Learn English Through Football Podcast: Euro 2020 Preview

In this football language podcast we look ahead to the 2020 European Championships that start this weekend. We look at some of the favourites for the title, as well as the dark horses and outsiders, while we also talk about the Group of Death and the possible Golden Boot winners. You can read a transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here, and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at [email protected].



Learn English Through Football Podcast: Euro 2020 Preview

DF: Hello everyone, this is Damian from the Learning English Through Football team. I hope we are all doing well and staying safe wherever we are. It's just me today but we'll be hearing from Damon over the next few weeks as we look at some of the words and phrases from the upcoming 2020 European Championships that are taking place over the next four weeks - we'll be posting a football expression from the Euros every day during the tournament.



Now this 2020 tournament is being played in extraordinary circumstances - delayed by a year because of the pandemic - there will be 24 different teams playing in six groups across 11 different venues ranging from Sevilla in the south of Spain to Baku in Azerbaijan. There are many other changes due to Covid, including squad sizes being larger (now 26 players) and five substitutes allowed in each game to offset the effects of a tough season. There will also be reduced attendances but we are thankful that at least some fans will be allowed in to stadiums to watch the games - not just because of a better atmospehere but as a sign of hope that some things are returning to a kind of 'normal'. So, in today's podcast we will look ahead to the 16th version of the Euros by looking at the Group of Death (it's definitely Group F), some of the dark horses, the outsiders and possible Golden Boot winners - who will be the competition's top scorer?



Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian).

Group of Death

DF: Right, let's start off with the group of death which, of course, is traditionally seen as the most difficult group in the tournament as it includes many strong sides which makes qualifying more difficult. This time round, everyone agrees that Group F is this year's Group of Death with World Cup winners France, current European Champions Portugal and three-times winners of this competition Germany all facing each other along with Hungary who many people see as the complete outsiders in this group. Three teams can qualify from this group so a defeat for one of the big nations would not be the end of the world although finishing second in the group could also see a