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July 13, 2006

World Cup English

wcgraphic If you are one of the billions of people around the globe who have been watching the World Cup matches on television, this has been a wonderful chance for you to have some fun and learn a lot of English at the same time. First you have been able to see what actually happened and then you have been able to read about what you have just seen. And if you haven't seen the action, you can get the official game highlights right here on the Internet.

If you want some background before you begin the lesson material below, check out World Cup English which we featured on this website last month. There you will find much of the basic vocabulary that you will see in this year's press coverage of the event. You'll also learn about the types of stories you will see. Everything has been recorded as mp3 soundfiles, so you can listen as you read.

Zidane speaks (July 13)

See Zidane to break his silence, front secion, back page

hbutt Although the World Cup is now over, there is still intense interest in what provoked French star Zinedine Zidane to headbutt Italian defender Marco Materazzi before billions of people watching on television. Last night it was Zidane's chance to tell his side of the story.

The Bangkok Post's story this morning was written before he went on television. Fortunately, we can turn to the Bangkok Post's website to see what he ended up saying. Let's first look at the opening section of the paper edition's story because it contains some useful language and content.

First notice that the story refers to the future by using the present tense — a very common way of doing so. As for content,when the story was written, we already knew that Materazzi had admitted to insulting the French star, but we weren't sure exactly what he said. There were plenty of rumours, however. What was one of them? What did the Italian defender say in response to that rumour?

intense – very strong
provoked – caused a reaction (noun form – provocation)
head-butt – to hit someone with the top of your head
insulting - saying something that is rude and offensive
rumours – pieces of information that may or may not be true, but which many people are talking about

audio

You can hear this story by clicking here.

Zidane is to break his silence (Bangkok Post paper edition)

Paris — French football skipper Zinedine Zidane is to give his version of the notorious World Cup final head-butt in an appearance on Canal Plus television later last night.

In a live interview to be broadcast at 8pm local time, Zidane is expected to explain the nature of the slur hurled at him before Sunday’s incident by Italian player Marco Materazzi.

DefenderMaterazzi,who was knocked to the ground by the extra-time butt to the chest, has acknowledged that he insulted Zidane — but denied that he called him a terrorist or impugned his mother.

‘‘It was an insult of the kind you will hear dozens of times and that just slips out on the ground,’’ Materazzi told La Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday.

However lip-readers consulted by British newspapers concluded that Materazzi called Zidane the ‘‘son of a terrorist whore.’’ AFP

skipper – captain
notorious – famous in a bad way
slur – an insulting remark which can damage a person's reputation
hurled - thrown
impugned – said that someone was not honourable or honest
lip-readers - people who are trained to be able to see what someone is saying by looking at their lips
whore - a prostitute

Now let's find out what Zidane said on television last night. Did he confirm what Materazzi had said or did he imply that the rumoured version was the true one? Did Zidane admit that he had made a mistake or did he defiantly refuse to accept that he had done anything wrong? Zidane made an interesting observation on current rules about giving out red cards. What was it? Do you agree with him?

imply - to say indirectly
defiantly – firmly refusing to accept someone

audio

You can hear this story by clicking here.

Zidane regrets, defends headbutt (Bangkok Post Internet edition)

zizou4 Paris (dpa) - Retiring French football star Zinedine Zidane said he was sorry for head-butting Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final, but did not regret the act, which caused him to be tossed out of the match.

Zidane, who was named best player of the tournament, said he had reacted after being insulted by Materazzi with "very hard words."

"I apologise to all the children who saw that. It was not the thing to do," Zidane told Canal Plus television.

But he added that he did not regret what he did.

"To regret what I did would be to say that he was right for saying what he said, and he was not right," Zidane said.

Although he did not repeat what Materazzi had said to him, Zidane said it had to do with his sister and his mother.

"These were very personal things," Zidane said. "They had to do with my mother, my sister. He said words that were very hard, and he repeated them several times. You listen once, and you try to go away. That's what I did. You hear it a second time, and then a third time."

He said he regretted doing what he did before "billions of spectators and millions of children," but also criticised the rules of football for sanctioning the players who react but not those who provoke the reactions.

"If there is no provocation, then there is no reaction," Zidane said. "What I did was unforgivable, but the real guilty one must be punished and that is the one who provokes."

Zidane was tossed out of the match, which Italy won in a penalty shoot-out, after he head-butted Materazzi in the chest in the 110th minute of the match.

retiring - ending a career
regret - to feel sorry for doing something
sanctioning – punishing

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 11:44 AM

July 11, 2006

World Cup Review

As we have seen throughout the World Cup tournament, some of the best writing in the newspaper is found on the sports pages. There is much there even a non-sports fan can enjoy. This story is a good example. I think you will find it interesting. It is full of praise for hosts Germany, but it is quite negative when it comes to the football that was played. Read it and see if you agree with its conclusions.

audio

You can hear the first part of this story by clicking here.

Great World Cup, (it's a) shame about the football

Berlin (Reuters) — Italy’s penalty shootout victory over France in a dramatic finish to the World Cup in Germany ended a great tournament, marred only by the action on the pitch.

The World Cup was almost flawlessly organised, attracted great crowds and inspired a carnival atmosphere which turned Germany into one big party zone.

The Germans even got to grips with soccer’s persistent problem with hooliganism, handling the large visiting supporter groups, especially those from England, with great aplomb and allowing everyone to enjoy themselves without fear of violence.

For once, the fans actually behaved far better than the players.

On the pitch, there were too few goals, too few great matches, too few great players, too few upsets and too little goalmouth action.

redcard

There were too many fouls and too much blatant cheating by players — in particular diving and feigning injury to earn unfair free kicks all unchecked and sometimes even encouraged by coaches.

For once, nobody could blame the match officials. The refereeing was of a surprisingly high standard, even if there were the inevitable mistakes here and there.

The lack of thrills in most matches was mainly caused by the unadventurous attitudes of coaches, many of whom packed their midfields and played with a lone striker up front.

marred – damaged; spoiled
the pitch – the playing field
flawlessly – without mistakes; perfectly
got to grips with – took action to deal with a problem
persistent – continuing to happen or exist for a long time
hooliganism – noisy and violent behaviour in public places
aplomb – relaxed confidence and skill
upsets – unexpected results in which teams thought to be more powerful lose to a teams thought to be weaker
blatant – done in an obvious and open way
diving – deliberately falling to the ground
feigning – pretending
unchecked – not controlled or limited
inevitable – that which is certain to happen
thrills – exciting experiences or events

audio

You can hear the second part of this story by clicking here.

On average the tournament produced fewer goals per game than any other of the 17 previous finals, except for 1990 in Italy, a tournament widely regarded as oneof the dullest ever.

ronaldinho

As in Italy — and also in England in 1966, another tournament with a reputation for relatively insipid play — one problem was the premature exit of the Brazilians.Brazil traditionally bring flair and flamboyance

This time they did not. Their big name players all failed to sparkle and, as a team, they completely failed to provide even half their usual quota of entertainment. Most disappointing of all was Ronaldinho, who came with the reputation of being the world’s best player but was almost anonymous in Brazil’s five matches.

Equally anonymous was England midfielder Frank Lampard, a player who has gained huge plaudits over the past two years and who did nothing to justify it in Germany. to the World Cup.

dullest – least interesting or most boring
insipid – dull and boring
premature – earlier than usual; earlier than expected
flair – doing things in an original, interesting and stylish way
flamboyance – being very noticeable, stylish and exciting
sparkle – to perform in a lively and impressive way
anonymous – unnoticed (anonymous normally means to be unnamed)
plaudits – expressions of praise and admiration

audio

You can hear the final part of this story by clicking here.

youg

Few young players emerged to take their place at the summit of world football.

In the final, Italy’s youngest player lining up at the start was Andrea Pirlo, who is already 27. France had only one player under 26, midfielder Franck Ribery, at 23 one of the few revelations of the tournament.

Of the much-vaunted youthful talents of Argentina’s Lionel Messi and England’s Wayne Rooney, there was little to see — though both had suffered serious injuries before the finals.

Argentina graced the finals early on with some scintillating soccer but paid the price for lack of adventure against Germany and went out on penalties at the quarter-final stage.

zizou

Italy and France arrived in the final deservedly and Italy played some of the best football of the entire month when they beat Germany 2-0 after extra time in the semi-finals.

But the final itself was a mirror of the tournament, starting with great promise but ending in disappointment. It was a sad farewell for Zinedine Zidane, one of the few players ever to attain genius level, who was ending his glorious career on the greatest stage of all. He graced it by scoring an audacious penalty off the crossbar and then finished in disgrace, butting Italy’s goalscorer Marco Materazzi in extra time and getting sent off.

On the bright side, Germany turned out to be splendid hosts who did their best to make their guests from all round the world welcome.

emerged – became known or noticed
revelations – surprising discoveries
vaunted – praised more than is deserved
graced – made more attractive or of higher quality
scintillating – lively and interesting
deservedly – well earned
mirror – to have very similar features to something else and therefore seeming to be a copy of it
attain – to achieve
audacious – brave but risky
in disgrace – not worthy of respect because of something bad you have done
butting – hitting with the top of your head

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:52 AM

July 10, 2006

Day 31: Italy wins the World Cup

The 2006 World Cup is now history and the champion is Italy. The final was a dramatic one and you can read about in the match report below. If you have been following World Cup English since the beginning, this story will be very easy for you to read. If not, you still have some time to build up your football-related English since we will keep the material up on the Internet for another week or two.

audio

You can hear the first part of this story here.

Italy crowned world champions after penalty win over France

Italy are the new world champions after a dramatic penalty shootout win over France after the match finished 1-1 after extra-time in Berlin on Sunday.

A pulsating match came down to spotkicks and was decided when David Trezeguet missed the second kick allowing Italy to run out 5-3 winners as they potted five out of five.

Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi who scored the equaliser, Daniele Da Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso all scored from 12 yards out to send the Italians into celebration and the French into mourning.

The match was marred when Zinedine Zidane finished his career in controversy after being sent-off in second half extra-time for headbutting Marco Materazzi which the linesman spotted and relayed the message to the referee.

It was a disappointing way for the former world player of the year to finish his career after being tipped as a legend to lie alongside the likes of Pele and Maradona.

An emotional Lippi paid tribute to his players after the victory.

"I just want to say thank you to them," he said. "They gave absolutely everything they had. It is just a fantastic feeling, it is something that you can only get in this job.

"It is so much more than winning the Champions League or winning the Championship. It means we are world champions."

pulsating – exciting; featuring strong, regular movements
equaliser – a goal that evens the match, i.e., it gives both teams the same score
mourning – expressing great sadness, usually over the death of a person, but in this case a defeat in the World Cup final
marred – spoiled or damaged
controversy – causing disagreement
heatbutting – hitting someone with your head
spotted – saw
relayed – sent on
tipped – believed to be able to achieve something
legend – very famous and much admired
paid tribute to – praised

audio

You can hear the second part of this story here.

An entertaining opening 45 minutes saw Italy begin to get on top in front of a packed 69,000-crowd at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

France took the lead in extraordinary circumstances after only seven minutes. Florent Malouda raced into the Italian area and was clipped at pace by centre-half Materazzi and sent flying.

Replays appeared to indicate there had been minimal contact and though Materazzi was clearly pulling out of the challenge, Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo pointed immediately to the spot.

But there was more drama when Zidane stepped up to take the penalty. The Real Madrid star normally prefers to bury his spot-kicks low and wide but this time he opted to float a delicate dink down the middle.

Zidane's audacity nearly backfired however when his shot beat Gianluigi Buffon but crashed back off the underside of the bar.

Italy scrambled a clearance, but Elizondo had a clear view of the ball coming down well over the line and the goal stood.

extraordinary circumstances – very unusual conditions
clipped – hit on the side
at pace – at high speed
minimal – very little
contact – touching
pulling out of the challenge – moving away from the contact
the spot – the place where penalty kicks are taken
bury – to kick deep into the net
opted – chose
delicate – done carefully
dink – a soft hit
audacity – brave, but risky behaviour
backfired – had the opposite result as the one intended
scrambled – moved quickly
clearance – kicking the ball away from the goal and out of danger
the goal stood – the goal remained, i.e., the decision was not changed

audio

You can hear the final part of this story here.

italhead

The Italians demonstrated their character by recovering their composure superbly and began to control the ball in midfield, with the dogged Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo quickly settling into their rhythm.

And on 19 minutes Italy got the equaliser their positive play deserved. Pirlo swung in a corner from the right and Materazzi leapt high above Patrick Vieira to crash home a thunderous header past French keeper Fabien Barthez.

Devastated France coach Raymond Domenech said the Italians had targeted Zidane for rough treatment.

"To see him finish his career in this way is sad. He has had a great career and a great World Cup," Domenech said.

"When one takes what he had to for 80 minutes and the referee doesn't do anything, one understands. You can't excuse it but you can understand it."

character – having the ability to deal with difficult, unpleasant and dangerous situations
recovering their composure – becoming calm and controlled again
superbly – extremely well
dogged – very determined
leapt – jumped
thunderous – very powerful
devastated – shocked and upset
rough treatment – unpleasant and forceful behaviour toward someone
take – to be forced to accept

Hero to zero

The big news story — as opposed to sport story — coming out of last night's World Cup final surrounds the inexplicable behaviour of French superstar Zinedine Zindane. In case you don't know what happened, here is the report from the Bangkok Post's website:

audio

You can hear this story here.

Zidane's career ends in a fit of madness

Zinedine Zidane's career ended in high drama in the World Cup final on Sunday, the French legend scoring a penalty and then losing his temper and getting a red card for assaulting Italy defender Marco Materazzi.

After flashes of brilliance on his 108th and last cap the master midfielder had, not for the first time, a complete loss of control in the 19th minute of extra time, headbutting Materazzi — who had levelled the match earlier — viciously in the chest after the Italian defender appeared to insult him.

zidred

Referee Horacio Elizondo originally missed the incident but had no hesitation in pulling out a red card after consultation with his linesman to bring a sour and dramatic end to Zizou's glorious career.

Without their talismanic skipper France went on to lose 5-3 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1.

Zidane, whose petulance already saw him suspended for France's last group game against Togo, trudged off to the dressing room, hurling his sweat band down in frustration as he became the fourth player ever to be redcarded in the final.

inexplicable – unable to be explained
fit of madness – a short period of uncontrolled crazy behaviour
high drama – high excitement or high anxiety
losing his temper – getting very angry, becoming unable to control his anger
assaulting – attacking
levelled – evened; made the score the same for both teams, in this case, 1 -1
viciously – violent and cruel
insult – to say something rude or offensive to someone
had no hesitation – had no uncertainty
consultation - discussion
sour – unpleasant; unfriendly
talismanic – bringing good luck; having magical powers
skipper – captain
petulance – behaving in an unreasonable, childish and bad tempered way
trudged off – walked off slowly with heavy steps, especially because you are tired or unhappy
hurling – throwing violently with a lot of force

At the moment we stlll don't have an explanation from the French star for his action. There is plenty of speculation, however. Here is what Franz Beckenbauer, a former football great himself, said after the match:

audio

You can hear this story here.

Zidane must have been provoked says Beckenbauer

The World Cup chief organiser Franz Beckenbauer said on Sunday that Italy defender Marco Materazzi must have said something to provoke France's Zinedine Zidane into headbutting him in the final.

"Something must have been said to Zidane. He is actually a reserved and inoffensive person," Beckenbauer said after France lost a penalty shootout without Zidane.

Beckenbauer said Zidane's dismissal after he had headbutted Materazzi in the chest in the second period of extra-time had cost France dear.

"He weakened his team. We know how sensitive the French are when they lose their captain," said the man who won World Cups as a player and coach.

Zidane, 34, had said the final would be the last match of his career.

"It is such a pity that he is stopping and we won't see him any more," Beckenbauer said.

provoke – to deliberately annoy or anger someone and try to cause them to react aggressively
reserved – keeping your feelings hidden
inoffensive – not unpleasant or unacceptable in anyway
dismissal – removing from the match as a punishment
cost France dear – was very damaging to

France

Hopefully, we'll know more by tomorrow. Watch to see if Zidane tries to justify his action or if he simply admits he was wrong and apologies.

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 12:37 PM

July 09, 2006

Day 30: On to Berlin

front page You can see from the latest issue of the Bangkok Post where Thailand's attention is placed today. Both the front and the back page pages have a single focus: the World Cup final. Unfortunately, the match doesn't begin until about 1:00 a.m. local time, so there will be a lot of very tired people in the workplace tomorrow.

Below is today's main story in the sports section. As you will see, weather is still a concern, but this time it's not the heat that has troubled the players for most of the tournament.

You will also find out about the physical condition of both of the teams as well as the mood of the people in France and Italy as match-time approaches.

audio You can hear the first part of the story here.

Cup finalists head for rainy Berlin

Berlin (AFP)—Torrential rain in Berlin yesterday hampered preparations for tonight’s World Cupfinal with the French and Italian players to arrive during the day from their respective training camps.

The downpour, which started Friday evening after days of uncustomary hot weather, forced Fifa to tell the Italians they would not as planned be able to get their first feel for the final venue at yesterday morning’s training session.

Spokesman Andreas Herren said the decision had been taken ‘‘because of the state of the pitch and because of the heavy rainfall in Berlin over the last couple of days.’’

Marcello Lippi and his men then decided to stay overnight at their Duisberg base in the west of the country and only travel to Berlin by a charter flight during yesterday evening.

Opponents France were due to fly in from their base near Hannover earlier in the day and had scheduled a training session at another stadium in Berlin later in the evening.

The heavy rain continued in the German capital yesterday morning but brighter weather was forecast for today.

torrential rain – very heavy rain; rain coming down in torrents (water falling rapidly or violently)
hampered – made more difficult
respective – belong separately to the individual people or groups you have just mentioned
downpour – a very heavy rain
uncustomary – unusual
get a feel for – to become familiar with, in this case, by having a chance to practice on the pitch
venue – a place were an event occurs
state – condition
forecast – predicted

audio

You can hear the first part of the story here.

Coach Raymond Domenech had the French squad undertake an hour-long final training session at what has been their base for the last five weeks yesterday evening.

Brazil’s conquerors have a clean bill of health for the final with only reserve striker Louis Saha unavailable due to suspension, having picked up a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 semi-final win over Portugal.

Their drive to the final which has taken them from strength to strength past Spain, Brazil and Portugal has completely changed opinions back home with 86 percent of French people now convinced that their ageing team will once again win the World Cup on Sunday.

A French victory is expected to unleash massive celebrations in the capital with up to a million people converging, as they did eight years ago when France last won the World Cup, on the Champs Elysees.

Such is the growing euphoria over the team’s performance that even the Eiffel Tower is getting involved with the monument’s managers announcing that it would glitter with lights until dawn in
the case of a French victory.

conquerors – people who have defeated someone else, in this the Brazilian team
clean bill of health – everyone is healthy, i.e, no one is injured
suspension – the removal of a person from a job for a period of time
substitute – a player who replaces another player during a game
unleash – to let loose; to cause to begin
massive – very large
converging – coming together
euphoria – a feeling of intense happiness and excitement
glitter – to shine brightly
dawn – sunrise

audio

You can hear the first part of the story here.

The view from Rome was more muted with the Italian team’s World Cup triumphs tempered by the huge match-fixing scandal which has rocked the league and eroded public faith in the way the sport is run.

The Italians are also relatively injury-free with only experienced defender Alessandro Nesta, as expected, unavailable due to a groin injury.

The crucial task of marking French playmaker Zinedine Zidane will go to tigerish midfielder Gennaro Gattuso who has said that the exertions of the last few weeks could eventually catch up with the 34-year-old who will be playing in his last match before retiring.

‘‘Zidane’s 34 and he’s played every match at a high level. I hope he has little energy left in his body for the final,’’ the 28-year-old AC Milan midfielder said.

muted – not bright or strong
triumph – victory
tempered – made less extreme
match-fixing scandal – a plan to control of the results of football matches for gambling purposes
rocked – shocked
eroded – gradually weakened
crucial – most important
marking – defending against
exertions – physical efforts

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 10:59 AM

July 07, 2006

Day 28: France joins Italy

onegoal

I missed a day yesterday, but due to the time difference between Germany and Thailand, the Bangkok Post report on the France - Portugal match is in today's edition. I have reproduced it for you below.

audio You can hear the first part of the story here.

Time to believe

Munich (Reuters) — A Zinedine Zidane penalty gave France victory in their World Cup showdown with Portugal on Wednesday and set up a final with Italy which will be the gifted playmaker's last game before retirement.

The 34-year-old took just two steps, then coolly fired his penalty into the bottom left-hand corner to score the winner in the 33rd minute and ensure he goes out right at the top.

The 1-0 semi-final victory prompted jubilation among the blue-clad French fans in Munich's futuristic Allianz Arena and across France, where fans have come to believe in a second World cup triumph to go with their first in Paris eight years ago.

Zindane's penalty came after Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho caught France striker Thierry Henry's ankle inside the box.

Italy had claimed their place in the final with two goals late in extra time on Tuesday against hosts Germany, whose attacking football and unexpected run to the last four prompted an outpouring of German patriotism unknown in the post-war era.

The hosts were still digesting their exit from the tournament as France and Portugal met on Wednesday — with one group of fans in the crowd holding up home-made letters thanking the Germany team for their efforts.

showdown – a important match
gifted – having natural ability to do something well
retirement – the ending of a career
ensure – to make sure of
go out right at the top – to retire at the highest, most successful point of your career, e.g., in the final of a World Cup
prompted - caused
jubilation – great happiness and pleasure because of a success
blue-clad – dressed in blue
futuristic – very modern and unusual, like something from the future
triumph – victory; win
ankle – the joint where your foot joins your leg
outpouring – an uncontrolled expression of an emotion
patriotism – loyalty and love for your country
post-war era – since World War II
digesting – thinking about something until you are able to accept it and deal with it; in this case, a defeat

audio You can hear the second part of the story here.

Portugal started brightly, with Maniche and Christiano Ronaldo firing in strong early shots. But France often appeared to have just a touch more class, typified by the skills of Zidane who also inspired them to their 1998 triumph.

The midfielder, three times World Footballer of the Year, was at the heart of almost every French move, spending time on the wings and in the centre of the field, peppering his game with short and long passes and running at the Portuguese.

France also relied on a formidable defence, which has conceded only two goals in six games at this World Cup.

Domenech's side held firm under an intense bout of Portuguese pressure in stoppage time helped by their superb central defender Lilian Thuram, who was name man of the match.

The French had made a sluggish start to the month-long tournament, prompting criticism they relied too much on ageing players past their best and reviving painful memories of the last World Cup when as holders they went out in the group stage.

But their form improved dramatically in the knockout stage, transforming the mood among fans from gloom to exuberance.

We are going to win this World Cup, that's for sure," said Yohan Haouzi, a 22-year-old Parisian brandishing the national flag of red, white and blue in the French capital.

touch – a small amount
heart – centre
peppering – filling with a large amount of; in this case, of passes and runs
formidable – very great and impressive; very strong
conceded – given up
bout – a very active, but short time of something unpleasant; in this case, an opponent’s attack
stoppage time – the extra time played after a match ends with an equal score after regulation time (90 minutes)
superb – of very high quality
sluggish – moving or working much slower than you would like or is normal
reviving – bring back something from the past
holders (of the World Cup) – winners of the previous World Cup
transforming - changing
gloom – a feeling of sadness and lack of hope

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 11:32 AM

July 05, 2006

Day 26: Italy goes into the finals

Italy's win over Germany was too late for the paper edition of the Bangkok Post, but that is not a problem for the website which is open 24 hours a day. Below is an excerpt from the match report which appeared soon after the match was completed.

audio You can hear this excerpt by clicking here.

Italy reach World Cup final after Grosso's late, late show

scorers Italy shrugged off the scandal surrounding their domestic league to snatch a 2-0 semi-final extra-time win over hosts Germany and set up a meeting against either France or Portugal in Sunday's final in Berlin.

Defender Fabio Grosso (closest to camera in photo) was the hero with a goal two minutes from time in a match that was heading for penalties after 118 minutes of scoreless action.

Substitute Alessandro Del Piero (farthest from camera in photo) made the result safe when he lofted the ball over Jens Lehmann for Italy's second in the 121st minute but Germany were already on their way out by that time.

It was a devastating setback for Jurgen Klinsmann's side who felt they were destined to win while Italy can enjoy some marvellous news following the corruption scandal surrounding several top Serie A clubs which affects many of Marcello Lippi's national side.

"We came up against a very strong opponent," said the 31-year-old Del Piero.

"But we showed that we had the will power to beat them.

"I dedicate this win to Gianluca Pessotto," added del Piero, who last week flew back with team-mate Gianluca Zambrotta to see the stricken Pessotto who recently attempted suicide.

Grosso was almost lost for words at scoring in such an important match.

"I am drunk with joy, I haven't got much to say only that it is a victory for a strong group of people," said the 28-year-old Palermo defender.

The match featured few clear cut chances but when either team did manage to break through, the excellent goalkeeping of Gianluigi Buffon and Lehmann was there to keep the virgin scoreline.

shrugged off – to treat something as not being important
scandal – a situation or event that is thought to be shocking and immoral
domestic - within a country, in this case, the Serie A,

Italy

’s top national league
snatch – to take quickly or pull something away quickly, especially in order to steal it (in this case, it was like

Italy

stole the win)
substitute – replacement; a player who comes into the game in place of another player
lofted – kicked or headed the ball high into the air
devastating – very shocking, upsetting or terrible
setback – something that makes a situation worse or reverses the progress you have made
destined – certain to happen
marvelous – wonderful; very good
will power – determination; not letting anything stop you
dedicate – to do something out of respect for someone else
stricken – suffering from something such as an illness, the effects of a disaster, an unpleasant feeling, etc.
suicide – deliberately killing yourself
clear cut – very clear
virgin scoreline - 0 – 0, i.e., not yet having a goal scored

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 11:32 AM

July 03, 2006

Day 24: Masterly Zizou

zizou With the semi-finals fast appoaching, today is the time to talk about heroes. Certainly one of the biggest heroes of this and past World Cups is Zinedine Zidane of France. Here is the opening part of today's Bangkok Post story on the French star.

You can hear this part by clicking here.

Zizou — the eternal genius

Hamlin (AFP) — He was written off as past it, but Zinedine Zidane has proved them all wrong with a matchwinning display against Brazil that confirms his position as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

The masterly 34-year-old midfielder had already destroyed the South Americans in the 1998 final in Paris scoring two goals in a 3-0 win.

And he was the inspiration again in Frankfurt late Saturday eclipsing world footballer of the year Ronaldinho in midfield and gliding over the 57th minute free-kick to the unmarked Thierry Henry at the far post for him to volley in the winner.

The tributes flowed in, most tellingly from the greatest footballer of all time, Pele. ``Zidane was the magician in the game,'' the Brazilian, who also wore the No. 10 shirt, said.

``Zidane is one of the greatest players in history, a magnificent player,'' Germany's two time World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer said on the eve of his Brazil masterpiece.

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira described the Real Madrid midfielder simply as ``a monster''.

Another Gallic icon, Michel Platini, ventured: ``Technically, I think he is the king of what's fundamental in the game: control and passing, because I don't think anyone can match him when it comes to controlling or receiving the ball.''

The Marseillais' mastery was at the core of France's charge to the title on home turf in 1998, his two bullet headers in the final earning him cult status.

``I think his two goals left an indelible mark on a whole generation,'' said Platini.

eternal – lasting forever
written off - consider to be no longer skilled enough to be useful
display – show
masterly – showing the highest level of ability and skill
inspiration – giving people a feeling of enthusiasm for doing something
eclipsing – causing someone to less important or less noticed
gliding – kicking the ball smoothly
unmarked - undefended
volley – to kick the ball before it hits the ground
tributes – words of praise
tellingly – significantly, i.e., showing the true nature of a person or situation
magnificent – extremely good or imporessive
eve – the day before
Gallic – French
icon – symbol, in this case of a star football player
ventured – gave as an opinion
fundamental – most basic and most important
match – equal
core – centre
home turf –your home country, in this case, France
bullet – very fast and powerful
cult status – extremely popular among a particular group of people, in this case, football fans
indelible mark – a lasting or unforgettable effect

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 12:18 PM

July 02, 2006

Day 23: Red card

redcard Every big match seems to have one or two major incidents that dominate the