This week we focus on teams that are on a run, who have several wins on the trot, or having a hard time breaking a winless streak. As always we cross the globe to choose our matches England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Brazil, and Japan. This week's guest predictor is Mike who is a fan of Manchester City.

Last week football in Germany was brought to a standstill by the sad news of the passing of Robert Enke. Only 32 years old, the national keeper took his own life after years of suffering depression. It seems that only very few were made aware of his condition his closest family members, some medical practitioners and one or two friends.

On this week's podcast Internationals take centre stage. There are crucial World Cup play-offs and matches taking place around the world, but we focus on the Ireland v France match-up. We also review the football stories of the past week and make our predictions on the big games. Come along to the site at languagecaster.

World cup play-offs take place this weekend and fans around the world will be crossing their fingers hoping for the result to go their way. On this week's show we listen to an Irish fan give his opinion on what might happen when Ireland play France over two legs. You can also:

• Read our football news review in the good, the bad and the ugly
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• Follow the weekly predictions battle between Damon and Damian in the Predictions competition
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts
  

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

This week's main report looks at the World Cup play-off match between Ireland and France. Listen to our Irish football correspondent, Brendan, discussing whether Ireland can cause a huge upset and make it to South Africa 2010. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Romantic results in the oldest football tournament in the world and giant-killing in Spain, Asian champions, diving in England and violence in the women's game in the USA all feature in this week's good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

World Cup play-offs dominate the week. It's squeaky bum time for several countries around the world. We have the second leg in the Asia vs Oceania play off, the CONCACAF v South America showdown, and the games that will decide which European sides will join those already qualified. Our guest this week is Lilika, a Liverpool fan living in Japan.

Ireland play France in the World Cup play-offs this week with many commentators already writing off their chances of making it to South Africa next summer. However, here are 5 reasons why Republic of Ireland fans can still dream about World Cup 2010 despite being drawn against a team that has already been seeded twice.

In this video worksheet post we use a clip from the excellent The History Of Football [2002] [DVD]on the topic of Folk Football. There is also a worksheet, transcript and answer sheet below. The report lasts for 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Transcript
The legend, whether true or not, is still enacted year in, year out by the people
of Kirkwall, Scotland, making it one of the last strongholds of the game, which for hundreds of years dominated Britain.

On this week's show we take a look at Folk Football and discuss its influence on the Beautiful Game. In addition:

• Read our football news review in the good, the bad and the ugly
• Check out a new football expression in English for Football
• Follow the weekly predictions battle between Damon and Damian in the Predictions competition
• For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources page with:
• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts from previous podcasts
  

Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon

On this week's podcast we focus on the history of the game and in particular folk football. Damon and I have had to endure a tough week as both Liverpool and Tottenham continue to struggle. All these stories and more feature in this week's podcast. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

This week's main report looks at the earliest version of the Beautiful Game, Folk Football, which emerged during the Middle Ages in England. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Football has often been described as the people's game it is, after all, the most popular sport in the world with millions playing each week.

We start off this week's predictions with the Asian Champions League final as football increases in popularity in Asia this competition is going to get a bigger and bigger profile. Staying in Asia, we have a crunch game for the leaders of J-league, then some big games involving some the front runners in England, France and Spain, before we go south to a basement battle in Argentina.

Blah blah blah.

Copa Sudamericana Cerro Porteno and River Plate Uruguay, through to the semis

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=694236&sec=global&cc=3888

Warner and the handbags

http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index.php?section=olympic-article-view&title=Jack%20Warner%20handbags%20England%27s%20bid%20to%20host%202018%20World%20Cup&id=46178

• Before you try the puzzle, listen to our Main Report and read The Good the Bad and the Ugly.
• You can do both if you listen to our weekly Podcast: this has the Main Report and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as well as Predictions and English for Football).