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1. FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Walk around the class and talk to other students about football. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

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

superstar / ended his career / coach / substitute / exchange of words / trademark / captain / troubled time / transfer request / breakdown in relations / teammates

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. SOCCER PLAYERS: What do you think of them? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	What do you think?	Should/Will things change
Skill
Role model
Salary
Personality
Career
Sportsmanship

4. TEVEZ: Students A strongly believe Tevez should be banned from football for refusing to play; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. SPORTS: Which do you like best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

Football (soccer) Football (American) Cricket Tennis

Baseball Basketball Cycling F1 motor racing

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

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Carlos Tevez has ended his playing career.	T / F
b.	The last game Tevez played in was against Bayern Munich.	T / F
c.	Tevez played for 35 minutes in the game against Bayern Munich.	T / F
d.	Tevez and his manager had an argument during the game.	T / F
e.	Tevez has played for two different teams in Manchester.	T / F
f.	Tevez tried to leave Manchester City in late 2010.	T / F
g.	Roberto Mancini said he was very disappointed in Tevez’s behavior.	T / F
h.	Tevez said nothing to anyone after the game.	T / F

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

1.	seemingly	a.	trailing
2	insisted	b.	acts
3.	substitute	c.	on the face of it
4.	losing	d.	rescue
5.	salvage	e.	submitted
6.	former	f.	unfortunate
7.	troubled	g.	maintained
8.	handed in	h.	ex-
9.	behaves	i.	replacement
10.	disappointing	j.	difficult

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	seemingly ended his	a.	request
2	Tuesday’s crucial	b.	least a draw
3.	leading to an angry exchange	c.	goal
4.	eye for	d.	like this
5.	help salvage at	e.	career at the club
6.	He has had a troubled	f.	Euro clash
7.	he handed in a transfer	g.	15-minute difference
8.	albeit a	h.	of words
9.	he behaves	i.	his teammates
10.	go on to help	j.	time at City

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Manchester City’s Argentine (1) ____________ Carlos Tevez has seemingly ended his career at the club by (2) ____________ to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) ____________ Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the (4) ____________ 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an angry (5) ____________ of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were (6) ____________ 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark (7) ____________ and eye for goal to help (8) ____________ at least a draw.		losing crucial exchange salvage superstar energy refusing final
Tevez is a (9) ____________ Manchester City captain. He has had a troubled time at City since controversially moving there from (10) ____________ rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown in (11) ____________ with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (12) ____________ a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player (13) ____________ a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he (14) ____________ like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player (15) ____________ to go on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match (16) ____________ was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.		earns refuses albeit bitter comment former behaves relations

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Manchester City’s Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez __________________ his career at the club by refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was ____________________ in Tuesday’s __________________ German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an ____________________ between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark __________________  goal to help _____________________.

Tevez is a former Manchester City captain. He _____________________ at City since controversially moving ____________________ Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he _________________________ citing family reasons and a breakdown in relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, albeit a 15-minute ____________________. A furious Mancini said: "If one player ____________________, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one ____________________ on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

foot

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

ended insisted clash angry losing least

former bitter handed 15 behaves comment

STUDENT FOOTBALL (SOCCER) SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about football (soccer) in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

FOOTBALL (SOCCER) DISCUSSION

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

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘football’?
c)	Which word do you prefer, football or soccer?
d)	What do you think of Carlos Tevez’s actions?
e)	Do you think Tevez should be banned from football for refusing to play?
f)	Tevez earns around $390,000 a week. What message does his refusal to play send to youngsters?
g)	Are soccer players overpaid?
h)	Was Tevez courageous to show his displeasure at not playing earlier?
i)	Do you think Tevez’s actions affected the result of the game?
j)	What do you think of football?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What can managers do to cope with unsettled players?
c)	Should coaches be more sensitive to the needs of their superstars?
d)	What do you think of Tevez wanting to move several hundred kilometres from Manchester to London to be nearer his family?
e)	Should Roberto Mancini change his mind about not playing Tevez?
f)	How much did Tevez let down his teammates?
g)	What do you think will happen from now?
h)	Is football (soccer) the greatest sport in the world?
i)	What do you think Manchester City fans think of Tevez?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Carlos Tevez?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Manchester City’s Argentine superstar Carlos Tevez has (1) ____ ended his career at the club by refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has (2) ____ Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) ____ Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading (4) ____ an angry (5) ____ of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark energy and (6) ____ for goal to help salvage at least a draw.

Tevez is a former Manchester City captain. He has had a (7) ____ time at City since controversially moving there from (8) ____ rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown (9) ____ relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (10) ____ a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player refuses to go (11) ____ to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only (12) ____ -match comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	seem	(b)	seemed	(c)	seems	(d)	seemingly
2.	(a)	insists	(b)	insist	(c)	insisted	(d)	insisting
3.	(a)	coaxing	(b)	crucial	(c)	climax	(d)	chasm
4.	(a)	to	(b)	of	(c)	at	(d)	for
5.	(a)	swap	(b)	charge	(c)	exchange	(d)	bartering
6.	(a)	ear	(b)	nose	(c)	knee	(d)	eye
7.	(a)	fabled	(b)	troubled	(c)	tabled	(d)	trebled
8.	(a)	bitter	(b)	sour	(c)	acrid	(d)	spicy
9.	(a)	at	(b)	in	(c)	for	(d)	from
10.	(a)	all	(b)	although	(c)	albeit	(d)	always
11.	(a)	on	(b)	in	(c)	by	(d)	of
12.	(a)	past	(b)	pest	(c)	passed	(d)	post

 
 

WRITING

Write about football (soccer) for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 out more about football (soccer). Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. FOOTBALL (SOCCER): Make a poster about football (soccer). Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. CARLOS TEVEZ: Write a magazine article about Carlos Tevez and his refusal to play when his coach asked him to. Include imaginary interviews with Carlos, a fan and Roberto Mancini.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Carlos Tevez. Ask him three questions about football (soccer). Give him three ideas on what to do now. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

F

d.

T

e.

T

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	seemingly	a.	on the face of it
2	insisted	b.	maintained
3.	substitute	c.	replacement
4.	losing	d.	trailing
5.	salvage	e.	rescue
6.	former	f.	ex-
7.	troubled	g.	difficult
8.	handed in	h.	submitted
9.	behaves	i.	acts
10.	disappointing	j.	unfortunate

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	seemingly ended his	a.	career at the club
2	Tuesday’s crucial	b.	Euro clash
3.	leading to an angry exchange	c.	of words
4.	eye for	d.	goal
5.	help salvage at	e.	least a draw
6.	He has had a troubled	f.	time at City
7.	he handed in a transfer	g.	request
8.	albeit a	h.	15-minute difference
9.	he behaves	i.	like this
10.	go on to help	j.	his teammates

GAP FILL:

Carlos Tevez “finished” at Manchester City

Manchester City’s Argentine (1) superstar Carlos Tevez has seemingly ended his career at the club by (2) refusing to play in a European Champions League match. City coach Roberto Mancini has insisted Tevez is 'finished' with the club. Tevez was named as a substitute in Tuesday’s (3) crucial Euro clash with German side Bayern Munich. He was angry that he did not come on as the first substitution. When Mancini asked him to play for the (4) final 35 minutes of the game, Tevez refused, leading to an angry (5) exchange of words between player, manager and other team officials. Manchester were (6) losing 2-0 when Mancini asked Tevez to play. The coach wanted Tevez to use his trademark (7) energy and eye for goal to help (8) salvage at least a draw.

Tevez is a (9) former Manchester City captain. He has had a troubled time at City since controversially moving there from (10) bitter rivals Manchester United in 2009. In December 2010 he handed in a transfer request citing family reasons and a breakdown in (11) relations with the club. He said he wanted to move to London because it was nearer his home in Argentina, (12) albeit a 15-minute difference by air. A furious Mancini said: "If one player (13) earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he (14) behaves like this, for me he can't play. Never.” He added: "When one player (15) refuses to go on to help his teammates in a match as important as this, it is very disappointing." Tevez’s only post-match (16) comment was, "It is his (Mancini's) decision”.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 -c

11 - a

12 - d

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