Note: Interactive transcripts return with the next episode.
Croatia knocks out host Russia to set up an all-Europe semifinal
The semifinalists are determined. They are France, Belgium, Croatia and England: all European teams. And they will play their next games Tuesday and Wednesday, all leading up to the finals on July 15.
Welcome to Plain English—I’m Jeff and this is a special World Cup episode of Plain English. Today’s topic, as you heard, is the action from Russia. At the end of the episode, I’ll show you how to use the expression “on the line.”
Today is Monday, June 9 and the episode number is 64. That means you can find a transcript of the episode at PlainEnglish.com/64. The interactive translations will be back again on Wednesday’s episode.
Four teams left in World Cup play
They are only four remaining: France and Belgium, Croatia and England. Two of these teams will meet in the final on July 15. Which ones will make it?
France and Belgium face off on Tuesday. These two Western European neighbors have produced the most outstanding play so far in this World Cup: France has faced stiff competition and hasn’t seemed to have much trouble yet, while Belgium has met the high expectations set for it at the beginning of the tournament.
Belgium’s so-called golden generation handed Brazil a convincing defeat in the quarterfinals and they appeared to have the confidence they need to continue to the finals. This team is called the golden generation because it is widely seen as the most talented soccer team that Belgium has ever had. A lot of their players are currently in the Premier League in England and Belgium was recently ranked number 1 in the world, though they have since slid back just a bit. Belgium has the most on the line, since their best players are in their 30s and the team as it’s currently constituted would not be considered a World Cup contender in Qatar in 2022.
France, on the other hand, is exceeding expectations at this World Cup, with a core of players that are expected to come into their prime in the coming years. They had some trouble in the Group round, scoring only three goals in its first three games, but they have gotten stronger as the games have gone by. They had no problem with Argentina and dispatched Uruguay in the quarterfinals. They have history on their side, since they’ve won the whole tournament in 1998 and came close in 2006.
On the other side of the bracket, we have Croatia and England. England’s match against Sweden was a relatively smooth 2-0 victory, but Croatia had a tough time with their quarterfinal opponent, Russia. The match was tied 1-1 after regulation. Croatia took a 2-1 lead and then promptly lost it in the overtime period. But they won in penalties and sent the over-achieving host team home. After winning all their group games, Croatia appears to be slowing down a bit, since Denmark also took them to penalties in the knockout round. England, by the way, appears to have Croatia’s number. In the last two times these sides have met, England has been the winner by the scores of 4-1 and 5-1.
One cause for concern is that Croatian goalie Danjiel Subasic appeared to injure his hamstring toward the end of the game against Russia. Though it didn’t affect the outcome of that game, he may not be one hundred percent for the next match. They have the advantage of playing the later game, Wednesday, so he has an extra day to recover. Croatia is breathing a sigh of relief, however, since it looked like one of its players, Domagoj Vida, might have been suspended for the next two games for violating FIFA rules—but he escaped punishment and received only a warning. Cameras caught him saying “glory to Ukraine,” a neighbor with which host Russia has difficult relations. FIFA rules prohibit any type of political slogans on the field. Luckily for him, he escaped with just a warning.
I’m not going to pretend to have the skills to make a prediction, but from the articles I’ve read, it seems like Belgium is the favorite to win Tuesday’s match and England the favorite to win the match on Wednesday.
One organization having a great World Cup is the English Premier League. As you probably know, the players play professionally in various leagues around the world, independent of their nationality. When they play in the World Cup, they play for their countries, so no Premier League teams are playing. But the Premier League’s players are featuring prominently in the most successful national teams at the World Cup this year. In fact, out of the 92 players on the four teams till in the tournament, 40 of them played in the Premier League last year. Many others will be looking to use these next two games as a high-profile audition for the Premier League next year.
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