World Cup English

I originally wrote this many years ago, but it still should work quite well because the main subject, World Cup football, hasn'y changed that much. We still use much the same vocabulary to describe what happens on the field. Let’s try to learn it before the competition gets very far along!

Talking about the World Cup

Note: This is bit much to remember, so you’ll probably need to read it several times and listen to it several times.  As you read, try to connect the descriptive words with famous players or with teams currently playing well and teams which are not. Save the page and reread it once the competition begins and after it ends.

For convenience, I will divide this section into several topics, but you can use many of the words and phrases below with different topics as well. And they are certainly not limited to football either. All are good English terms that you can use with many subjects.

The players

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You probably already know many useful words like talented, skilful, experienced, and creative. Here are some more that you might not know.

The best players are often called gifted – their skills are a gift of God. Some of the best – like Argentina's Lionel Messi, England’s Wayne Rooney or Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo are prolific scorers, playing with a flair that dazzles us. Physically, players can be muscular or wiry, lanky or diminutive. Most players are extremely agile and the best scorers often have breathtaking pace.

Many of the players are veterans, having played for many years. Some of these players are in their prime – at the peak of their careers. Others are a bit past their prime and perhaps lack some of the stamina of their youth. But few are really over the hill. In fact, the World Cup often revitalises or rejuvenates veteran players, making them seem young again, well capable of surviving the gruelling competition. These experienced players often spearhead their teams in the attack or anchor them on defence.

Younger players are often called promising and, if they are especially young and talented, they might be called a prodigy. People watch closely to see if they live up to their promise and make their mark in the World Cup. Fans want to see if the players are equal to the task – able to shoulder the responsibility of representing their countries in such a big event.

There is also much interest in the character and personalities of the star players. Sports writers like players who are consistent and dependable and they criticise those who are erratic or unpredictable. But that doesn’t mean they want players to be dull and boring. Everyone likes players who seem a bit eccentric and they even accept those who are volatile – if they are good, of course.

gifted – having great natural ability to do something well
prolific – scoring a lot of goals
flair – doing things in an original, interesting and stylish wa
dazzle – to impress especially because of great skill, beauty or other qualities
muscular – very fit and strong with firm muscles
wiry – rather thing but strong
lanky – tall and thin and moving rather awkwardly
diminutive – very small
agile – moving quickly and easily
breathtaking pace – having great running speed
veteran – a person who has long experience doing something
prime – the strongest, most active or most successful stage of life
peak – the top, the prime
past their prime – no longer as strong, active or as successful as previously
stamina – the physical or mental energy needed to do a difficult or tiring activity for a long time
over the hill – past the prime; not longer as successful as before, especially because of age
revitalise – to make active or healthy again
rejuvenate – to make feel or look young again; to revitalise
grueling – extremely tiring and difficult to do
spearhead – to lead
anchor – to stabilise
promising – seeming likely to be very good or successful
prodigy – (of someone very young) having great natural ability for something such as sport, music, mathematics, etc.
live up to their promise – to become as successful as hoped or expected
make their mark – to have a significant impact or effect
equal to the task – able to do what is expected or required
shoulder the responsibility – to carry out your duties or responsibilities
consistent – always achieving the same level of success or performing at the same level
dependable – able to be relied upon to do something
erratic – not following a regular pattern; doing unexpected things; inconsistent
unpredictable – very inconsistent; impossible to know what the person will do
volatile – changing moods rapidly; easily angered

The performance

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Movie reviewers rate the performance of the actors in a movie. Similarly, sportswriters rate the performances of the teams and their players in a match. They are quick to pay tribute, often describing a convincing victory by a powerful team as an awesome performance or an exhilarating – even scintillating – display of skill. They may even praise a losing team for a determined, feisty, tenacious, spirited or enthusiastic effort.

But writers can be equally quick to give out harsh criticism for an inept effort. ‘What garbage,’ declared the German magazine Bild after the national side lost 1 – 0 to Wales before one World Cup. ‘What business do we have at the finals? It was really horrible. The defense was a disaster and the attack was completely invisible’.

Humiliating, embarrassing, and horrendous are also popular terms for describing particularly woeful performances. In fairness, sports writers are hard to impress and they may rate an effort that looks acceptable to us as disappointing, sloppy, lack-lustre, mediocre or sluggish. Sometimes, they will be sympathetic, however, if a losing side has been depleted by injuries, depriving them of their top stars.

pay tribute – to give praise for doing something very good
awesome – very impressive
exhilarating – causing you to feel very happy and excited
scintillating – very lively and interesting; sparkling
determined – to not let anything stop you from doing or accomplishing something; resolute
feisty – tough and full of spirit
tenacious – determined and not willing to give up easily
spirited – showing great energy; active; lively; confident
enthusiastic – showing that you like or enjoy something very much
inept – showing a complete lack of skill
horrible – very bad
disaster – something that is very bad or unacceptable
invisible – not able to been seen, i.e., very ineffective
humiliating – feeling ashamed or stupid about something
embarrassing – feeling shy or ashamed about something
horrendous – extremely bad, unpleasant or shocking
woeful – very bad or undesirable
sloppy – careless and lazy
lackluster – not exciting or energetic
mediocre – only average when it should be better
sluggish – lacking energy; slower than normal
sympathetic – showing understanding for someone in a bad situation
depleted – reduced; having too little of something
depriving – taking away or preventing from having something that is needed

Winning and losing

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There are many words for a decisive victory. For example, if a team wins 5 – 0, writers may say the team trounced (or overwhelmed, battered, hammered, thrashed) the other side. If, however, the game was very close, with one side winning by a single goal, they might say the victor eked out a victory or it edged the other side.

All losses are setbacks, but narrow losses can be heartbreaking, or even demoralising, causing a team to temporarily lose hope or spirit. On the other hand, when a team comes back from the brink of defeat to salvage a draw, it is often seen as a morale booster. The same is true during the match itself as a team gradually whittles away an opponent’s lead to get back into the match. An impressive goal can turn the tide and turn a defeat into victory.

The team we expect to win is said to be favoured or fancied. The team expected to lose is called the underdog. When an underdog beats a favourite, the result is said to be an upset. If a team is actually better than was generally thought, it may be described as underrated.

trounced – defeated easily or by a large score
overwhelmed – overpowered; won decisively
battered – won by a large score, especially in a very physical way
hammered – battered; overwhelmed
thrashed – defeated easily; trounced; hammered
eked out a victory – won with difficulty by a very small margin
edged – won by a small margin
setback – something that reverses or delays progress you have made; disappointment
heartbreaking – causing you to feel extremely sad and upset
demoralizing – causing a loss of confidence; causing you to lose hope or want to give up
brink - edge
salvage – to manage to get something useful from a situation so that it is not a complete failure
morale booster – something that increases your confidence and cheerfulness
whittle away – to gradually reduce or make smaller
get back into the match – to have a chance of winning again after falling far behind
turn the tide – to change the game in a way that one side starts to gain an advantage over the other
favoured – expected to win
fancied – favoured; expected to win
underdog – a team or player that is not expected to win
upset – an unexpected win or loss
underrated – not given enough credit or respect

It’s a GOOOOAAAAAAAL!!!

Click to listen to goals

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You probably already know all the basic goal-scoring methods like the volley, drive, header, bicycle kick, and penalty kick. But did you know there are hundreds of ways of describing them?

Let’s start with the most powerful, the drives. These are often called thunderbolts or blasts because they happen so quickly. Great strikers can hit drives that are so ferocious that they seem to generate great heat, i.e., they are described as sizzling or blistering. When they score, the ball gets buried in the net and when they miss, it whistles past the post.

The most exciting goals have a lot of action, a diving header from a perfect cross, for example. Or a striker who goes on a solo run, eluding opponents, penetrating the defence, wrong-footing the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the empty net.

Balls seldom follow a straight path. Skilful players can curl or swerve them around a wall. More often, balls are deflected as they bounce off opponents or ricochet off the woodwork. Almost anything can happen in the goalmouth melees that occur throughout the game.

The goalkeepers have to have amazing reflexes as they parry close-range shots or turn away thunderous drives at full stretch. Some of their best saves almost seem miraculous.

Deception plays a part in many goals. Strikers drift around aimlessly, lulling their opponents to sleep, until the opportunity comes to sneak or slip past the defenders for a quick strike. Or they hover around the goal until a loose ball suddenly appears.

Finally, many goals are caused by defensive lapses. Defenders commit blunders or miscues like failing to clear a ball in front of the net or leaving a striker unmarked. Sometimes, however, it is just bad luck, like when a ball is deflected off a defender into his own goal.

volley – kicking or hitting the ball before it touches the ground
drive – a very powerful shot at the goal
header – hitting the ball with your head
bicycle kick – a kick backwards over your head
penalty kick – a free kick taken after someone has been fouled
thunderbolt – a very sudden and powerful shot
blast – a very powerful shot, like an explosion
ferocious – with violent force
sizzling – extremely fast and powerful, seemingly moving through the air with a hissing sound
blistering – done with great speed or force
buried – kicked in the deep part of the net
whistle – to move with great speed, seemingly fast enough to cause a whistling sound like a passing bullet
diving – jumping with your body extended like a dive far out into a pool
cross – the kicking or the ball from the side of the field to a player in the centre, usually in front of the goal
eluding – escaping from; avoiding
penetrating – getting through
wrong-footing – causing someone to lose their balance
slotting – kicking the ball into the goal from the area right in front of the goal
curl – to kick the ball so that it curves instead of goes straight
swerve – to change direction suddenly
deflected – to cause to change direction, especially because of hitting something
bounce off – (of the ball) to move quickly away from a surface that it has just hit
ricochet – to hit a surface and come of it fast at a different angle
woodwork – the wooden structure that holds the net
melee – a situation where players are crowded together and pushing against
reflexes – natural movements of your body in response to something
parry – to defend against an attack
thunderous – very powerful
at full stretch – with your body full extended
miraculous – impossible to believe
deception – deliberately tricking someone
drift – to move slowly from one place to another
aimlessly – having no direction or purpose
lulling – causing your opponents to feel too relaxed and confident so that you can surprise them
sneak – moving while trying to avoid being seen
slip – to quickly without being noticed
hover – to stay close to
lapse – a mistake, especially one caused by being careless or forgetting about something
blunder – a mistake
miscue – a poor kick or a small mistake
clear – to kick away from the goal area
unmarked - undefended

Final note

I am continually adding to my list of "World Cup English" words and phrases and so should you. Try to spend about 15 or 20 minutes a day with the English coverage of the competition and you will find yourself reading like a champion in no time. And don’t miss our coverage right here in this website.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 08:55 PM