Unit 7 Culture Football and soccer

Football is the most popular sport in England. Modern football originated in England and millions of
people enjoy watching or playing the sport today. Football is more popular than other national sports like
cricket or rugby. There are over 40,000 football clubs in England and most towns and cities have got at
least one football team. And there are some very famous professional clubs like Aston Villa, Liverpool
and Manchester United. These Premier League clubs have got supporters all around the world.

In the United States, ‘football’ is called ‘soccer’ and soccer is becoming a very popular sport in the
country. The USA has got men’s and women’s national soccer teams. These national teams are very
popular with fans. The US women’s team won the Olympic gold medal in 2008. They beat Brazil.

There are also men’s and women’s professional soccer leagues in the United States. The men’s league is
the MLS (Major League Soccer) and the women’s league is the WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer).
Some famous international footballers play in the United States. David Beckham played for LA Galaxy
and the Brazilian Marta, one of the best women footballers in the world, played for Los Angeles Sol.

At school in the USA, all students can play baseball or basketball. But many students play soccer too.
And nearly half of the soccer players in the USA are girls. These girls in New Jersey, on the east coast of
the USA, are in a team called ‘Fair Lawn’. They play in a junior soccer league. They’re playing an
important game at the weekend. They think that they’ll win the match. But they’re training hard this
evening. Tomorrow, they’re practising penalties. If they win on Sunday, they’ll be in first place in the
league. They want to win the league trophy at the end of the season. Their parents are going to watch
the match on Sunday.

It’s Sunday and the team are getting ready to play. The match is going to begin at eleven o’clock. Fair
Lawn’s colours are red, white and black. There are a lot of lines and numbers on the pitch because
people also play American football here.

Fair Lawn are playing really well. Their friends and family are sure the team will win.

And Fair Lawn win the match! Their trainer is very pleased. There’s only one more match this season.
The girls hope they won’t lose the final match next weekend. If they win, they’ll be league champions.

42 ENGLISH PLUS 2  Unit 7  DVD Transcript photocopiable © Oxford University Press

English Plus DVD 2 worksheets SP.indb 42 19/11/2010 12:39