The draw was made in Germany on Friday evening for football’s World Cup Finals. Experts and armchair fans will now be deciding who will beat whom and where the major upsets might be. The 32 nations taking part can now stop wondering which teams they will have to play. The stage is set for the greatest show on Earth. Holders Brazil are the favorites to retain their crown. They have won the tournament a record five previous times. Other strong teams include the multi-talented Argentina, England, France and Spain. The underdogs include Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola.

Many soccer legends from yesteryear were in Germany, including Pele, to help with the draw. There were also appearances from supermodels and the mascots. The biggest oohs and aaghs came from the matching of Argentina with Holland. This game is a repeat of the 1978 Final and promises to be a true spectacle. The trickiest game might be for France, who must play outsiders Togo. Angola are in their first ever Finals and take on their former colonial rulers Portugal. The tournament officially kicks off on June 9, when hosts Germany face Costa Rica. Until then, be prepared for football fever to grip the world.

WARM-UPS

1. THE IMPORTANCE: In pairs / groups, talk about how important football (American, Aussie and rugby varieties included) is in your country. Talk about your domestic and national teams. How important is football to you? A famous manager (coach) once said: “Football isn’t a matter of life and death, it’s more important.” What do you think?

2. THE DRAW: With your partner(s), look at the draw for the 2006 World Cup Finals (on page 12). Quickly decide who will be first and runner up of each group. Decide which of the teams will win the tournament. Walk around the classroom and tell each other about the predictions you just made.

3. WORLD CUP SEARCH: Talk to as many other students as you can to find out what they know about the World Cup. After you have talked to lots of students, sit down with your partner(s) and share your information. Tell each other what you thought was interesting or surprising. Would you like to go and see the Finals?

4. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

World Cup / armchairs / fans / upsets / stages / Brazil / underdogs / yesteryear / Pele / supermodels / mascots / oohs and aaghs / Angola / football fever

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

5. 2-MINUTE SOCCER DEBATES: Have the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A take the first argument, students B the second. Change partners often.

1. Football should be called “football”. vs. “Soccer” is the best name.
2. Football is an art. vs. Football is just a simple game.
3. Football is the greatest game in the world. vs. No it isn’t.
4. David Beckham is the world’s most handsome footballer. vs. Who cares?
5. European football is the best in the world. vs. South America is best.
6. The USA will be world champions one day. vs. Never. But China will.
7. Football stars are overpaid. vs. They earn every penny / cent.
8. Real football (soccer) is better than American football. vs. I totally disagree.
9. The world would be a sadder place without football. vs. There’s always tennis.

6. FOOTBALL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “football”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Germany failed to make the draw for the 2006 World Cup Finals.	T / F
b.	Many football fans take their armchairs to soccer games.	T / F
c.	Brazil is hoping to win back the title it lost in the last tournament.	T / F
d.	The underdogs are Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola.	T / F
e.	Soccer greats from yesteryear helped with the draw.	T / F
f.	There were lots of oohs and aaghs over the Argentina-Holland game.	T / F
g.	Angola are playing in their third Finals.	T / F
h.	Soccer stress will give fevers and headaches to fans worldwide.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	experts	keep
b.	major	authorities
c.	wondering	marvel
d.	retain	the past
e.	underdogs	big
f.	yesteryear	ex
g.	oohs and aaghs	thinking about
h.	spectacle	starts
i.	former	little guys
j.	kicks off	noises

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	fans will now be deciding who	show on Earth
b.	where the major	ever Finals
c.	The stage is set for the greatest	Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola
d.	Brazil are the favorites to retain	and aaghs
e.	The underdogs include	will beat whom
f.	There were also appearances	off on June 9
g.	The biggest oohs	their crown
h.	promises to	be a true spectacle
i.	Angola are in their first	upsets might be
j.	The tournament officially kicks	from supermodels and the mascots

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Draw made for 2006 World Cup Finals

The ________ was made in Germany on Friday evening for football’s World Cup Finals. Experts and ________ fans will now be deciding who will beat whom and where the major ________ might be. The 32 nations taking part can now stop ________ which teams they will have to play. The stage is set for the greatest ________ on Earth. Holders Brazil are the favorites to retain their ________. They have won the tournament a ________ five previous times. Other strong teams include the ________ -talented Argentina, England, France and Spain. The underdogs include Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola.		crown armchair show draw multi upsets record wondering
Many soccer ________ from yesteryear were in Germany, including Pele, to help with the draw. There were also appearances from supermodels and the ________. The biggest oohs and ________ came from the matching of Argentina with Holland. This game is a ________ of the 1978 Final and promises to be a ________ spectacle. The ________ game might be for France, who must play outsiders Togo. Angola are in their first ________ Finals and take on their former colonial rulers Portugal. The tournament ________ kicks off on June 9, when hosts Germany face Costa Rica. Until then, be prepared for football fever to grip the world.		repeat ever aaghs trickiest legends officially mascots true

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Draw made for 2006 World Cup Finals

The ______ was made in Germany on Friday evening for football’s World Cup Finals. Experts and armchair ______ will now be deciding who will beat whom and where the major upsets might be. The 32 ______ taking part can now stop wondering which teams they will have to play. The ______ is set for the greatest show on Earth. Holders Brazil are the favorites to retain their ______. They have won the tournament a record five previous times. Other strong teams include the multi-talented Argentina, England, France and Spain. The ___________ include Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola.

Many soccer legends from ___________ were in Germany, including Pele, to help with the draw. There were also appearances from supermodels and the mascots. The biggest ______ and aaghs came from the matching of Argentina with Holland. This game is a ______ of the 1978 Final and promises to be a ______ spectacle. The trickiest game might be for France, who must play outsiders Togo. Angola are in their first ever Finals and take on their former colonial rulers Portugal. The tournament officially ______ off on June 9, when hosts Germany face Costa Rica. Until then, be prepared for football ______ to grip the world.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘foot’ and ‘ball’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “WORLD CUP” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about football (soccer) and the 2006 World Cup Finals.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

Germany upsets wondering crown five underdogs

yesteryear mascots oohs promises Angola grip

WORLD CUP DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of the draw for the 2006 World Cup Finals?
3. Why do you think the event is called the World Cup Finals (with an “s”) and not the World Cup Final?
4. Soccer’s World Cup is the most watched event in the world. Do you think it is the most important sporting event in the world?
5. Would you like the event to happen more frequently than every four years?
6. Do you prefer the word “football” or “soccer?
7. What do you think the World Cup gives to the world?
8. Will your lifestyle change a little during the 2006 World Cup Finals?
9. Why do you think football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the world?
10. What are your best memories of previous World Cup Finals?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Who do you think will win the 2006 World Cup?
4. Do you think the USA will ever win the World Cup?
5. Are you pleased with the performance of your nation’s team in this or previous World Cups?
6. What’s the greatest thing about the World Cup?
7. An Emirates Airline advertisement states: “We all speak one language – Football.” What do you think of this?
8. Football (soccer) is often called “the beautiful game” and “the world’s game”. What do you think of these titles?
9. Do you prefer the World Cup or the Olympics?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

FOOTBALL RULES: In pairs / groups, talk about the basic rules of football (soccer) so you can explain them to someone who has never seen the game before. Use the areas in the left hand column.

AREAS	EXPLANATION OF RULES
1. Objective
2. Teams
3. Goals
4. Free kicks and penalties
5. Offside
6. Corners and goal kicks
7. Time
8. Yellow and red cards
9. Other

• Change partners and share and compare the rules you were able to think of. Fill in any missing gaps from your partners. Make sure you agree on everything.
• Return to your original partner(s) and talk about the new rules you just found out.
• Look again carefully at rules 2 – 8. Decide on one change for each of them that will make the game more exciting.
• Change partners and tell each other your changes. Discuss whether they would make football more interesting to watch.
• Give a presentation of your rule changes. Vote on the best proposals.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the 2006 World Cup Finals. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Make a poster comparing football (soccer) with another sport you like. Explain the good and bad points of both sports. Include a section that explains why one sport is better than the other. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Does everyone agree with your conclusion?

4. FINALS FORECAST: Write a newspaper article based on the draw for the 2006 World Cup Finals. Make your predictions on who will win the group stages and eventually the final itself. Discuss the exciting match-ups. Will there be any games that will see lots of goals? Will it be an exciting event? Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. How different were your forecasts?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	experts	authorities
b.	major	big
c.	wondering	thinking about
d.	retain	keep
e.	underdogs	little guys
f.	yesteryear	the past
g.	oohs and aaghs	noises
h.	spectacle	marvel
i.	former	ex
j.	kicks off	starts

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	fans will now be deciding who	will beat whom
b.	where the major	upsets might be
c.	The stage is set for the greatest	show on Earth
d.	Brazil are the favorites to retain	their crown
e.	The underdogs include	Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola
f.	There were also appearances	from supermodels and the mascots
g.	The biggest oohs	and aaghs
h.	promises to	be a true spectacle
i.	Angola are in their first	ever Finals
j.	The tournament officially kicks	off on June 9

GAP FILL:

Draw made for 2006 World Cup Finals

The draw was made in Germany on Friday evening for football’s World Cup Finals. Experts and armchair fans will now be deciding who will beat whom and where the major upsets might be. The 32 nations taking part can now stop wondering which teams they will have to play. The stage is set for the greatest show on Earth. Holders Brazil are the favorites to retain their crown. They have won the tournament a record five previous times. Other strong teams include the multi-talented Argentina, England, France and Spain. The underdogs include Trinidad and Tobago, Togo and Angola.

Many soccer legends from yesteryear were in Germany, including Pele, to help with the draw. There were also appearances from supermodels and the mascots. The biggest oohs and aaghs came from the matching of Argentina with Holland. This game is a repeat of the 1978 Final and promises to be a true spectacle. The trickiest game might be for France, who must play outsiders Togo. Angola are in their first ever Finals and take on their former colonial rulers Portugal. The tournament officially kicks off on June 9, when hosts Germany face Costa Rica. Until then, be prepared for football fever to grip the world.

THE 2006 WORLD CUP FINALS DRAW

GROUP A GERMANY COSTA RICA POLAND ECUADOR	GROUP B ENGLAND PARAGUAY TRINIDAD & TOBAGO SWEDEN
GROUP C ARGENTINA IVORY COAST SERBIA & MONTENEGRO NETHERLANDS	GROUP D MEXICO IRAN ANGOLA PORTUGAL
GROUP E ITALY GHANA UNITED STATES CZECH REPUBLIC	GROUP F BRAZIL CROATIA AUSTRALIA JAPAN
GROUP G FRANCE SWITZERLAND SOUTH KOREA TOGO	GROUP H SPAIN UKRAINE TUNISIA SAUDI ARABIA

 

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