English, I'm Rob…

Neil: And hello, I'm Neil. And Rob, I have to say,

I am very very excited!

Rob: Why's that, Neil? Are you going on

holiday?

Neil: Come on, Rob, You know why.

The 2018 World Cup is about to start in

Russia. Four weeks of world-class

football to watch. By world-class

I mean 'some of the best in the world'.

Rob: Yes, yes, I know that. But to be

honest, I'll just be taking a passing

interest – I've got better things to do!

Neil: Better things to do? Well, I'm going

to be glued to my TV to watch the 32

countries compete for the title of World

Cup Champions.

And if you love football…

Rob: …or not…

Neil: … we've got some useful vocabulary

to learn.

Rob: But let's start with a question for you to

answer, Neil, to see how much you really

know. Now, the mascot for Russia 2018 is

a wolf called Zabivaka. What does his

name mean in English? Is it…

a) The winner b) The one who scores

or c) Fair play

Neil: Well, my Russian is a little rusty – so

I'll go for a) the winner.

Rob: OK. I'll reveal the answer later.

Neil: OK, but now I have a question for

you, Rob.

Who won the last World Cup in Brazil in 2014?

Rob: Come on! It was Germany, Neil. And

they beat Lionel Messi's Argentina in the

final. Both teams are among the

favourites again this

time, but there'll be lots of countries who

fancy their chances of lifting the World Cup

trophy. That means they think they are

likely to succeed, even though they might not.

Neil: So you do know your football, Rob!

Anyway, the final will take place in the

revamped – or much improved - Luzhniki

Stadium in Moscow on July 15th 2018.

Did I say I was very excited? Well, I'm not

the only one. We asked some people what

they think about the World Cup. And here

are Keith and Jane describing their

feelings…

Keith: It's a four-week festival of football, isn't

it? And everyone kind of gets behind their

country. You also get to know about

football teams in parts of the world you

don't really think about very often, so it's

that double-sided thing of the actual

football itself - which is exciting - but also

the stories that happen off the pitch as well.

Jane: I'm really excited. I can't wait for it

to start. One thing – there's going to be

great telly every night. It's great to see the

underdogs that are going to come

through and have a really sensational

tournament. I think it's the enthusiasm of

the crowds and the love of football that

people have.

Neil: So two football fans there. Keith

used some good alliteration – that's

words beginning with the same letter –

four-week festival of fun. He talked about

people getting behind their country – not

literally going behind their team, but

supporting them. Who are you supporting, Rob?

Rob: Well, my home team is England –

but I'm not confident they'll do well. That

doesn't matter to Jane though – she said

it's fun to see the underdogs do well. The

underdog here means the team

considered to be the weakest and the

least likely to win. You could say Iceland

are the underdogs in this tournament.

Neil: Maybe, Rob. So you can see why

everyone is excited by the World Cup!

Rob: Not everyone, Neil. For many people,

they're not bothered by the tournament.

We could say 'it's not their thing' and there

are different reasons for it. Let's hear

from some other people - Jeff and Inga…

Jeff: There's not a lot of sportsmanship in

it now. I find that it's very corporate and there's

a lot of what I would call cheating going

on – people taking dives, people falling

over because somebody looked at them

the wrong way on the pitch.

Inga: Not really that excited. It's just too

much hype about nothing really. The

World Cup is a great event if you are into

football, but I'm not so I can't be really

bothered.

Rob: There you go, Neil. Some sensible

people there! Jeff thinks football has

changed and now lacks real

sportsmanship – that's fair and honest

behaviour – he even claims some players

cheat.

Neil: I'm not sure about that, Rob. But

maybe he's right about the tournament

becoming very corporate, which means

it's sponsored by big companies

who like to decide how the tournament is

run.

Rob: And Inga thinks there is too much

hype. This means there is a lot of talk and

publicity to make people interested in

something. Well, there is certainly a lot of

talk about the World Cup, but we have to

remember it's not everybody's cup of tea!

Neil: Well, it is my cup of tea, Rob.

Now, can we have the answer to that

question, please?

Rob: Yes. Earlier I said the mascot for

Russia 2018 is a wolf called Zabivaka.

What does his name mean in English?

Was it… a) The winner, b) The one who

scores, or c) Fair play.

Neil: And I said a) The winner – because

football is all about winning, isn't it?

Rob: It's the taking part that is important

Neil, and you took part in my quiz and got

it wrong. The answer is b) The one who

scores. Now let's have a brief reminder of

the vocabulary we've discussed today,

starting with world-class.

Neil: That means 'some of the best in the

world'. We should see some world-class

football in Russia.

Rob: If we're watching it, Neil. Next we

had fancy their chances. If someone

'fancies their chances' they think they are

likely to succeed, but they might not.

Neil: Let's move on to

get behind. If we get behind someone –

like our national football team – we

support them.

Rob: Are you getting behind our national

team, Neil?

Neil: Nope, I'm supporting the underdog

Iceland, Rob. That's a word to describe

the team or person least likely to win.

Next we discussed sportsmanship – that

describes fair and honest behaviour.

Rob: And finally we talked about hype

which means 'lots of talking and publicity

to make people interested in something'.

Well, we've had enough hype about the

World Cup today and we're out of time.

Neil: Yes, but don't forget to join us on

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and

YouTube for more Learning English

fun. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.

Rob: Bye bye!