Good

Well, at last UEFA has shown some sense and overturned the ban on Eduardo for diving. A couple of week's ago we featured that decisions in our Ugly section - it just seemed crazy to start handing out bans for simulation - a can of worms. It seems that UEFA has agreed and backed down after Arsenal protested.

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This week is World Cup qualifying week, so we continue our feature which takes a look at some of the great World Cup players through the ages. Second in the series is Argentinian sensation, Maradona who is also in action this week as his country's coach in a crunch game against arch-rivals Brazil.

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Estudiantes win the Copa Libertadores for the fourth time and Juan Sebastian Veron does his father proud as he leads the Argentinians to a come from behind 2-1 victory (his father won the cup three times with Estudiantes). Well done the 'rat-stabbers'. In Europe, transfer fever continues and Tevez crosses the divide from Manchester United to Manchester City, who are still courting Chelsea's John Terry.

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Last week, saw the confederations Cup reach its climax with an exciting game seeing Brazil come from two goals down to beat the USA 3-2. The USA certainly impressed the worldwide audience by beating Spain and going close against the South American powerhouse. Perhaps their world ranking of 12 is merited.

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As Real Madrid continue to build their new dream team, other teams are beginning to make moves in the transfer market, World Cup qualifiers continue - good news for North Korea (a 0-0 draw against saudi Arabia sees them through to the World Cup), not so good for Argentina (they lie fourth in the South America table after losing 2-0 away to Ecuador), and of course, in South Africa, the Confederations Cup is in full swing.

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The final podcast of the 2008-2009 season. Damon and Damian take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly moments of another great footballing year. The next languagecaster.com season starts in August 2009 and it should be a great one with the World Cup in 2010. If you want to keep up with the latest news and language learning opportunities then why don't you subscribe to our Newsletter in the sidebar.

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Damian increases his lead to 10 points in the predictions battle after a 'Barcelona-esque' 6-2 mauling of Damon last week. On this week's show we feature two domestic Cup finals, as well as big games from the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A and a possible title-deciding derby match in Scotland

DB DF RES Rangers - Celtic Stuttgart - Wolfsburg Man Utd - Man City Arsenal - Chelsea AC Milan - Juventus Newcastle - Middlesbrough A Bilbao - Barcelona Sampdoria - Lazio Click to continue reading...

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With only a few weeks remaining the predictions battle between Damon and Damian is still neck and neck. This week, we feature two big games between teams at the top and bottom of the league in England, the Madrid-Barca derby in Spain, as well as important matches from the top of the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 in France.

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This week, the Champions league quarter final first legs were played and languagecaster takes a look at what happened.

In addition we:

• Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Introduce a new football expression in English for Football
• And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition

For learners of English check out our new Football Language Resources page with:

• Football glossary (a huge collection of football vocabulary, football cliches and football phrases)
• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists

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Transcript

Damian: Only a month ago many here in England were tipping Manchester United to win an unprecedented quintuple - five trophies in one season - but in recent weeks the Red Devils have started to wobble.

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Damon had a great week, amassing 10 points to Damian's six, but Damian still holds the initiative. This week we look at the Champions League games again - Porto v Manchester United looks the most interesting - and two huge derbies: the Rome derby between Lazio and AS Roma and arguably the biggest derby in the world between Galatasary and Fenerbahce.

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Both Damon and Damian did well in predicting the World Cup qualifying games last week, Damon edging out his rival 8-7. This week sees our two 'experts' predicting matches from the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, La Plata derby in Argentina, as well as the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

There were some big results in this week's Champions League, but none were bigger than Bayern Munich's thrashing of Sporting. On this week's show we ask our German correspondent about the giant team from the Bundesliga. In addition we: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English [. Click to continue reading...

Damian has opened a significant gap in the predictions race. This could be make or break week for Damon, another big loss and could be all over. This week, we have a real globe-trotting feel to the games - matches from England, Spain, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Japan all feature. DB DF RES Man U v Liverpool 0-0 A. Click to continue reading...

A terrible week again for Damon the predictions race, and Damian has really made up some ground. This week languagecaster look at some top versus bottom clashes, as some of the title contenders take on those threatened by relegation. There's also a juicy tie with Barcelona visiting Atletico Madrid - can the Catalan's bounce back [. Click to continue reading...

A low-scoring round for the languagecaster 'experts' last week means that both Damon and Damian will be looking for some points from this week's set of matches. Guus Hiddink's first match in charge for Chelsea, the Catalan derby in la Liga, the Ruhr derby in Germany, as well as four matches from the last 16 [. Click to continue reading...

Damon scored a 5-2 victory last week to stretch his lead to nine points over Damian. This week we have huge derbies from the Premier League and la Liga in Spain, the top game in Portugal and some crucial World Cup qualifiers from Asia and the CONCACAF zone DB DF RES Tigre - San Lorenzo 2-1 Real Betis - Sevilla 0-2 Tottenham - [. Click to continue reading...

Damian really closed the gap last week with an eight point haul. It looks as though Damon is in free fall after only obtaining one point. This week, Germany is back on the menu, along with Spain and a derby in England and some unfinished business in the FA Cup - two more derbies! DB DF RES Hamburg v [. Click to continue reading...

Damian slightly closed the gap on Damon after last week's games and he will be hoping to earn some more points in this week's predictions race. The English FA Cup, Serie A and some midweek Premier League action all feature on this week's show. DB DF RES Derby Co. - Nottm Forest 1-1 Man Utd - Tottenham 4-1 Liverpool - Everton 1-0 Cardiff City - [. Click to continue reading...

<p class="alert">The Merseyside derby, Premier League relegation battles, Beckham's home debut and a possible shock in the Carling Cup all feature on this week's predictions. Damon won last week 7-5 and will be hoping to maintain this winning form till the end of the season.   DB DF RES A. Click to continue reading...

On this week's show Damon and Damian take a look back at the highs and lows from 2008 for their respective clubs: Liverpool and Tottenham. We also: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English for Football And continue the predictions battle in the predictions competition For learners of [. Click to continue reading...

Another win for Damian last week reduces Damon's lead to only nine points. The festive period sees our two 'experts' predicting results from matches in the Premier League, the Dutch Eredivisie and the South East Asian championship final. DB DF RES A. Villa - Arsenal 1-1 2-1 Stoke - Man Utd 1-1 1-0 Rangers - Celtic 0-2 1-1 PSV - FC Twente 2-1 1-1 Fulham - Chelsea 1-1 0-2 Vietnam - Thailand 1-2 0-1 Click to continue reading...

Last week Damon beat Damian 3-1 to increase his lead to 18 points. In this week's predictions battle we look at games from the Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga, The Mexican League, the FIFA Club World Club and Spain's big derby game. DB DF RES Tottenham - Man Utd Barcelona - R. Click to continue reading...

Damian keeps chipping away at Damon's lead. If it carries on like this, it will be a close run in at the end of the season. This week there are some big games in Spain, and some interesting clashes in the Bundesliga, the Premier League, Greece and Italy. 08/09 Podcast 17 DB DF RES West Ham v Tottenham 1-3 B. Click to continue reading...

The gap is still more than fifteen points in favour of Damon after last week's games, so this week Damian will try to claw his way back into the predictions battle by guessing the scores from matches in the Premier League, Serie A, Argentina's Apertura, La Liga in Spain, The Bundesliga and a huge match [. Click to continue reading...

With Gamba Osaka claiming the Asian Champions League title last week Japanese football is on the rise and so on this week's main report Damon takes a look at the J-League, the domestic league in Japan. We also: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English for [. Click to continue reading...

Damon increases his lead to a massive 20 points after his 5-4 win last week. This week we have games from the Premier League, Serie A's Rome derby, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Dutch Eredivisie. In addition, we have World Cup qualifiers from Asia and Central America, as well as two international friendlies, including Diego [. Click to continue reading...

On this week's show languagecaster reports on Kick It Out and the background to this anti-racism campaign in England. Both Damon and Damian are happy to review the footballing week as their teams recorded some good results, and... We also: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in [. Click to continue reading...

Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster's Good, Bad and Ugly section of the podcast - a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our worksheets, football glossary and English for football phrases. Unbeaten run: When a team does not lose a game for a while Example: Chelsea's 86-match [. Click to continue reading...

Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster's Podcast's Good, Bad and Ugly section - a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our worksheets, football glossary and English for football phrases. Spectacular: Amazing, wonderful, fantastic Example: There were two spectacular overhead kicks on show in the Liverpool - Wigan [. Click to continue reading...

Domestic football takes a break this week as World Cup qualifiers take place all around the globe. Damon still holds a healthy lead in the predictions battle race but with 8 games to predict this week Damian must fancy his chances of making a comeback. 08/09 Podcast 9 DB DF RES Sweden - Portugal 1-0 Romania - France 1-0 Bulgaria - Italy 1-1 Germany - [. Click to continue reading...

After Damian's no show last week, Damon sportingly refused to take his points, leaving him six points ahead in this year's prediction race. Some big games across the globe this week with six leagues involved. 08/09 Podcast 8 DB DF RES Barcalona v A. Madrid 1-2 Stuttgart v Bremen 2-3 Tottenham v Hull 2-2 Sporting v Porto 1-0 Boca v Estudiantes 1-2 Gamba v Urawa 1-0 Click to continue reading...

Another slim victory for Damon moves him six points ahead of his firece rival Damian. Talking of fierce rivalries, this week it is Derby Predictions Weekend, with six classic fixtures from around the world. For more information about these rivalries, visit the excellent site www.footballderbies.com. 08/09 Podcast 6 DB DF RES Everton v Liverpool 1-1 AC Milan v Inter 1-1 Benfica v Sporting 1-0 Estudiantes v [. Click to continue reading...

The Champions League group games started this week and languagecaster takes a look at how teams from la Liga and the Premier League fared. For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources with: Worksheets and transcripts Vocabulary lists ** NEW ** Football language glossary Transcript Damian - The Spanish Teams Spanish teams usually feature among the favourites at the [. Click to continue reading...

The group stages are under way already in the Champions league. Barely have the seasons started in the European leagues and the big money competition is underway. In this show Damon and damian reflect on the Spanish and English team's start to the campaign. We also: Review the news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce [. Click to continue reading...

After the excitement of the World Cup qualifiers we return to the major Domestic leagues - The Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Brazilian league all feature. Last week Damon again did well and has increased his lead over Damian. If Damian is not careful, it could be all over before [. Click to continue reading...