You're listening to the Footglitch Podcast.
Love football, learn English.
Is Hungary happy with three points out of three games?
Should the Scottish have had a penalty?
Do football fans mistake Orbán the player for the politician?
And what does the phrase not to have a reds chance in hell mean?
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Footglitch Podcast.
My name is Denek Lukas and this is a podcast about football which can help you learn English.
It's your companion to learn English via football.
And today I'm going to talk about, as always, the Euros.
And this time I will be covering the Hungarian team.
And for that I've invited onto the podcast Tommy.
Hi Tommy, how are you?
Yes, thank you, Teacher Z, I'm good.
I'm more than good.
Being invited onto a podcast is so wonderful because usually it's me doing it from your side.
And instead I'm on the other side of the podcast which I find wonderful.
The irony that you've got me on as a half Hungarian to talk about a Hungarian football team is that you won't get me talking much about it.
Well, I was hoping I would. That was the idea.
If you only tell us half of what a Hungarian football fan would tell us, it's still okay.
Because you're half Hungarian, right? So you're half English. I can tell by the accent.
You're half British, half Hungarian. Am I right?
Yes, exactly. That's it.
Okay. And unfortunately I've got loads of English people that I can talk to about the English team,
but no Hungarian people to talk to about the Hungarian team.
So you have that job, if that's okay.
To be fair, it might be the better job out of the two.
I'm good for it. I don't mind what you throw at me.
I will give you half as good as anyone will give you, but then the other half will be just as good.
So technically speaking, you're getting 100% out of it either way.
Oh, and I forgot to say it's not a job. You're not getting paid.
But you can mention your podcast if you want.
You cheek, you bring me on here.
I did not promise anything, I swear.
By the way, if anyone's watching this, and I know there are lots of you watching this,
it just promised me 2,000 euros for this.
So now's the time to go up in arms and say it's not right.
Actually, it was 2,024 euros.
That's it, because it's Euro 2024.
What's your first question you've got for me then, teachers?
My first question is, how do you rate the Hungarian performances so far at the Euro?
So you've got three games in the group stage, right?
Three points under your belt. Is that good enough?
Well, I mean, put it this way. It was a very snap, it was very smash and grab against the Scottish.
I didn't watch the game personally.
But from the other performances I saw from the Hungarians against the Swiss,
against the Germans, they were cut open really easily.
They were seriously cut open.
And going forward, it felt like they were always relying on one player.
Dominic Soboslay from Liverpool.
It felt like every time the ball was going forward, they were looking for him.
And it had a sort of feeling like Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo,
with Argentina and Neomessy, that you're always looking for your talisman to take you forward.
And it felt that every time that ball did get to him, there was no...
Everyone stopped and it felt like, OK, we're waiting for you to do your magic now, Dominic.
Let's get on with it. You know, let's see what you can do.
And then when he did do his magic, when he did get past that defender,
when he did try and move the ball a bit quicker, the rest of the team are not as good as him.
This is the problem when you have teams of one player, right?
We've heard this expression before and it looks like it's you now,
even though I'm a bit surprised because I thought in the recent years the Hungarian football has gone up.
And it's the second time in a row you're at the Euros as well,
which wasn't always the case, right? Two back-to-back participations in this tournament.
What's interesting is that the Hungarians have gone unbeaten for what I think about 18 months, two years perhaps.
And that included a very big surprise win against England in the Nations League at Wembley,
where they completely played them off the park that night.
And people are comparing it to the golden generation, the magic magyars, the golden generation of the 50s.
But if you're going to put it up against the likes of Pushkash, if you're going to put it up against the likes of Hidek Kuti,
this batch of players do not have the same calibre as the golden generation of the 50s.
What do you think would happen if England were to play Hungary at this tournament?
I mean, technically it could still happen, right?
It could still happen. The chance of Hungary going through are rats' tails' chance in hell, if you want to give it that, even that chance.
There is a chance, though. There is a chance because it depends on the other two groups, right?
If your nation Czechia decides to throw the towel in early tonight, 26th June 2024,
then Hungary are on their way to the knockout stages of a European Championships.
And should Hungary make it to the next, should Hungary get that far, it would be a sign that Hungarian football is going in the right direction.
It is going in the right direction.
Hang on. Are you telling me that it depends on the performance of the Czech Republic team, whether Hungary is going in the right direction or not?
There is too much responsibility on our shoulders, too much weight.
What I am going to say is, if I put the Czechia team up against Hungarians and compare them one to one,
I don't think the Hungarians have a rats' tails' chance in hell of even being able to beat Czechia.
But if I look at your performances, and I am nothing against the Czech Republic, nothing against your team,
because you have got some quality players, Patrick Schick up top, seems to know where the goal is.
It just seems that there is a sort of imbalance in certain areas, whether that be up top, whether that be in midfield,
whether that be in defence. If you want me to compare Hungary, I put Hungary in about League One in British football.
And Czechia in League Two.
Well, I don't know. You have got Patrick Schick up top, like I said.
When he plays to his highest calibre, he is, I would say, a lower Premier League player. He would make it in the lower Premier League.
Generally speaking, though, both teams, Czechia and Hungary, are probably League One teams.
Yeah, similar level. I agree. Well, you said that you hadn't watched the Scotland-Hungary game,
but I can assume that you have seen the highlights at least.
Of course. I mean, I have to say, if you want to call them highlights, so to speak, I would be calling them more lowlights, if anything.
I have three moments from that game that were noticeable. The penalty appeal by Scotland, the injury to Barnabas Varga and the goal you scored to win the game.
Let's talk about them in chronological order. I think the penalty shout happened first.
Did the Scottish have any leg to stand on in the penalty?
I'm going to put it this way. In my over 20 years of watching football, I have seen them given. I have seen them not given.
And you have to remember that we now have VAR.
And I understand the qualm of Steve Clark after the match where he said, why hasn't he taken it to VAR? Why is VAR not even looking at it?
I understand it. At the same time, it feels more like a bitter rant from a manager who knows that his team, generally speaking, in the course of the European championships, have not done enough.
They were ripped apart, ripped to pieces against the Germans, although technically speaking, the red card and the penalty on the opening night against Germany was incredibly harsh, if you want to call it that.
Against the Swiss, they were lucky to come out with anything. And against the Hungarians, well, like I said at the beginning, it's more smash and grab sort of job.
But generally speaking, it's more, in my opinion, the rant of a man who knows his team has not performed on the stage and have probably got stage fright, if you want to call it that.
So basically, it's one of those if referee had given it, it wouldn't have been overturned.
You know, like I said, you seem to be given, but you've also seen that they're not being given.
And, you know, generally speaking, as an Englishman myself, I was happy to see the Scots go home.
You know, it's a sort of there is a rivalry between the English and the Scottish. There always will be.
And I was happy to see them, you know, tack their bags early, so to speak.
To be fair, they they did not really pull out any trees and they deserve to be knocked out.
But what about as a Hungarian then?
As a Hungarian, I mean, Hungary and Scotland don't really have a rivalry.
You know, there is no there's no bitter. There's no sort of bitterness between the two countries.
I personally think it is what it is and we need to move on from it.
So it was a you think it was a fair challenge and it was right.
I'm not saying it's fair. I'm not saying it's unfair.
I'm sort of being here very diplomatic and trying to stay on the right side of the law here and say,
I've seen them given, but I've seen them not given at the same time.
So I guess that's what you hear from a person who is half half English and half Hungarian.
If I ask you the question, was it a penalty or not?
You just won't say anything. I will not give you an answer.
I will not give you an answer. I will not be I will not be duped into giving you an answer on it.
Thank God you're not a referee then.
And you are a guest on the podcast because we are OK with this. We are OK with this.
So then we have got the second moment, which was a horrific injury to your player Barnabas Varka.
So that didn't look good at all.
The moment that you see it, every time you see it and every angle you look at it from, it gets worse and worse.
It gets to the point where you're sort of hiding behind the sofa drop.
What was interesting was that Dominic Szoloszny after the match said that the medics had come on too late.
Yeah.
You wait for reacts by saying the 15 second protocol was brought, you know, 15 second protocol was held and there was no, you know, there was nothing wrong with what happened.
But the injury itself is obviously incredibly, you know, it's it makes you want to sort of hide behind the sofa.
It is really every every angle you look at it from, it gets worse and worse.
To be fair, I'm even surprised you've seen it.
It's possible that in your country it's not censored.
But in my country, we they were not showing any high any replace of that.
So I don't even know what exactly happened there, to be fair, because I was watching the game.
So I should have probably seen it in real time.
But, you know, if these things happen really quickly or you get distracted, you're not paying you're not exactly paying attention.
And then obviously the players were surrounded.
The guy was lying on the floor.
It looked like that moment we had with Christian Eriksen three years ago.
They also put they also put like a carver around him, like a carver.
And and then, as you said, Dominic Sobozla, yeah.
So that was a moment. The medical staff.
I believe this is not this is not the Hungarian medical staff.
I was told this these guys are from UEFA.
So they were they were walking at a normal pace towards the injured player.
So then Dominic Sobozla, when he saw that he he got mad and grabbed them by the by the shirts and the stretcher and just took, come on, guys, what are you doing?
Why are you so slow? So it looked like like the commentator was actually praising this.
So it looked like he had a point.
Obviously, what I'm saying is that the comment for me sounded sounded as if it was coming from a political side.
It sounded like it was a politically sort of political jab, if you want to say it, the anyone and everyone, you know, sort of like poking a finger.
Yes, the medics could have gone quicker. Yes, they could have perhaps brought that stretcher on a little quicker.
But at the same time, it felt like it was more of a politically motivated jab at the UEFA for not doing for not doing what they were meant to do properly.
But generally speaking, they did their job.
And now Vardegar has, you know, has woken up.
He's he's he was able to take a selfie with the with the nurses and the doctors and everyone else.
And so it seems he's now back to he's he's healthy at least.
He's got he's got a broken is it collarbone or cheekbone?
One of those cheekbone, which that is that is a big one.
You know, that is a really that's a nasty injury.
So, you know, if he gets better from it, the goal, I know, I know you're going to ask me about the goal.
Yeah, I have to.
I'm going to I'm just going to put it out there.
Like I've been saying for the whole time, smash and grab job.
You know, a quick counterattack followed by a quick goal up the other end. And you think to yourself, could that be?
Could could there have been maybe better defending?
Could it have been maybe better defended at the corner, you know, at the corner or, you know, that's a play.
You just think that because the Scottish needed something out of that game, they were throwing literally everything at it.
So obviously, and this is like the Georgia game against Turkey where they were two one down and the last minute they bring the keeper up and then let's go up the other end and they score a goal.
It feels like. It could have things could have been different.
Yeah, it makes sense because this is not the way the Scottish play.
And they, as you said, they literally threw a kitchen sink at them at that point.
And so they had they had nothing to lose and and they had to do something.
So but for Hungary, that was a window for for the opportunity to to get it done themselves.
And they needed it. Oh, boy, they needed it as well.
Now they have a chance. Now they have a little chance. Right.
And like I said, it's a rat's tail chance in hell that is going to happen.
It's it's to have Hungary go through to the next round would be nice because you see a smaller team getting through to the next round.
But on the other side, it's then got the then you've got the propaganda side from politics, which I'm not going to go into.
But you know that the Hungarians, Hungarian politics can use this as a sort of machine to to make so to speak.
So that's Orban, obviously. And not my not my favorite person.
I can see not your favorite person either, which I'm glad we agree on.
But this is not a political podcast. But funnily enough, I've noticed there is also a player in the team called Orban.
So I want to ask you this last question.
Do people actually mistake Orban, the politician, for Orban, the player?
Or does everyone know that the politician isn't actually playing for Hungary in the Euros?
Well, the thing is, Orban, the politician, played football when he was younger and he is he apparently is big football fan.
He likes his football and everything he does with football is for him like a is a propaganda.
Well, he built a fantastic stadium, for example, like in his hometown, he built a stadium, which would be which would probably be better placed in the Premier League than in Hungary.
Not obviously with his own hands. I mean, he had he had he had people build it for him.
He had people build it with, you know, with their sort of, you know, with whatever it was that they did.
And I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty of that just in case the politician is listening to this and does have any has a fetish for suing me.
But we don't want we don't want this podcast to be cancelled in Hungary either.
So generally speaking, I would say that there have been memes. I have seen memes of it, you know, of is this guy really the politician or is this guy really the footballer?
But generally speaking, I don't think people in Hungary make that mistake.
At all. It would come from outside. It would come from the UK. It would come from other countries. You know, sort of a bit less who don't know that, you know, don't have done their research about it.
But you can see why people would make that would make that judgment on it and would find it funny to do that.
Well, he's much older, obviously. He would be too slow for the game.
Yeah, so the guy makes me look like an anorexic. So, you know, that is a fantastic end to this podcast.
Again, you're one of those that I cannot exactly say good luck to you, unfortunately, because the only way you go through is if basically you need the Czech Republic to draw to draw or lose.
And Portugal to beat Georgia as well or or draw at least. So I cannot say good luck to you. I'm sorry.
But if if if by any chance we manage to lose to Turkey, which is a possibility, of course, we're not we are not at our best as well.
Then I guess good luck to you. But not before this happens, please.
Well, I would like to say one thing. Thank you for getting me on here to talk about this.
This this side of football. And I would say good luck to you tonight and break a leg.
But I would I wouldn't want to wish that on wish that even on my worst enemy.
So let's just leave it at let the let the best team win and the worst team lose.
And if that means that Czech Republic do not go through to the next round and Hungary do, then it's been a pleasure seeing the Czech Republic flounder again in the European Championship.
Well, we will see. We will see what happens. Thank you very much, Tommy. And take care. Bye bye.
Welcome back. In this part of the show, I'm going to teach you something, because as you know, I'm an English teacher.
So I have to do my job, right? OK, so this time we are looking at three fixed phrases, three idioms or idiomatic phrases if you want.
These are really hard to remember and to learn because there are so many of them.
If you look at the individual words in those phrases, they have completely different meaning from the meaning of the whole phrase.
So it takes time to really get these into your own English language, sort of lexicon.
Right now, in this episode, there were plenty of them coming from Tommy.
He said it was a very smash and grab against Scotland.
Or you can say it was a smash and grab victory. Now, smash and grab, I believe originally it's used or it was used for a robbery.
A robbery when you have got some guys covered in hoots or they have balaclavas or what have you.
And they go and rob a bank or a shop or even a car and they break the window quickly and then they take whatever they can.
They don't stay there for a long time. They just take it quickly and leave. Right.
So in a similar way, when you talk about a smash and grab victory, usually it is used to talk about an underdog in the game.
Someone who doesn't have many opportunities in that game and usually is under pressure, has fewer attempts on goal and is the worst team generally.
But still somehow managing to win the game, probably with the last chance, a goal scored in the last minute or something.
Then we can talk about a smash and grab win, a smash and grab victory.
So that's what basically Tommy was saying here that the Scottish were maybe better or not worse than Hungary.
And then Hungary just scored one goal from one chance at the end of the game and they won it. Right.
It was a smash and grab victory. Right.
Then we were talking about hypothetical match between Czechia and Hungary and Tommy said, I don't think Hungary have a red tail chance in hell to be Czechia.
What this means is that Hungary don't have a chance to beat the Czech Republic at all.
So this is an interesting idiom. I think the original idiom is to not to have a snowball chance in hell. Right.
Because a snowball, of course, if you expose it to very warm conditions, if you put it in hell, in hell, there's a lot of fire and high temperature.
If you put a snowball there, it's going to melt immediately. So the snowball doesn't have a chance at all. Right.
So that was the original idiom. But then I think people started using different words instead of the word snowball.
For example, some people say not a cat chance in hell to do something for something to happen.
And Tommy used another alternative, not a rat chance in hell. It means that the rat has no chance to survive in hell, basically.
Yeah. And if you can use it metaphorically to to talk about football, right, if if a team doesn't have a rat chance in hell to win the game,
then that means that they are the strong underdogs. They they are not given many chances at all.
OK, that's a fun idiom for sure. And then we have got one more. And that one I use that one.
But when we were talking about the Scottish penalty appeal, that's when the Scottish wanted a penalty for an incident in the penalty box.
And I wanted to know what Tommy's opinion is. So I asked him, did the Scottish have a leg to stand on?
So that's another interesting idiom to have a leg to stand on.
Basically, that means did the Scottish have any good arguments to support this appeal? They wanted a penalty, right?
What for? What for? Was that was that a foul, really? Because it was kind of 50-50 that challenge.
So did they have enough arguments to support their position? Could they prove it?
So if you if you don't have a leg to stand on, usually it's used in this negative way, then you just basically you don't have a clue.
You don't know. Like you don't have any arguments. You can't prove what you are saying. OK, so that's it.
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Thank you so much for listening and I'll speak to you soon. Take care. Bye bye.