1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 You're listening to the Footglish podcast. Love football, learn English. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Which Slovakian player is absolutely obsessed with football? 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Which England player gives excellent interviews to the media? 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:24,000 What does the former Czech international Pavel Horváth think about Bellingham's obscene gesture in the match against Slovakia? 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:30,000 And what the hell is the schwa sound? 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Hello, my name is Denek Lukas and you're listening to the Footglish podcast. 7 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 A show that allows you to score goals in your English learning journey. 8 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,000 And we are discussing Euro 2024, specifically the round of 16. 9 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,000 And today I'm joined by Martin Vinhá. Hi, Martin, how are you? 10 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Hello, Denek. Thank you for being with you. 11 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:19,000 And I think I'm OK. A little bit tired because I had a radio show in the early morning, but hopefully I'll find some energy. 12 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Excellent. I have to confess something, Martin. I was stalking you a bit. 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 I looked at your LinkedIn and it says that you are a swimming instructor. 14 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,000 We won't. I don't think we will need that for this. 15 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,000 So this is a football podcast. 16 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:47,000 So you are also a radio and TV presenter and Premier League and England expert, which means we are definitely we definitely have to talk about the Slovakia England game. 17 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Are you ready for that? Yeah, I think I'm ready. 18 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000 I was swimming teacher for, I don't know, eight or nine years. 19 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:03,000 But right now I'm concentrating only on media and I'm happy that I don't have to work because the media is kind of a hobby for me. 20 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,000 So I think I'm a happy person. 21 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,000 We love to interview happy people on the foot. 22 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 That's exactly the kind of people we need here. 23 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,000 And first of all, I need to ask you. So you are Czech, just like me. 24 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:24,000 We are countrymen. Most Czech people, I would say, supported Slovakia in this game. 25 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,000 And so did the rest of Europe, let's be honest. 26 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:33,000 But I know you also love England. So who did you cheer for in this game? 27 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:39,000 That's a great question, because my feelings were mixed a little bit. 28 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:48,000 But I found myself in 30 minutes that I'm quite happy that Slovakia are better than England, honestly. 29 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 And I think the main reason is England is full of superstars. 30 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:57,000 But, you know, Slovakian team is like they have the spirit. 31 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 They have to fight to achieve something. 32 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:15,000 And I had a feeling when I was watching the game that Trippier, Walker and, you know, Bellingham, Rice, they're like, don't worry, we're playing Premier League, so we will score somehow. 33 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 But, you know, they didn't. Or of course they did. But they did it for 90 minutes. 34 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,000 They had to find the goal thanks to one of the best footballers in the world right now. 35 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,000 And that's Jude Bellingham. 36 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:34,000 But to answer your question, I think I was like 60 percent Slovakian fan, 40 percent English. 37 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:54,000 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I'm with you on that, especially because of the whole context of England underperforming, heavily underperforming, really like not showing anything in the tournament, making it out of the group, like without any sort of showing us anything, really, the fans, you know, 38 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,000 and have heavily criticised by the media, of course. 39 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:02,000 And on the other hand, you had Slovakians who beat Belgium and who played really good football in the tournament. 40 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 And then these two teams in a tie. 41 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:11,000 And then, as you said, the England players, they did not really start well, did they? 42 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:16,000 I mean, Slovakians, they started really brightly and bravely and they had a few early chances. 43 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:24,000 And then they even took the lead through Ivan Šránc and 25th minute, right? 44 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Yeah, it's a huge topic that Ivan Šránc scored three goals because he wasn't the player who started every game for Slavia this season. 45 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,000 So I know many Slavia fans. 46 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,000 So, you know, they are surprised that he was so, so good. 47 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:49,000 And right now they are, on the other hand, very happy that he's so, so good because hopefully he will be as good as he was on this tournament for Slavia next season. 48 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:56,000 So we will see. But Slovakian team is full of, I don't know, secret superstars, maybe I would call them. 49 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,000 Lobotka is one of the best sentiment fillers in the world, I think right now. 50 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:08,000 And they got Haraslin, which is a very good swinger for Sparta Prague as well. 51 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:21,000 And David Hansko, I hope honestly that he will come to Premier League this season because we had David in the last studio at Canal Plus Sport during last season. 52 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,000 And I have to say he knows everything about football. 53 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,000 You know, he lives football, he breathes football. 54 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:39,000 He's like, it has to be crazy to be boyfriend of David Hansko because our girlfriend, you know, because because he's still with football. 55 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,000 So incredible. Yeah, I don't know. 56 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,000 That's maybe the reason why Slovakian were successful in this tournament. 57 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 58 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:58,000 But going back to that first goal, actually, it was an interesting moment because basically Ivan Šránc got past Gai. 59 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:05,000 I think that's the way we pronounce, I still start struggling with pronunciation of his name, the Crystal Palace right back. 60 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,000 He got past him. Gai was already on a yellow card. 61 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,000 And I think he fouled him. I think he fouled him. 62 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,000 And Ivan Šránc decided to continue and scored the goal. 63 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:23,000 Do you think if he had gone to the ground instead, it would have probably been a penalty, right? 64 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:28,000 And a red. Do you think Slovakia might have won the game? 65 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:34,000 Well, that's the question. Yeah, but that's very nice gesture from Šránc that he scored, actually. 66 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,000 And I think that's the right gesture. 67 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:41,000 On the other hand, if he went to ground, then it will be the second yellow card and a penalty. 68 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:51,000 So you are probably right. But anyway, you have to score against England when you have even very small chance. 69 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:58,000 And they did. So it was a very sad moment in the 95th, 50th minute that they conceded. 70 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Because I think in the first half, there's no doubt that Slovakia were a better team. 71 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,000 They were a better team. 72 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:13,000 And the next day I was reading the media and there were some critics about the performance from the second half of Slovakia. 73 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:19,000 And that they were only defending, you know, they put the wall from behind. 74 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:25,000 But I totally understand your one-nil up against the biggest favorites. 75 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,000 To me, it looks like most of the teams would do that. 76 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Even England did that when they were 2-1 up in the extra time. 77 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:39,000 I mean, it's just what teams do these days. They park the bus. It's effective. It works. 78 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,000 And especially if you are a lesser team. 79 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:49,000 Like at that point Slovakia, I mean, maybe they also had to exert a lot of energy in that game. 80 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,000 And then, you know, the Italian coach, what's his name? Calzone? 81 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,000 Calzone. 82 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,000 I think he started subbing some people off, right? 83 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 And bringing on more defensive players, as far as I remember. 84 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,000 And perhaps it's just what happened. 85 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:10,000 And they were literally one minute away from winning it. 86 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,000 But then something incredible happened. 87 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:18,000 Gareth Southgate brought on Ivan Thoney, who flicked on. 88 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,000 It was a throw-in, right? From Kyle Walker, I think. 89 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Exactly. And then it was Marghiehi, firstly. 90 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,000 It was Marghiehi who assisted Bellingham's goal. 91 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,000 And then it was the overhead kick. And Thoney assisted the hurricane in extra time. 92 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,000 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 93 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:40,000 No, that's fine. But I think Ivan Thoney had an impact on this game. That's for sure. 94 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:44,000 It was a great substitution. 95 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,000 And I think Gareth Southgate was like, you know, he had to be so happy inside. 96 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Even though he tried to pretend he's very cold, I think he wasn't. I think he wasn't. 97 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,000 So very, very happy moment for the whole country. 98 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:04,000 I don't know if you saw the videos. So many fans left the stadium in 90 second minutes, I think. 99 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:09,000 And they went to PUP. They were sure that England are out of the tournament. 100 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:14,000 And then the magic Bellingham made it or did it again. 101 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,000 Sometimes it's incredible how thin the line between failure and success is. 102 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:31,000 Literally Gareth Southgate, I heard on an English podcast that he was more or still is probably more hated than the current Prime Minister of the UK. 103 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000 Yes. 104 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,000 And then he's stubborn. He was stubborn. Right. He brought on Ivan Thoney. 105 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,000 I mean, one minute to the end of the game. 106 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,000 Ivan Thoney was upset with him as well. And he did it anyway. 107 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,000 He's sometimes he's so stubborn. Right. 108 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,000 But the way he used to stuck with Maguire and we have so many stories with him. 109 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,000 But it's working. Right. 110 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:04,000 England haven't been playing, haven't been getting better results with any other manager for a long time. Right. 111 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,000 So, yeah, he's eight years in charge. 112 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,000 That's quite a long period. 113 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:22,000 That's the first thing. And the second thing, he's similar to Jaroslav Shilhavy, I think, in some things, because, as you said very well, he's stubborn. 114 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:30,000 You know, he has favourites players who sometimes even doesn't play for their clubs during the season. 115 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,000 And I think Harry Maguire is one of them. 116 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,000 But he's injured. So right now he plays stones and where he. 117 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:44,000 But I think I think the general problem is that that when you look at the English squad, they really have the golden generation. 118 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,000 So I totally understand the expectations. 119 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:53,000 They need the trophy right now because you got Foden who was fantastic during during this season. 120 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000 You got Palmer was fantastic. 121 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Kane was fantastic for Bayern Munich. 122 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,000 You know, Saka, he's a superstar at the Arsenal team. 123 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,000 Declan Rice. Wow. What a transfer last last summer. 124 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:09,000 So they are individually very, very good players, maybe one of the best. 125 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 But I don't see them as a great team. 126 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Exactly. You know, I feel like I feel there has to be some battles in the dressing room because I don't I don't feel they support each other. 127 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,000 That's the problem. 128 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:32,000 I know you have these other countries like Denmark, Switzerland and Slovakia, Georgia. 129 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:40,000 These these have individually worse players like by far, even when you look at the salary of these players. 130 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:46,000 But you have you have this saying, you know, the the the whole is better than the sum of its parts. 131 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Right. When you have a great team, it can create miracles sometimes. 132 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:58,000 And, you know, England will have a tough time if they really want to win by by showing these kinds of performances. 133 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,000 But it was indeed a moment of brilliance from Jude Bellingham. 134 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,000 I mean, this is why we watch football. Right. 135 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,000 Unless I suppose you support Slovakia. 136 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:13,000 But it was an amazing moment, an overhead kick, a bicycle kick. 137 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Exactly. He writes he writes the story. 138 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:21,000 I think every game Jude Bellingham and he's still 21, which is incredible. 139 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:29,000 You know, he shut the mouth of critics who said English player can't be successful abroad. 140 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:33,000 And he was successful at in Germany. 141 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,000 Now he's successful in Spain. He won Champions League. 142 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:43,000 He won the league. He scored 19 goals in Spain in his first season, only in the league. 143 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,000 And he was superstar in Champions League as well. 144 00:12:46,000 --> 00:13:03,000 And what I like about him when when he has the chance to talk to the media, there's every time something something specific and sponsor something very hard to say self confidence, maybe, you know, and it makes sense when he stalks, you know, like exactly. 145 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,000 He presents good arguments because let's be honest, a lot of players. 146 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:14,000 I mean, I would probably not be any better because it's it's a tense moment when you have to speak to you guys, to the media. 147 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,000 But but you know what I mean? It's a tense moment. 148 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,000 A lot of emotions in the game. 149 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,000 And now they are asking you all these questions. 150 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,000 Usually most of the players, they will just stick with some cliches. 151 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,000 Right. Let's be honest. But he's not like that. 152 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,000 You're completely right. He seems to be sort of above all it. 153 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,000 I don't know how he does that. 154 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,000 Exactly. Exactly. 21. 155 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,000 He has a brother in England and I think he's very good as well. 156 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,000 So many so many clubs now is circling around him. 157 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,000 So I think he maybe should or could go to Tottenham. 158 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:56,000 We will see. So I'm interested if he's the same, you know, by by character and by how he speaks because yeah, he's special. 159 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,000 Billingham is so special. 160 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,000 Well, there is a dark side to him, though. 161 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:10,000 We have to mention that Martin, we cannot we cannot we cannot escape something weird happened, which I think most people did not notice. 162 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:15,000 But then it came out on social media the next day. 163 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:22,000 He was shown sort of making some kind of obscene gesture, I mean, touching balls or something. 164 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,000 And it seemed to be in front of the Slovakian. 165 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,000 What's the what's the name for it? 166 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Bench or something like that. Yeah. 167 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:40,000 Dug out. Yeah. So and now he's sort of saying, oh, no, it was just it was a joke for my friends who were in the stands. 168 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,000 How do you see that? What do you make of this? 169 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:50,000 Well, I was talking about it with Pavel Horvat, who also knows Spain football culture. 170 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,000 And he said that in Spain, this gesture is quite normal. 171 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:00,000 But the public also said that it really doesn't mean some kind of positive things to his friends. 172 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:14,000 So I think he has very good media team because I think ten minutes after he did that, there was on social media some post which we said, I'm sorry, it was only you know, I was waving to my friends, blah, blah, blah. 173 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:22,000 So it's you know, it's it's up to everyone if they want to see negative fix of Jude Billingham. 174 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:27,000 You know, so many emotions, but I think this is not this is not necessary. 175 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:32,000 And the other thing is that sometimes he a little bit kicks to journalists. 176 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:44,000 Sometimes I have this feeling it was against this game as well that he said that he doesn't understand critics of the English team because they are through of the group, blah, blah, blah. 177 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:48,000 But, you know, it's nothing special so far from them for games in this court. 178 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000 I don't know how many for girls, I think. So nothing special. 179 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Well, I think they scored more goals than France, to be honest, because the French team they they only scored scored. 180 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 Well, actually, they didn't score any goals in open play. 181 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:07,000 They were their own goals and one goal from a penalty scored by by Mbappe. 182 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:13,000 So, I mean, England are definitely not the only ones that are underperforming at the Euro so far. 183 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:17,000 But we could say this is a mark of a great team sometimes. 184 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:26,000 Right. They are not playing well, but they get it done. Harry Kane scored the winner, as you said, Ivan Tony. 185 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:35,000 Ivan Tony made an assist, I believe. So is this what sometimes needs to happen for a champion to be produced? 186 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:44,000 Yeah, I think definitely. You know, if they won the tournament, then everyone after one or two years, they will forget how they played in the group. 187 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,000 And actually, no one will care. 188 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:56,000 And they are very, very lucky, I think, right now at this moment that they are at the at the better part of the of the knockout stage 189 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,000 because they go to Switzerland right now. 190 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:05,000 And if they won against Switzerland, they will probably go to Turkey or in the Netherlands. 191 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,000 I think that's that's that's my guess. 192 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:15,000 So, you know, it's still it's still they should they should win all of those games. So we will see. 193 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,000 They have a better side of the draw. But that was my next question. 194 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,000 Do you think do you think they actually stand a chance against Switzerland? 195 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:32,000 Because the way it looks now, I'll be honest with you, Martin, my money is on Switzerland at the moment. 196 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:39,000 I totally understand you. How much will you will you bet? 197 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,000 Ask the English teachers. We don't bet so much. 198 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Don't worry. Probably no more than 50 50 Czech crowns, which is about two euros. 199 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:52,000 OK, fine. Fine. Now I have to say I love Switzerland. 200 00:17:52,000 --> 00:18:02,000 Well, at the tournament, they have the balls, they have courage, they have energy, they support each other, which is quite important. 201 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:09,000 They got Graničak, who I admire secretly because I didn't like him five or six years ago. 202 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:17,000 But right now he's so mature and, you know, so intelligent and his leader. 203 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:22,000 And he won almost everything with Bialyavkustin this season. 204 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,000 And he was superstar two years ago at Arsenal as well. 205 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:37,000 So, yeah, it will be tough. It will be special for Shaka this game against England because he has so many friends in the team, especially Bukai Osaka Shaka versus Saka. 206 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:44,000 It's cool. So so yeah, we will see. I think it's 50 50 right now, even though England has to win it, 207 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:49,000 because if they didn't, then it will be a huge fuck up. I think. Sorry. 208 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,000 Yeah, we will be bit out. Don't worry. Actually, we won't because we don't have it. 209 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:58,000 We don't have that option on this podcast. So it's fine. It's fine. 210 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:07,000 Yeah, actually, going back to Graničak, I was actually lucky because before Covid, I was living and working in the UK and my boss gave me a ticket. 211 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:13,000 It was a Christmas present. She gave me a ticket for an Arsenal game because I support Arsenal. 212 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:18,000 And I went to the game and it was that game where Graničak was substituted. 213 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:27,000 It was against Crystal Palace. He was substituted and he threw the captain's armband on the ground and the whole stadium booed him. 214 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:36,000 And he was like the biggest villain. I think I can't remember exactly, but I believe that the armband was then taken off him by the correct me. 215 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:43,000 There was and it looked like he was done at that moment. But from that moment, he started playing better. 216 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:50,000 Like, OK, a few years later, let's say suddenly there is this resurrection and resurgence of Arsenal. 217 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:55,000 And then then he left, right? Then he left and went to Bayern Leverkusen. 218 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:00,000 And he just lost only one game in the entire season and won the title. 219 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:06,000 He won the double with Bayern Leverkusen. 220 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,000 Yeah, he played every minute, I think. So he's a leader as well in Germany right now. 221 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:17,000 So him and his agent, they did a great choice that he came to Germany. 222 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,000 And I think he will play a very big part at this game against England as well. 223 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,000 I think it's on Friday or on Saturday, right? 224 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,000 Something like that, yeah. Probably Saturday or Sunday. 225 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,000 OK. 226 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:39,000 Yeah. Well, Martin, any other standout moments for you in the round of 16? 227 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:46,000 Have you seen any other matches as of recording now? Six out of eight games have been played. 228 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:55,000 Yeah, I have to say I lost pain at this tournament and I'm quite happy that I don't know the players quite well, 229 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:01,000 because during the Premier League season I don't have time to watch other leagues, honestly. 230 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,000 So I'm amazed by Amal, I'm amazed by Williams. 231 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:12,000 And the team is very mixed, perfectly mixed, I would say, perfectly balanced. 232 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,000 You've got Morata, an experienced player. 233 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:20,000 Then you've got Rodri. I think Rodri for me is the best player in the world right now. 234 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:29,000 If I was a coach and the management would come to me and ask me, would you want to come to your team? 235 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,000 I would say Rodri, definitely. 236 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:38,000 I'm not sure Pep would agree with Pep Guardiola, he would like that. 237 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:47,000 No, he definitely wouldn't, because I think Pep realised that he's so important for Man City. 238 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,000 And he's so important for Spain's national team. 239 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:55,000 You could see that against Georgia, because he was the one who scored the equaliser. 240 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:02,000 And then it was easy for Spain, because Georgia was so optimistic in this game as well. 241 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,000 They scored even though they were under pressure since the first minute. 242 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:16,000 But when I was watching the game I was like, why are Czech national teams not playing like Georgia? 243 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:23,000 They have the balls. They don't have big names, but they want to play football. 244 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:28,000 It's so ironic that our best game was against Georgia. 245 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,000 The Czech team played so well against Georgia. 246 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:37,000 They were under the coach for the whole game, Georgia, except for that last chance. 247 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,000 We had the game under control, so many chances. 248 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,000 We had the most chances of any game and didn't win. 249 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,000 It was some kind of a record, we broke a record or something. 250 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:53,000 But their goalkeeper, Mamar Deshvili, is so good. 251 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,000 He was so good, unfortunately, against Czech Republic. 252 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:03,000 Even though I think when you have 10 or 15 shots you have to score at least once or twice. 253 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:11,000 They didn't. It's the question of quality. 254 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:15,000 Let me ask you one last question. 255 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,000 I'm just very curious as to what you think about Cristiano Ronaldo. 256 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,000 Yesterday he played an incredible game. 257 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,000 He will never forget this game and I think all his supporters will never forget this game. 258 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,000 He missed a penalty. I think he was a passenger in that game. 259 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,000 He was taking all free kicks. 260 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000 He wouldn't let anyone else to take any of the free kicks as usual. 261 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,000 Then he took a penalty, he missed it. 262 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000 It was actually a brilliant save by Oblak. 263 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,000 Then he started crying as well. It was quite unusual. 264 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,000 You don't see this very often during a game. 265 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,000 You may see it when a player gets injured, when it's a really serious injury. 266 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,000 The player starts crying or after a game, after a lost game. 267 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:01,000 But you don't see it. He looked completely destroyed by that. 268 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Then he takes another penalty in the shootout and Portugal are through. 269 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,000 What do you make of that? 270 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,000 Zdeněk is the winner. That's the main problem. 271 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,000 I saw so many documents. I read books about Cristiano Ronaldo. 272 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:26,000 I respect him even more than Messi because I think Messi has got a talent. 273 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:31,000 But Ronaldo had to train to get on this very top level. 274 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:40,000 He's 39 and he's still in very good shape because he knows every piece of his body. 275 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,000 He knows how to protect his body. He knows what to do to be still on this top level. 276 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,000 He's a little bit unfortunate. Of course we can say he's selfish. 277 00:24:50,000 --> 00:25:00,000 That's quite interesting. He had 58 free kicks during his season on the national level at the major tournament. 278 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:12,000 He only 13 times hit the target and only once he scored. 279 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,000 So that's very bad numbers. We have to be honest. 280 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:21,000 Plus you've got Bruno Fernandes in the team, you've got Cancio, you've got Bernardo Silva. 281 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,000 They all have great technique so they could all do the free kicks. 282 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:31,000 But I think they don't even have the courage to ask Cristiano because he's the main idol. 283 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:39,000 When he trusts in himself, which he does in every moment, then they don't have a chance. 284 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:45,000 I was surprised as well that he cried during the half time of extra time. 285 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:54,000 That's quite unusual. But I wasn't surprised that he was the first guy who said I'm going for a penalty again and I will score. 286 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,000 He's a superstar again for me. 287 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,000 I heard some people on a podcast saying that he's a narcissist, as you said, selfish. 288 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:08,000 This is the question. Sometimes if you want to make it to the top, you have to be a little bit like that, I suppose. 289 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,000 There are different paths to success, I guess. 290 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,000 But this is definitely one of them and he's very good at it. That's for sure. 291 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,000 That's for sure. Yeah, I agree. 292 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,000 Well, Martin, I don't want to take any more of your time. 293 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:29,000 Thank you very much for featuring on the Footgris podcast today and thank you for all your footballing insights and expertise. 294 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Thank you very much, Zdenek. It was a pleasure and take care. Good luck with everything. 295 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,000 You too. Bye bye. 296 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,000 Thank you. Bye. 297 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,000 Welcome back to the show. As always, this is the Language Corner. 298 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:52,000 And in this part of the show, I'm going to teach you something because I have to do my job, right? 299 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 I'm an English teacher after all. So let's go. 300 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,000 And today I'd like to focus on pronunciation. 301 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:04,000 I'd like to talk about something that is not talked about often enough amongst English teachers. 302 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,000 And that is the schwa sound. 303 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000 The schwa sound. Have you heard what the schwa sound is? 304 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,000 Do you know which sound it is? 305 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,000 It is actually the uh sound. The uh sound. 306 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000 The most neutral vowel sound in the English language. 307 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:26,000 And it is, believe it or not, the most common sound in the English language. 308 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:34,000 And a lot of people don't pronounce it where they should pronounce it or pronounce a different vowel instead of this sound. 309 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Now I'm going to give you a few examples of this sound. 310 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:45,000 All these examples have the schwa sound at the beginning of words in the first syllable. 311 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:51,000 Okay? So Martin was talking about Ivan Schranz and Slavia fans. 312 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:56,000 And he said, they are surprised that he was so good. 313 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:02,000 Surprised. Surprised has the schwa sound in the first syllable. 314 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000 Surprised. 315 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,000 Now you have to remember something about the schwa sound, ladies and gentlemen. 316 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,000 It is never ever stressed in the English language. 317 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,000 Especially when it's at the beginning of a word. 318 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:19,000 This basically means that the following syllable is stressed instead. 319 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:24,000 So you don't say surprised or something like that. You should say surprised. 320 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:30,000 Surprised. Stress means that the syllable is louder, stronger, more prominent. 321 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,000 And the unstressed syllable on the other hand, that would be the s. 322 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:39,000 The one that contains the schwa sound is weaker, sounds weaker. 323 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000 So it should be surprised. Okay? 324 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,000 Another example. 325 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:51,000 Martin was talking about Slovakians and he said, it was a very sad moment when they conceded. 326 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,000 To concede. Concede. Again. 327 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,000 There is a schwa sound. 328 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,000 Concede. And that means that this syllable isn't stressed. 329 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,000 The following syllable, seed. The seed syllable is stressed instead. 330 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,000 Okay? Another example. 331 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:19,000 Next day I was reading the media and there were some critiques about the performance of Slovakians in the second half. 332 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,000 Okay? So here we have the word performance. 333 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:27,000 Again, the first syllable has the schwa sound. So it is not stressed. 334 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:33,000 We cannot say performance. We have to say performance. Performance. Okay? 335 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,000 Right. Then Foden was fantastic. Yeah? 336 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,000 Fantastic. Okay? 337 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:47,000 And then they've got Granichaka, who I secretly admire. 338 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,000 Admire. Right? Admire. Another one. 339 00:29:51,000 --> 00:30:00,000 And the last example is when Martin was talking about Jude Bellingham and he said, he was successful in Germany. 340 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:06,000 Successful. Not successful, but successful. Yeah? 341 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 The first syllable has the schwa sound. That's why it's not stressed. 342 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,000 Well, I hope this is useful. I hope this can help you with your pronunciation. 343 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,000 That is the idea anyway. That is the idea of this podcast. 344 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,000 We talk about football, but we also try to learn something here. Okay? 345 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:27,000 And the last thing I need to do is to ask you if you could leave a review. 346 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:35,000 If you do like this podcast, why don't you write a review on Apple Podcasts or give me five stars on Spotify 347 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:40,000 or wherever you can do that. It would really help me out a lot. 348 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,000 Okay, guys. Thank you very much for listening to this episode and I'll speak to you soon. 349 00:30:44,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Take care. Bye bye.