M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco. 
E: And I’m Erica. 
M: And today we’re bringing you another great lesson about sports, part of our sports 
series. 
E: That’s right and in this lesson we are talking about maybe the world’s most favorite 
sport. 
M: Right, one of the most popular sports in the world, soccer. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Or also known as football in other countries. 
E: Yes. 
M: Okay, so, before we get started with this great lesson, let’s take a look at some of the 
words we’ll find in the dialogue in “vocabulary preview”. 
Voice: Vocabulary preview. 
E: We’re going to look at three words here. The first word is wingman. 
M: Wingman. 
E: A wingman. 
M: Now, wingman isn’t really related to soccer in any way. 
E: Okay. 
M: But it’s a way of referring to somebody as your “right hand”. 
E: So, your helper. 
M: Your helper, your… your number one guy. 
E: Okay. 
M: Right? 
E: So, a wingman is someone, who helps you a lot. 
M: Aha, exactly. 
E: Okay, our next word, tied. 
M: Tied. 
E: They’re tied. 
M: They are tied. Now, this is an interesting word, because tie can be a noun, verb, and 
an adjective, right? 
E: Exactly, so, in this case “they are tied” it’s an adjective meaning… 
M: They have the same score. 
E: Okay. 
M: Uhu. 
E: And a tie is… 
M: Is a game that has ended with no winner or loser. Both of them had the same score. 
E: Exactly, and so obviously the verb “to tie” is to reach the same score as your other 
team. 
M: Exactly. 
E: Alright, well, our third word can also be used as a noun and a verb and it is foul. 
M: Fouled. 
E: Fouled. 
M: Okay, so, to foul somebody… 
E: Is to do something to them that is not allowed in this sport. 
M: Okay, and… so, when you do this, you have committed a foul. 
E: Exactly. 
M: Okay, so, you use it in the same way, to foul or a foul. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Interesting. 
E: Well, we’re going to hear these three words in context now. So, why don’t we listen to 
our soccer dialogue? 
A: Welcome back, soccer fans. My name is Rick
Fields and, as always, I am joined by my com-
mentating wingman, Bob Copeland.
B: And we’re on the brink of soccer history today, as
Ecuador and Brazil are tied one-one as we begin
the second half of the 2022 World Cup!
A: The ref calls the players for the kick off, and here
we go! Ecuador quickly passes the ball to the mid-
field, but, ohhh, it’s out of bounds.
B: That will be a throw in for Brazil. Adriano has the
ball and makes a long pass to Robinho, and the
ref has called him offside.
A: No question about it. He was offside by a mile!
We have a goal kick for Ecuador. Edison Mendez
heads it to Valenica, he shoots! Deflected by the
defender and we have a corner kick.
B: Delgado takes the corner. We have a foul! Oh no,
Dida, the goalkeeper, has fouled the Ecuadorian
player! He gets a yellow card and that will be a
penalty kick!
A: This is the perfect opportunity for Ecuador to get
ahead in this match and become World Champi-
ons! He gets ready for the kick. He shoots! and
he...
 
M: Okay, so, Ecuador tied with Brazil in the Two Thousand Twenty Two World Cup. 
E: Wow, Marco, I’m really happy to see that you are, ah… able to see so far in to the future. 
M: Hehe. Well, I called it, so… 
E: Yeah. 
M: In 2022 if we do win the World Cup, you know who said it first. 
E: Alright, do you have money on that? 
M: Ah, yes. 
E: Hehe. 
M: Hehe. Alright, so, apart from this we saw some really great vocabulary in this lesson, 
so let’s take a look at it now in “language takeaway”. 
Voice: Language takeaway. 
E: Alright, we’ve got a lot of soccer words for you, but they’re all important. So, let’s take a 
look at the first one, kick off. 
M: Kick off. 
E: Kick off. 
M: So, a kick off. 
E: This is how you start a soccer game, right? 
M: Right, so it’s the very beginning, the referee blows the whistle and you kick the ball to 
another player. That’s the kick off. 
E: Okay, so, our next phrase, out of bounds. 
M: Out of bounds. 
E: Out of bounds. 
M: Okay, out of bounds, this is a great word. 
E: Uhu. So, in soccer, when the ball goes out of bounds, it goes outside the white lines, 
right? 
M: Right, outside of the playing field. 
E: Okay. 
M: And you can use it in all other sports, you can use it in basketball, you can use it in, ah, 
tennis. 
E: Or football or anything. 
M: Right, so… 
E: Uhu. 
M: Any part that is not for playing. 
E: Out of bounds. 
M: What’s our next word? 
E: Throw in. 
M: A throw in. 
E: A throw in. 
M: Okay, so a throw in. The ball goes out of bounds… 
E: Aha. 
M: How do you put it back in to play? 
E: Obviously, a throw in. 
M: Okay, so, you throw in the ball. That’s the only time where a soccer player will actually 
grab the ball with his hands.  
E: Alright, now, another soccer term we have here, offside. 
M: Offside. 
E: Offside. 
M: Okay, so, this is a little bit difficult to explain, but just imagine, you’re on the soccer 
field… 
E: Aha. 
M: And you’re trying to score a goal… 
E: Okay. 
M: Now, you have some defenders, right? 
E: Right. 
M: Those are the people who are trying to take the ball away. And you pass the ball to 
somebody who is behind the defenders. 
E: Oh, and that person is offside. 
M: Exactly, so, you must be at all times in the same position as the defenders of in front of 
them, but you can’t be all the way in the back. 
E: Okay, so, is this a noun or a verb or an adjective? 
M: So, this is an adjective, he is offside. That’s his condition. 
E: Okay, great. 
M: Uhu. 
E: Excellent explanation, Marco, thank you. 
M: Alright. 
E: Now, we’re going to look at three different phrases for three types of kicks in soccer. 
M: Okay, so, let’s take a look at this. The first one is goal kick. 
E: A goal kick. 
M: Okay, goal kick. 
E: So, who does the goal kick? 
M: It’s usually the goalie or the goalkeeper. 
E: Alright. 
M: Who… who takes the goal kick. 
E: Okay, so when the goalie kicks the ball. 
M: Uhu. 
E: Now, what about a corner kick? 
M: Okay, so, if the team is attacking. And the ball goes out of bounds… 
E: Uhu. 
M: In the back area near the goal, then they get a corner kick. They gotta kick the ball from 
the corner of the field. 
E: This is a great chance to score a goal, isn’t it? 
M: Exactly, yes. 
E: Okay, and our final kick, a penalty kick. 
M: Penalty kick. 
E: Penalty kick. 
M: So, if a player gets fouled, while he is in the area near the goal. 
E: Okay. 
M: He gets a penalty kick, so basically it’s just him… I think it’s thirteen or fifteen steps 
away from the goalie. 
E: Uhu. 
M: And he gets the opportunity to score or to kick the ball. 
E: So, there’re no defenders or other players in the way. 
M: Nobody, uhu. 
E: Wow, another great chance to score a goal. 
M: Right. 
E: Alright, well, these are all great soccer words. I think we should hear them again in 
context, so let’s listen this time a little bit slower. 
A: Welcome back, soccer fans. My name is Rick
Fields and, as always, I am joined by my com-
mentating wingman, Bob Copeland.
B: And we’re on the brink of soccer history today, as
Ecuador and Brazil are tied one-one as we begin
the second half of the 2022 World Cup!
A: The ref calls the players for the kick off, and here
we go! Ecuador quickly passes the ball to the mid-
field, but, ohhh, it’s out of bounds.
B: That will be a throw in for Brazil. Adriano has the
ball and makes a long pass to Robinho, and the
ref has called him offside.
A: No question about it. He was offside by a mile!
We have a goal kick for Ecuador. Edison Mendez
heads it to Valenica, he shoots! Deflected by the
defender and we have a corner kick.
B: Delgado takes the corner. We have a foul! Oh no,
Dida, the goalkeeper, has fouled the Ecuadorian
player! He gets a yellow card and that will be a
penalty kick!
A: This is the perfect opportunity for Ecuador to get
ahead in this match and become World Champi-
ons! He gets ready for the kick. He shoots! and
he...
 
M: Alright, so, we heard these words that we were talking about in context and now some 
really interesting phrases came up and this would be a good time to take a look at them in 
“fluency builder”. 
Voice: Fluency builder. 
E: Well, Marco, there’re three great phrases in this dialogue that I wanna look at. Um, the 
first one “on the brink of”. 
M: We are on the brink of. 
E: We’re on the brink of soccer history. 
M: Okay, so, “on the brink of”. What is… what exactly does that mean? 
E: Why don’t we hear some examples to help us understand the meaning? 
Voice: Example one. 
A: Look, we don’t have any money. We’re on the brink of going bankrupt. 
Voice: Example two. 
B: The two countries are on the brink of war. 
Voice: Example three. 
C: We’re on the brink of an important discovery. 
M: Alright, so, great examples “on the brink of”, at a critical point. 
E: Exactly, it means you’re almost there, right?  
M: Okay, yeah, very good. And what about this next phrase that I saw and it was really 
interesting. No question about it. 
E: No question about it. 
M: No question about it. 
E: No question about it. 
M: Alright, so, this is a statement, that doesn’t really make much sense. Well, what am I 
saying, when I say “oh, no question about it”? 
E: You’re saying “I agree”, “there is no doubt”, “you’re right” 
M: You’re right. 
E: Uhu. 
M: Okay. 
E: Well, let’s give some examples. I could say “there’s no question about it, Ecuador is a 
great soccer team”. 
M: Ah, there is no question about that. 
E: Hehe. Yeah. 
M: Alright, so, or you can say “no question about it, our company makes the best products 
on the market”. 
E: Okay, so, really useful phrase, that you can use in sports or anywhere else. 
M: Okay. And now let’s take a look at our last phrase for fluency builder and it’s a really 
good one to exaggerate a little bit. 
E: Okay. 
M: By a mile. 
E: By a mile. 
M: By a mile. 
E: So, he was offside by a mile. 
M: Right, so, the commentator is saying that he was very offside. 
E: That it was really obvious. 
M: Right. 
E: Uhu. 
M: So, you can use that also in different context, maybe not in sports. 
E: Okay, so, maybe we can say “our company is ahead of all the others by a mile”. 
M: Right, or if you tell somebody to guess your age and they say “oh, I think you are forty 
two”. 
E: Oh, you could say “you’re off by a mile”. 
M: Right, why? 
E: So you’re really really wrong. 
M: Right, exactly. 
E: Yeah. 
M: So, it’s a way of exaggerating a little bit. 
E: Yes, and saying it’s really obvious. 
M: Right. 
E: Uhu. Well, three awesome phrases and I think it will help us to hear them one more 
time. So, let’s listen to the dialogue. 
A: Welcome back, soccer fans. My name is Rick
Fields and, as always, I am joined by my com-
mentating wingman, Bob Copeland.
B: And we’re on the brink of soccer history today, as
Ecuador and Brazil are tied one-one as we begin
the second half of the 2022 World Cup!
A: The ref calls the players for the kick off, and here
we go! Ecuador quickly passes the ball to the mid-
field, but, ohhh, it’s out of bounds.
B: That will be a throw in for Brazil. Adriano has the
ball and makes a long pass to Robinho, and the
ref has called him offside.
A: No question about it. He was offside by a mile!
We have a goal kick for Ecuador. Edison Mendez
heads it to Valenica, he shoots! Deflected by the
defender and we have a corner kick.
B: Delgado takes the corner. We have a foul! Oh no,
Dida, the goalkeeper, has fouled the Ecuadorian
player! He gets a yellow card and that will be a
penalty kick!
A: This is the perfect opportunity for Ecuador to get
ahead in this match and become World Champi-
ons! He gets ready for the kick. He shoots! and
he...
 
M: Okay, well, as you all may know, soccer is a very popular sport especially in Latin 
America. 
E: That’s right. And your favorite team, Ecuador. 
M: Hehe. 
E: Are they… Are they really this good in soccer, they’re really gonna win the Twenty 
Twenty-two Cup? 
M: Well, maybe not. 
E: Hehe. 
M: Well, actually Ecuador has… has improved with time, but usually it’s the strong teams 
like Argentina and Brazil, who, ah, dominate the region, right? 
E: Right. 
M: Um, but yeah, hopefully we’ll make it next time. 
E: Okay, well, I have my money on Ecuador and… 
M: Hehe. For 2022. 
E: But, yeah, not on Canada. There’s no hope for us.  
M: Well, Canada is doing really well now. They, actually… 
E: Really? 
M: Ah, beat Mexico, if I’m not mistaken. 
E: Oh, actually, that’s sort of… yeah, I kind of remember that now. 
M: Hehe. 
E: But, there’s… I think there’s no hope for us to beat Brazil or Argentina, one of these big 
countries. 
M: We have the next World Cup coming up, so it’s really exciting and I don’t know who’s 
gonna win. 
E: Alright, well, um, listeners! Who do you think is going to win? Who is the best soccer 
team out there? 
M: Hehe. Right, there’re really good soccer teams. Although, some of the… some countries 
aren’t really known for their soccer like Russia. You don’t really hear too much soccer from 
Russia. 
E: Really? 
M: Or from China is for that. 
E: I wonder how popular it is in these countries. 
M: Hum, so let us know, come to our website englishpod.com, tell us how popular soccer 
is in your country or what team you are a fan of. I know many people like the European 
Cups and they’re fans of, ah… ah, Barcelona or the Italian teams. 
E: Well, come to the website. Marco and I are always around to answer your questions and 
until next time… Good bye! 
M: Bye!