Football English: Missing Chances

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Skills: Listening

Language: Football English (missing chances)

Task: Tell us about a chance missed on the pitch

Football English: Missing Chances

In this week's Premier Skills English Podcast, Rich and Jack are watching their team on TV. and they are not happy because one player is missing lots of chances to score. The language focus is on football English and words and phrases connected to missing chances. In this week's task, we want you to describe a golden opportunity to score which a player missed. Don't forget to listen to the end of the podcast because we have a new football phrase for you to guess.

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.

Read and listen at the same time.

Football English: Missing Chances

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rich: and my name’s Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: In the Premier Skills English podcast, we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: It’s just the two of us this week. Rowan’s not here.

Jack: Where is she?

Rich: It’s Halloween. Rowan’s favourite celebration. She’s trick or treating dressed up as a zombie - far too busy for this week’s podcast.

Jack: So - just the two of us this week. What are we going to do then?

Rich: We’re going to concentrate on football English.

Jack: Football and English - that sounds good.

Rich: Don’t forget you can find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

Jack: In this week’s roleplay, Rich and I are watching a match and we’re not impressed with the striker playing for our team.

Rich: No, he keeps missing chance after chance. He’s having a really bad day at the office.

Jack: At the office?

Rich: On the pitch - on the football pitch - a bad day at the office is an expression we use to say that someone is not playing well.

Jack: After the roleplay, we’ll focus on words and phrases we use to describe missed chances on the pitch.

Rich: And your task this week is to tell us about an unbelievably easy chance that a player missed.

Jack: If you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast platform, you should also check out our website.

Rich: On the Premier Skills English website you’ll also find the transcript, examples and activities to help you understand the language, and a task for you to complete.

Jack: Before we do the roleplay let’s look back at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase

Rich: If you didn’t hear our football phrase last week we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now.

Jack: The phrase was ***** ****. A ***** **** is either a goal that is scored and awarded even though the ball didn’t cross the line or a goal that is not awarded despite the ball crossing the line. England scored a ***** **** in the World Cup Final in 1966 - many thought the ball hadn’t crossed the line. Sheffield United scored a ***** **** in the Premier League last season even though we’ve got goal-line technology now.

Rich: Robert Tavares from Brazil was the first with the correct answer last week. Well done Robert!

Jack: Oh, Robert some quick information for you. If you want to upload your image or avatar on the website again it is working again now. It’s working for everyone else too if you’ve been having problems. Thanks.

Rich: Did anyone else get it right last week?

Jack: Yes. A big well done to the following listeners who also got the right answer: Marco Zapien from Mexico, Max Alex from Vietnam, HSN from Turkey, Ahmed Dam Mamado from Sudan, Emmanuel from France and Vic from Mexico.

Rich: Last week’s football phrase and podcast was all about Halloween and I really enjoyed reading Marco Zapien’s comment on the website.

Jack: Yes, he told us about Day of the Dead which is a massive celebration in Mexico at this time of year. Marco wrote about what people do in Mexico to celebrate.

Rich: Yes, he told us that Mexicans write funny little stories about death called ‘Calaveritas’ and he wrote one about us on the website.

Jack: Yes, in Marco’s story you’re going to die, I have a fate worse than death and Rowan, well nothing happens to her - that’s not fair.

Rich: But where is she now may I ask. Ha ha ha!

Jack: Okay, are you alright, Rich? Thanks for your story, Marco. Remember last week’s podcast was all about Halloween and its history.

Rich: If you want to learn more about it and listen to the podcast you can find it on the Premier Skills English homepage now.

Introduction to Roleplay

Rich: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay Jack and I are watching a match on TV.

Jack: We’re not happy with our team’s performance - and we’re particularly upset with one player who keeps missing chances.

Rich: You might have heard some expressions like ‘What a miss!’ and ‘that was close’ before to describe missed chances.

Jack: During the roleplay, we’re going to use many more phrases to describe missed chances and after the roleplay, we’re going to look at these expressions in more detail.

Rich: While you’re listening, we want you to answer a question. The question is:

Jack: Does our team score in the end?

Roleplay

Rich: We’re all over them. I can’t believe we haven’t scored yet.

Jack: Go on! Have a shot!

Rich: Unlucky! Against the post!

Jack: Hold on! He’s gone round the keeper. Oh no! What a sitter! I can’t believe he’s missed that.

Rich: My nan could do better than that and she’s 83!

Jack: He’s got to be putting chances like that away. That’s three he’s missed.

Rich: He couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo this afternoon!

Jack: Penalty!

Rich: Oh no. Look who’s taking it! He hit the last one straight at the keeper!

Jack: Here we go! Oh no! He’s skyed it.

Rich: I can’t believe he’s fluffed another one. That’s miles off target.

Jack: I think we might have to settle for a draw today. We couldn’t score in a month of Sundays.

Rich: We’ve definitely not got our scoring boots on today.

Jack: There’s still time. One more chance …

Rich: Get in!! Goal!

Jack: Who scored it?

Rich: Not sure. Wait. An own goal. That was the only way we were ever going to score.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Jack: Before the roleplay, we asked you a question. The question was: Does our team score in the end?

Rich: The answer is yes but it wasn’t one of our players. It was an own goal. An opponent put the ball into the wrong net.

Jack: In the roleplay, our striker missed a lot of chances. We weren’t very happy with him.

Rich: Every striker misses chances. Why do you think we are surprised when a player doesn’t score?

Jack: I don’t know why we expect our strikers to score with every chance they get, they never do.

Rich: Even the best strikers miss the target or have shots saved.

Jack: Yes, everybody misses. Players miss more often than they score that’s for sure. Let’s look at some of the language we use to describe missing chances.

Rich: A sitter is our first bit of language from the roleplay.

Jack: A sitter. A really easy chance to score. When a player misses an easy chance you can say ‘What a sitter!’.

Rich: I guess we call a sitter a sitter because the chance or opportunity is so easy you could score while sitting on the floor.

Jack: You could also say ‘what a chance’ or ‘what a miss’ when a player misses an easy chance to score.

Rich: In the roleplay, Jack said I can’t believe he missed that.

Jack: This is when we get lots more expressions - talking about how you feel about the miss or the player that missed.

Rich: If it’s your player that has missed you might say something like ‘he’s got to be putting chances like that away’ or ‘he should have buried that’. Both of these mean he should have scored and show disappointment and frustration more than anything else.

Jack: But we use some phrases to insult or make fun of the player a little. Rich said my nan could do better than that - nan is an informal word for grandmother. He also said he couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo. Where did you hear that?

Rich: I can’t remember, but it’s funny. It means you can’t do something that is really easy to do - score a sitter. I’ve only ever heard this expression connected to football and strikers who miss chances.

Jack: It’s not only sitters that players miss though and there are other ways to describe misses.

Rich: A shot can be ‘miles off target’ or you can say ‘that’s nowhere near’ or ‘that’s well wide’.

Jack: You get lots of expressions when a player misses a penalty, too. If a player hits the ball over the crossbar you can say he’s skied it.

Rich: Or another two are: that’s straight at the keeper or that’s straight down the keeper’s throat. This means that the player kicked the penalty down the middle to the goalkeeper.

Jack: My favourite is more general and it’s the verb to fluff which means to make a mess of a chance. You can say ‘oh no he’s fluffed another one’ if he’s your player or if he’s on the other side you might say ‘he’s fluffed that up’.

Rich: Now we’ve looked at some language connected to missing chances we want you to listen to the roleplay again.

Jack: While you listen count how many phrases you hear that are connected to missing chances.

ROLEPLAY (repeat)

Rich: We’re all over them. I can’t believe we haven’t scored yet.

Jack: Go on! Have a shot!

Rich: Unlucky! Against the post!

Jack: Hold on! He’s gone round the keeper. Oh no! What a sitter! I can’t believe he’s missed that.

Rich: My nan could do better than that and she’s 83!

Jack: He’s got to be putting chances like that away. That’s three he’s missed.

Rich: He couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo this afternoon!

Jack: Penalty!

Rich: Oh no. Look who’s taking it! He hit the last one straight at the keeper!

Jack: Here we go! Oh no! He’s skyed it.

Rich: I can’t believe he’s fluffed another one. That’s miles off target.

Jack: I think we might have to settle for a draw today. We couldn’t score in a month of Sundays.

Rich: We’ve definitely not got our scoring boots on today.

Jack: There’s still time. One more chance …

Rich: Get in!! Goal!

Jack: Who scored it???

Rich: No sure. Wait. An own goal. That was the only way we were ever going to score.

Jack: How many phrases connected to missing chances did you hear?

Rich: I counted twelve but I’m not sure.

Jack: Is RIch correct? Have a look at the transcript on the lesson page on the Premier Skills English website and let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Rich: In the lesson, we’ll look at these phrases in more detail and we have a few more activities for you to do. Find this podcast on our homepage. It’s called Football English: Missing Chances.

TASK

Jack: Have you ever missed a sitter when playing football, Rich?

Rich: Loads. You probably won’t believe this but I actually played as a forward when I was a kid at school.

Jack: You must have missed loads of sitters then?

Rich: Yes, and I never took it too seriously either although some of my teammates did. Whenever I fluffed up a chance I’d turn to my teammates and laugh about it.

Jack: That annoyed your teammates?

Rich: A little. I think that’s why I never made it as a professional in the Premier League.

Jack: Sure, Rich - a real hard-luck story. Anyway, our task for all of our listeners this week is to describe a chance they have missed on the football pitch.

Rich: Yes, describe where you were, who you were playing with and against, why it was important and of course the chance and how you missed it.

Jack: Or tell us about a match you saw on television and a really good chance that a player missed.

Rich: Who were the teams involved? Which player was it? Was it an important match? And describe the chance the player missed.

Jack: Write all your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website or Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

FOOTBALL PHRASE

Jack: Have you got a football phrase for us, Rich?

Rich: I have. This week’s football phrase is **** *******. This is a phrase that connects football and the weather. The phrase is used to describe a player who hasn’t scored for a long time. Manchester United's Anthony Martial ended his **** ******* this week when he got his first of the season. The second word in this phrase is a weather word that is used to describe the weather when it hasn’t rained for a long time.

Jack: Let’s see who can get it right. If you are still wondering what the answer was to last week’s football phrase it was ghost goal.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Jack: If you have a question for us about football or English you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rich: or you can leave your questions and comments on the website in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

Jack: or you could give us a rating and a fantastic review on Apple Podcasts.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!

How much did you understand?

Here is the vocabulary you saw at the top of this page and how Rich and Jack used it in the roleplay. Do you know the words in bold?

No, he keeps missing chance after chance. He’s having a really bad day at the office.

We’re all over them. I can’t believe we haven’t scored yet.

Unlucky! Against the post!

I think we might have to settle for a draw today.

Get in! Goal!

Listen to the roleplay again to hear how Rich and Jack used these words and phrases.

Harry Kane misses a chance for Spurs.

Missing Chances

In the roleplay, Rich and Jack were watching their team on television. They weren't happy with their striker's performance as he missed lots of chances to score. Look at the words in bold below which Jack and Rich used to describe missing chances and how they felt about their strikers missing the opportunity to score:

He's got to be putting chances like that away. That's three he's missed.

What a sitter! I can't believe he's missed that!

He hit the last one straight at the keeper.

Oh no! He's skyed it!

He couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo!

All of the above phrases are used to describe a player who has missed an easy chance to score. Let's look at each phrase in a bit more detail:

to put a chance away = to score a goal
what a sitter = a very easy chance, usually a chance that is very close to the goal
straight at the keeper = a player that shoots the ball directly to the goalkeeper, often a penalty
to sky it = to hit the ball over the crossbar, usually a penalty or a shot from close to the goal
he couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo = to describe a striker who is having a bad day and missing lots of chances

Missing chances happens more often than you'd think!

Difficult Chances

Sometimes players miss more difficult chances to score. When a player misses a difficult chance, fans are probably more supportive if it's their own player. If it's an opponent, fans probably express relief that they didn't score. Here are some phrases that are used when a player misses a difficult chance:

Unlucky! Against the post.

That was close!

Good effort!

That could have gone anywhere!

All of these phrases are usually used to describe a player who has missed a more difficult chance to score. Let's look at each phrase in a bit more detail:

Unlucky! = usually used to support a player that nearly scored a difficult chance but can also be used sarcastically to shout at an opponent
That was close! = describes a shot that goes near the goal
Good effort! = a good attempt at goal that deserved more
That could have gone anywhere = a fortunate shot that nearly results in a goal; often used when a shot hits an opponent and the ball goes in a different direction (a deflection)

In this activity, check that you remember all the words and phrases connected to missing chances.

Activity 2: In this activity, type the words from the roleplay to complete the sentences.

Another chance goes begging!

A Golden Opportunity

How do you feel when you miss a good chance to score?

In this week’s roleplay, we spoke about missing chances and your task this week is to describe a chance you have missed on the football pitch or a sitter you saw a player miss in an important match.

Chance 1: Describe where you were, who you were playing with and against, why it was important and of course the chance and how you missed it.
Chance 2: Describe a match you saw live or on television and a really good chance that a player missed. Who were the teams involved? Which player was it? Was it an important match?
Try to use some of the language we introduced in this week's podcast.

Write all your answers in the comments section below and don't forget to make a guess at this week's football phrase!