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Weekly Football Phrase: Penalty Shootout
In this football phrase of the week we look at the phrase, ‘penalty shootout‘ after the FA Cup 4th Round tie between Birmingham and Leeds was decided this way. You can read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us here.
DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Learn English Through Football team and I hope you are all doing well. I am based in London where it has finally stopped raining! We have had so much rain here in the UK that there have been many games postponed due to waterlogged pitches – remember that this phrase means that there is too much water on the pitch which makes it difficult to pass and shoot or do anything.
Many of the FA Cup games played at the weekend were played on very heavy pitches and one of them was at Grimsby which was described as a ‘mud bath’ as it was completely covered in mud making it almost impossible to play!
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (from a Swedish listener)
DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast and that message was in Swedish.
Penalty Shootout
DF: Right, so we are not going to talk about waterlogged pitches but we are going to talk about one FA Cup tie and some language from the Birmingham City versus Leeds United game. The game finished level at 90 minutes – (1-1) – Birmingham equalised late in the second half after Premier League side Leeds had taken the lead early in that second half. There were no further goals in extra time – that’s the additional thirty minutes added on to the regular 90 minutes of the game to try and find a winner. And so the game had to go to penalties.
Another phrase to explain this way of deciding a game is ‘penalty shootout‘. A shootout is used to break the tie or the draw from a game. And it is also a very dramatic phrase and suggesting tension and of course drama!
Remember, in a penalty shootout, the tie has to be decided by both sides taking five penalties each. And if there is no winner after five penalties or spot kicks then both sides continue to take a penalty until one of them misses and the other one scores. And this part of the penalty shootout is known as ‘sudden death’ – miss and your team could be out!
So, in this game, Leeds won the penalty shootout to progress onto the 5th round of the cup. Here’s what the BBC had to say:
- Leeds beat Birmingham in a penalty shootout to squeeze into the FA Cup fifth round for the third time in four years.
To squeeze into is a really nice phrase; it means they just about made it.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (a Greek fan)
DF: That message was from a football fan in Greece. It would be great for more fans to send us on a stinger (or a message) for our show; just say ‘you are listening to Learn English Through Football.com’ in English or in any language that you know! We’d love to hear from you.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast
DF: So, on today’s football expression of the week we looked at the phrase, ‘penalty shootout‘ after Leeds defeated Birmingham on penalties in the FA Cup at the weekend. We also talked about a mud bath and a waterlogged pitch after the heavy rains affected the surfaces or pitches here in England. And how would you say some of these phrase in another language that you know? Let us know by coming along to Learningenglishthroughfootball.com.
Enjoy all the football this week and we’ll see you soon with another football-language podcast this weekend. And we’ll be looking ahead to the North London derby! Until then, bye bye.
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