After Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was spotted reading Football English on holiday, the Guardian spoke to author Tom Challenger about his vocabulary book, which he wrote to help learners of English communicate about the game.
You can read the article here.
On 4 September 2017 pictures of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte reading the book Football English appeared in British newspapers.
The radio station TalkSPORT spoke to the author Tom Challenger about his book.
Listen to the interview here:
Antonio Conte took the opportunity to have a short beach holiday while the English Premier League broke for a weekend of international matches at the beginning of the 2017/18 season.
On 3 September 2017 he was photographed reading Football English by Tom Challenger on the beach in Italy.
The photos featured in this article in The Sun newspaper on 4 September.
Football English is for learners of English who want to learn vocabulary and phrases that will help them to talk about and read about football (soccer).
to cope with pressure : to deal successfully with the negative feeling you get in a difficult situation.
The Liverpool manager thinks his team have the mental strength to win the Premier Leauge:
Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool boss tips his side to cope with pressure.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26813709
Other words that often combine with ‘pressure’ in a football context
To feel the pressure: to show signs that pressure is affecting you
To handle pressure: synonym for ‘to cope with pressure’
To come under pressure: to experience pressure (= to be under pressure)
A high pressure situation
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary workbook for soccer.
to strengthen a squad : to get new players, so the group of players at a club is better.
The new Everton manager Roberto Martinez wants to do this in the summer transfer window:
“Everton must strengthen their squad this summer to build on the club’s recent success.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22792389
The adjective ‘strong’ is also often used before ‘squad’: a strong squad
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary workbook for soccer.
to shake hands: to greet somebody by holding their hand and moving it up and down.
Rafael Benitez and Alex Ferguson’s difficult relationship was on show at Old Trafford again yesterday:
“…Rafael Benitez and Alex Ferguson again failed to shake hands at the final whistle on Sunday after Chelsea staged a stirring comeback from 2-0 down…”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21737233
verb: to shake hands with someone
noun: a handshake
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary workbook for soccer.
A rumour: a situation/information which is being discussed, but which could be false because it is not official…
There’s lots of talk about Wayne Rooney today because Alex Ferguson decided not to play him against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday:
“…the latest on the rumours about Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United future…”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/21696415
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary workbook for soccer.
Man marking: minimising the effect of an opponent by following him for the whole match:
“Ferguson told Phil Jones to man-mark Fellaini and follow him everywhere”
Phil Jones successfully man marked Marouane Fellaini in Sunday’s match between Manchester United and Everton.
Read about this tactic here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21405819
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary workbook for soccer.
Match fixing: a team deliberately loses because it has been agreed before.
“Michel Platini says match fixing is the biggest threat to the future of football”
Recently Europol announced that they believe there is a big match fixing problem in European football:
A cup upset: an unexpected win in a cup competition, eg the FA cup
“Chelsea avoided an FA Cup upset on Sunday as they drew 2-2 at Brentford”
FA cup 4th round matches were played over the weekend, and produced these cup upsets:
Brought to you by Football English, the vocabulary book for soccer.