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Asian Cup 2019: On this week’s English through football podcast, we take a look at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup taking place in the United Arab Emirates. We’ll take a look at the teams – the favourites, dark horses, and the format. We will also have an English for football phrase – nail on, a quiz question on how well you know national team nicknames and we’ve got some Premier League predictions to finish the show. With the transcript you can improve your English by reading as you listen, or if you are a teacher you can use the transcript to make several activities for your learners. If you have questions or comments, email us at: admin@languagecaster.com (Damian=DF, Damon=DB).
Introduction
DB: You are listening to languagecaster.com’s football-language podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills – this is your learning English through football podcast. My name is Damon and I’m here in a chilly Tokyo, but luckily the sky is beautifully clear and blue – typical Tokyo winter weather. I wonder if Damian is enjoying typical wintery weather in London?
DF: Hello Damon. Well, the weather here is wet and rainy but I cheered myself up by watching some football this week, including the first leg of the Carabao Cup, traditionally called the League Cup, between Tottenham and Chelsea. The game was tight and there was some VAR controversy but my team will be taking a slim 1-0 lead into the second leg in two weeks time. Did you watch it Damon?
DB: I’m afraid I didn’t catch that game, but I did watch some more cup action. The last game in the FA Cup third round between Liverpool and Wolves. Unfortunately, Liverpool were dumped out of the competition 2-1. That continues their poor run in this competition – the previous three years we fell at the fourth-round hurdle, so this is one earlier! Oh well, hopefully we can focus on the league and the next game is Brighton, which I think features in our predictions.
DF: It does indeed. Along with Tottenham, who welcome a resurgent Manchester United, and Manchester City, who host Wolves. Can the Midland side get another big victory?
DB: We’ll see, and we’ll be talking about those games at the end of the show. What else do we have?
Line-up
DF: OK, we’re going to start by taking a look at the 2019 Asian Cup tournament, which kicked off on the 5th of January in Abu Dhabi. We’ll discuss which teams are favourites, take a look at some dark horses and talk about the format. After that, we have a quiz question connected to football team nicknames, we also have some football language, and we end – as we’ve mentioned – with predictions.
DB: Good stuff! And next week, we’ll have our regular feature, the good, the bad and the ugly section – our review of the footballing news, but just quickly, was there anything that caught your eye this week Damian?
DF: I suppose the 9-0 thrashing that Manchester City gave League 1 side Burton Athletic in the first leg of the semi-final of the Carabao Cup – how about you?
DB: Umm… we talk about the FA Cup being famous for upsets, that’s smaller teams beating the bigger more famous clubs, but in France this season, in the Coupe de la Ligue, PSG were beaten 2-1 at home by Guingamp, who are bottom of the division. PSG are currently 36 points ahead of them with a game in hand. Marseille and Lyon have also been knocked out, by Strasbourg, so plenty of upsets!
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster.com (in German)
DF: Great stuff. OK, before we take a look at the 2019 Asian Cup, we’d like to remind you that, if you like what we do, you can support us by subscribing through Patreon.com. There are extra posts, transcripts to the show and more, and we’d really appreciate the help keeping this site and podcast running. Thanks to those who already do support us!
DB: Yes, thanks and make sure to tell a friend, retweet us, like us on Facebook, and basically spread the word! We have a bonus podcast and a worksheet on the Asian Cup this week, so go along to patreon.com and see what you think!
The 2019 Asian Cup
DF: OK, let’s move on to the 2019 Asian Cup, the seventeenth time this competition has been held. Of course, the tournament is being hosted by the UAE and kicked off last week on the 5th January, when Group A teams UAE and Bahrain played out a 1-1 draw. Let’s take a look at the favourites, the dark horses, and how the tournament format is organised.
The Favourites
DB: OK, the favourites. Let’s start with the FIFA rankings which have Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia as their top five Asian teams. Japan are the team with the most titles at the Asian Cup, with four wins, while South Korea have a long history in the competition, and won the first one ever, held back in 1956 in Hong Kong. However, the current champions Australia will also have to be taken seriously, despite losing their opener against Jordan 1-0. Saudi Arabia, although fifth in the Asian FIFA rankings, are probably not going to trouble these four for the title. And sure enough, most betting has Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia as favourites to win the whole thing – in that order.
Dark Horses
DF: Now, which teams might cause a shock? Well, as Damon already mentioned, Jordan have already beaten the Champions Australia in their opening game and followed that up with a win over Syria to maintain a 100% record. The hosts UAE have also started well with four points from their opening two games and they could spring a surprise later on in the tournament. There have been a couple of surprise results so far with India raising a few eyebrows after an opening 4-1 victory over Thailand, while Palestine held Syria to a goalless draw to claim their first ever point at the tournament – neither side will probably qualify for the knock-out stages but these were important results for both India and Palestine.
The Format
DF: Now, this is the first time that 24 teams have participated in the Asian Cup and it means that the format has also changed. There are six groups of four teams in the first phase with the top two from each group qualifying for the knock-out stages. The remaining four sides – there are 16 teams in the knock-out stage – will come from the three best third-place finishers. Of course, this means that there will be two weeks of football to decide that eight teams have to go home…. After that there will be a last-16 round, then a quarter-final, semi-final and then the final which takes place on February 1st.
Stinger: You’re listening to languagecaster.com (In Japanese)
Quiz Question
DB: Right, it’s time for this week’s quiz question and it is to do with teams’ nicknames, and specifically nicknames in the Asian Cup. We want to know which of the following is a nickname of a team NOT playing in the Asian Cup. Is it…
- The Green Falcons?
- The Blue Tigers?
- The White Wolves?
- The Blue Wolves?
And we’ll have the answer at the end of the show.
DF: Ooh, that’s tricky. Time for some football language with Damon. But first here’s a message from a languagecaster supporter!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Saudi Arabian)
Football Language: Nailed on
DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com, and that message was in Arabic. Send us your message in your language and we’ll add it to the show! Right, time for some football language and this week, I’m going to talk about the phrase ‘nailed on‘.
If something is nailed on, it is certain to happen, the outcome can be easily predicted. A nail is an object used in construction for securing parts together, so if you nail something down or together, you make it secure. This feeling of security carries ver to the phrase nailed on, so we say in football, for example, this game is a nailed on win – we are sure that our team will win; the result and prediction is safe. The phrase is also used a lot with penalty decisions – it was a nailed on penalty – a definite penalty.
Here is an example from a match report on Manchester United and Manchester City in The Telegraph: “Ashley Young should already have conceded a penalty in the first half for a handball, but his challenge on Sergio Aguero in the second half was not only a nailed-on penalty, but also a definite red card for the United player.”
DF: Right, it’s time for our weekly predictions battle.
Predictions
DF: Just before we take a look at this week’s games let’s have a look at the top of the leaderboard in the predictions race. Gruberman22 leads on 121 points followed by Damon and myself both on 109. So, Damon, what’s our first game from this weekend?
West Ham v Arsenal
DB: OK, Damian, the first game is a London derby, West Ham v Arsenal. You’re never quite sure what you’ll get with West Ham. They’ve recently put three past Crystal Palace and Cardiff at home but have also lost 4-0 to Manchester City and drawn with Watford. I reckon Arsenal will have too much for the Hammers and will win 2-0. What do you reckon, Damian?
DF: Now, this game took place yesterday and the home side West Ham won 1-0 which is what I had predicted so three points for me!
Brighton and Hove Albion v Liverpool
DB: Our next game is Brighton and Hove Albion versus Liverpool. Liverpool need to win this after two defeats in a row – one in the league and one in the FA Cup. They won here 5-1 last season, but Brighton have good form at home so I can’t see that happening again. Liverpool also have problems at the back with only one fit central defender. Maybe 2-1 to Liverpool. Damian, do you agree, are the Reds going to get back to winning ways?
DF: I did go for a home win but I should have known that Liverpool would come back strong after that City defeat. The Reds won 1-0 and you gain another point.
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
DB: Last up is Spurs against the Red Devils, Manchester United. This is a big test for the new look United. Since former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in, they’ve won 4 on the bounce in the league, with 14 goals but have still to meet one of the other top six sides. Spurs at home have been impressive despite losing their last. A tough fixture for both sides. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw. How will your team fare do you think, Damian?
DF: Well, I went for a home victory but the Red Devils won 1-0 away from home though I am not really sure how that happened after Spurs overran them in the second half. The United keeper De Gea played a blinder.
Quiz Question Answer
DF: Now, we asked earlier in the show about football nicknames so before we wrap up the show, let’s get the answer. Damon?
DB: Well, the answer was 4, the Blue Wolves, the nickname of Mongolia, who did not qualify for the tournament. The White Wolves are Uzbekistan, The Green Falcons, Saudi Arabia, and the Blue Tigers, is the nickname given to India.
DF: Good stuff and well done if you got that one right. Enjoy all the football this week and next week we’ll be back with some more football language.
DB: Yep, thanks for listening and enjoy all the football this week! Ta-ra!
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here
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