Match the words to their definitions. What do all these words have in common?
1. goalkeeper
2. defender
3. goal posts
4. striker
5. pitch
6. champion
↓↑
A. a player who tries to prevent the opponents from scoring
B. a player who tries to score goals
C. the place you play football
D. the two poles that form the goal
E. the player whose job is to guard the goal
F. a player or a team that wins the top prize in a competition
a)
Do you know any famous English football clubs or any famous English football players? Read through and check which ones are in the text.
The National Sport of England
Football is the most popular sport in England. In fact, a lot of English people say it is their national sport.
English people have played football for a very long time. However, the game didn’t have any real rules 1) _ the 19th century. In 1815, Eton College created rules to make the game less violent and later, in 1848, Cambridge University made many of the modern rules. Football quickly became as popular 2) _ other games such as cricket.
Today, there are thousands of football clubs in England. Professional clubs, such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are famous 3) _ over the world.
Football 4) _ become part of the cultural life in England and hundreds of thousands of fans support their favourite teams in stadiums around the country every weekend. Many English children have football lessons at school. 5) _ famous footballers, such as David Beckham and Michael Owen have become role models for a lot of these children.
b)
Read the text and complete the missing words. Listen and check.
a) Make notes under the headings about football in England. Then tell the class.
• Clubs
• Famous players
b) Now, make notes under the same headings about your country’s popular sport. Talk to the class about it.
Portfolio: Collect information using the Internet, then write a short article about your country’s most popular sport.