leagues or something like

that.

That's right.

And a lot of the players who were playing the other day against England were playing

against their teammates because so many of the American team, the American national team

play in the English Premier League.

It was really awkward.

Well, it's a really great sport.

I think it's one of the most popular sports in many other countries as well because it's

so easy.

All you need is a ball.

You need a group of people.

You put two rocks and you have a goal and you start playing.

And that's probably why it's the most international sport because it's very easy to set up.

People all over the world love it and hopefully one day the United States will kind of push

it and...

Become champion.

Yeah.

Well, I hope this year they'll become champions but my fingers are definitely crossed because

who knows.

All right.

So, it's a really great topic.

We want to know if your country is in the World Cup.

Have you ever qualified for a World Cup?

There are still many countries who haven't made it.

Of course, it's a very small pool.

Only 98, 199 countries compete to qualify for the World Cup and only 32 make it.

And you can also tell us who you're supporting.

We won't judge.

That's right.

So, we're waiting for your comments at EnglishPod.com.

We'll see everyone there.

Bye.

All right, good luck.