Learner podcast 8

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On this week’s show, a look at David Beckham’s career with Damon, and Damian with English for football.

Worksheet

David Beckham

Background information
Players, teams and leagues

• Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville are all players who started at the same time as David Beckham at Manchester United.

• Fabio Cappello is the Italian manager of Real Madrid.

• Diego Simeone was an Argentinian international footballer.

• George Best, Pele and Rodney Marsh are former footballers who played in the NASL, the North

• American Soccer League, which is the predecessor of the MLS (Major League Soccer).

Vocabulary
academy players a€“ young players at a club
nadir a€“ the lowest point
petulant a€“ acting like a child
the double a€“ winning two major trophies in the same season
the treble a€“ winning the two major domestic trophies and the Champions League in the same season
metatarsal a€“ bone in the foot
A. Main Point a€“ True / False
Listen to the first part of Damona€™s piece and answer true or false to the following statements.
1. T / F David Beckham has been the worlda€™s most famous player for the past ten
years.
2. T / F Beckham promoted electrical goods in Japan.
3. T / F Recently Beckham has not been starting games for Real Madrid.
4. T / F Beckham signed a deal worth millions of dollars.
5. T / F He will only focus on football while in Los Angeles.
languagecaster.com
learn English through football a€“ the worlda€™s most popular game
B. Main ideas – matching
Listen to the report and match the information about Beckham on the right with the year on
the left.
1. 1992 a. Married Victoria Adams
2. 1996 b. sent off against Argentina
3. 1999 c. signed for Manchester United
4. 1999 d. became England captain
5. 1998 e. won the treble with Manchester United
6. 2000 f. won the double with Manchester United
7. 2001 g. Sven Goran Eriksson became England manager
C. Vocabulary
Listen to the final part of the report and fill in the missing words.
He was part of the 5-1 (1) ________________ of Germany on the way to the World Cup and
of course scored the (2) _________________ goal to send England to the World Cup. But
since picking up a foot injury and making metatarsal a household word, his career on the
pitch flagged. He famously (3) _____________________ with boss Ferguson who kicked a
football boot at Beckham after a loss to Arsenal, cutting the player above his eye. It wasna€™t
long before he moved from the team he had played at all his career to sign for Real Madrid.
Many people said the move had more to do with (4) ________________ shirts around the
world than with Beckhama€™s footballing ability, but while he didna€™t set the team
(5) ________________; he did become a favourite with the fans.
Will he still appear in the (6) ____________________ after his move to the US? Will we see
him in a sarong, with a new hairstyle, or a new tattoo? Perhaps he will provide the (7)
__________________ for football, or soccer, in the US that George Best, Pele, and Rodney
Marsh couldna€™t. We shall see.

Download the answers at www.languagecaster.com