You're listening to the Footglitch Podcast.
Love football, learn English.
What sort of football club is Shemrock Rovers?
What are this team's strengths and weaknesses?
Who is the underdog in the Shemrock Rovers-Spartaprak game?
And what does the word underdog even mean?
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Footglitch Podcast.
Hopefully your favorite English learning podcast about football.
My name is Denik Lukas, I'm your host and today I have a very special guest.
However, I may as usual be struggling with pronouncing his name
because it is spelled as if I should be pronouncing it as Cathal.
What's your name?
It's a good attempt, Denik, absolutely.
Cathal is the name.
To be honest, I did this a little bit on purpose because you're Irish.
You guys are notorious for having really difficult names to pronounce in English.
We always have to do almost like a little Irish lesson
at the beginning of every conversation that we have.
Exactly.
Gal, you are a Gunnar, you're an Arsenal fan and we have done some stuff before.
We also should tell our listeners the most important piece of information
and that we used to work together.
We are ex-co-workers.
Absolutely, yeah.
Very fun times working together, as Denik I remember.
Just super relaxed and always very chilled out.
Now that I know that you left the company,
I will tell you this has been my hardest job ever.
Like nothing will ever match that job.
I was in Ireland, listeners, it was a one-month gig
and I grew so many grey hairs there.
Me too.
I just put the hair so short now to get rid of all the grey hairs.
Right, so we're not going to talk about Arsenal
or our summer adventure job kind of thingy.
No, tonight there is an interesting match.
Again, it's in the grand scheme of things.
It's one of the most important matches, right, you could imagine in Europe.
It's actually the Champions League Qualifier Round 2.
Absolutely, super important.
Exactly.
Between my team, I am from the Czech Republic,
and the team is Sparta Prague, arguably the biggest team in my country,
although Slavia Prague fans might not like what I just said.
And then your team, Shemrock Rovers, am I pronouncing it correctly?
Shemrock Rovers is right, absolutely, or Rovers,
as a lot of people would call them over here as well,
just affectionately or maybe unaffectionately as well.
I guess it depends if you root for that team or not.
Absolutely.
Is it fair to say that this is also the biggest club in Ireland or not?
I would say so, yeah.
I mean, historically speaking, they're definitely up there
and they've had their ups and downs like many, many clubs around there.
I suppose you could put the likes of Bohemians up there as well.
Bohemians?
I think so.
I mean, Bohemians, they've created great talents and in fact,
one of those talents is now playing in the Premier League,
Evan Ferguson, who plays for Brighton, is a Bohemians Academy alum.
Do you know why it sounds funny for someone from the Czech Republic?
Because we actually have a team called Bohemians as well.
No way.
In our first league, and they are pretty famous.
They are a Prague team and they are called the Kangaroos.
They have green jerseys.
The main colour of the symbol of the club is green.
I don't know if there's some kind of connection there.
I don't think so.
The colours for Bohemians in Dublin are black and red, so probably not.
The Bohemians are known as, like their nickname would be Boes.
They're probably the, certainly from what I have seen,
they're probably the second or the B-tide.
They're up there anyway as one of the bigger teams.
But definitely Shamrock Rovers are the top dogs historically.
We need to talk about them.
So first thing that sort of caught my eye is the name itself.
So first of all, there is no Dublin in the name, even though it's a Dublin team, right?
And secondly, it has the word Shamrock in the name,
which is the national symbol of Ireland, right?
So the Shamrock, it would be the kind of unofficial, I would say, symbol of Ireland.
The main symbol, the one that you would see on any sort of official documents
and things like that would be the harp, actually, the musical instrument.
But obviously, yes, internationally, the Shamrock is very much our symbol
and we're recognised for it.
A lot of people say the four-leafed clover,
but a lot of Shamrocks would have only three leaves.
Exactly. So it's basically a symbol that should tell us,
I don't know what the legend exactly is,
but it's something to do with your Saint Patricks, right?
Yes, Saint Patrick, yes.
He used the Shamrock as a way to teach the Irish people about Christianity.
So he used the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all that sort of stuff.
So having the three points on the Shamrock was a good way of using that as a teaching tool.
But yeah, it's always been a kind of a nice symbol of Ireland around the world.
Well, in our culture, any sort of clover, especially the four-leafed one,
is like a symbol of luck, good luck. It should bring you good luck.
So is it the same in Ireland?
Well, I don't know if any of your viewers have heard of the phrase the luck of the Irish.
It's very much an international phrase.
And I think, in fact, in America, they have a breakfast cereal brand,
which is called Lucky Charms, and some of the cereal shapes are in the shape of Shamrocks.
So it definitely carries that look.
Now, whether Shamrock Rovers carry that look into their play at the moment,
they definitely seem to be playing very well.
So it seems the luck is doing them well. They're doing them a good, I suppose.
Yeah, so tonight there is a match between Sparta-Fraq.
It's happening in a few hours' time, I suppose.
Sparta-Fraq, Shamrock Rovers, it's in Dublin.
So tell us about the team a little bit. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
Well, I think the strengths are definitely coming from the fact that, I suppose,
maybe not individuals, but the fact that the team is currently playing and the season has started.
We're also playing cup games and things like that as well.
I say we, like they're my team. Are you there as well? Are you part of the team?
Immediately behind the Irish team.
Well, then I wouldn't expect anything else. I'm exactly the same.
We are both Gunners, right? So we support an English team,
but obviously we are behind our teams of our country.
Our native teams, indeed.
It's natural.
Yeah, it's something that just comes naturally to most Irish people as well.
And indeed, in this situation, since you guys would definitely be the favourites in this draw,
it's natural for Irish people to support the underdog in any situation.
But yeah, I would say strengths at the moment, the fact that we're playing regular football,
that it's not really the start of our season. We've had plenty of games so far already.
I see, I see. Because Sparta-Prague, the season has just started.
So obviously they had a few friendlies, but at the weekend...
Oh, actually, they played their game on Friday.
The first game of the season was on Fridays, Sparta-Prague.
So maybe the strength or the advantage perhaps is match sharpness
and being used to the fact that they're playing regular football.
But overall, I think that the team is very comfortable, and the manager said this as well,
they're very comfortable playing out of possession, which is something that they will have to get used to
playing in these European competitions.
So they're not afraid to let the opposition have the ball and then break, counter-attack,
and do whatever they can, take their chances when they come.
So are you expecting that? Do you think it will be some sort of low block?
Or would you say they will play higher up?
I mean, a lot of their games recently have been very low scoring games.
So I would anticipate, especially against a high percentage possession team,
that's going to inevitably happen with the different levels of play.
I would imagine a low block would be something that would be employed by the manager.
Now, whether he has the players to do that and the players that can play,
because I was looking up the injury list, unfortunately, that came out,
is not looking very favourable for Shamrock Rovers at the moment,
missing the likes of Rory Gaffney, Graham Burke, and I think it was Aaron McAneff as well.
So these guys are all central figures in the team.
And also there's a suspension carrying over.
I can't remember quite the name of the player who's suspended,
but there is a suspension following over.
So it'll be tough, it'll be tough.
And I think a low block would suit Shamrock Rovers in this game.
Being at home, they just want to get a result.
But then again, they might take advantage of the fact that they are at home,
and Prague have to come a long way.
As you said, the schmack sharpness was actually a good point,
because several players from Sparta Prague didn't really have the pre-season,
as they had been to the Euros.
So that includes one Slovakian player, there's one player from Serbia,
and several players from the Czech Republic team as well.
So we will see what happens there.
It's kind of a pro-anacon, I guess, having the players being able to say
that you've had players that played in the Euros
is automatically going to give you an advantage against...
We're a relatively minnow team in Shamrock Rovers in European sense.
But Irish teams have faced off against big teams in the past, I'm sure.
You guys would definitely be up there in terms of the quality of teams
that have been played before.
Arsenal a couple of years ago played against Dundalk, my hometown team,
played against Arsenal, which was very interesting to see.
Guys that I know and I would have seen around my hometown
playing against the team that I support in England was very strange.
You also had the likes of AC Milan coming and playing against,
in terms of European superiority,
but I think you guys are right up there with the teams that you would have played against.
You know how this goes sometimes, though, right?
You can underestimate your opponent.
Honestly, Ireland is a nice destination.
The main message I'm getting from the media before this game is,
what a lovely place to be in, a great stadium.
This is the main thing.
I hope there is enough respect, you know,
because it's more like everyone expects Sparta Prague to really,
not necessarily thrash you, but at least give you a good game
or get a draw or beat you by one goal or something like that.
Get the job done, you might say. Get it over the line.
There's a narrative.
And you know how that goes sometimes, right?
Absolutely, absolutely.
And the things, the stranger things have been known to happen in European competition before.
So it'll certainly be interesting.
I'll be tuning in anyway.
You'll be tuning in. So you'll be watching the game.
Are you not going to the stadium?
I don't think so.
I do have the subscription to the League of Ireland TV channel.
So that's what it'll be shown on.
And yeah, we're looking forward to it.
Oh, it'll be absolutely carnage and carnage in the best sense.
That it'll just be people everywhere and obviously very good atmosphere.
But yeah, no, I, you know, now I'm thinking about it.
I might I might take a trip down and just kind of soak in the atmosphere.
But I did that for the Europa League final when Atalanta were playing against Leverkusen in Dublin.
And yeah, oh, yeah.
The atmosphere around the Aviva Stadium was incredible before and afterwards as well.
Obviously, all the Italian fans were delighted with the results.
But yeah, it's I can also imagine it's a wonderful place to go and get some beer because honestly,
Gal, Gal, I am I'm in love with the Guinness.
So this is very true.
So perhaps, I don't know, maybe the Irish hospitality for the the Prager players will be
so good that they might just take it easy on Shamrock Rovers.
And you never know.
Maybe that's your game plan.
You want to get our away fans drunk or something.
And we can't give away that.
That's because, you know, because as we know, you guys can drink so well that even if you drink a few pints,
you will still be able to support your team very well, even though the Czech Republic,
we are a drinking country as well.
So I was going to say you guys could probably hold your own in that sort of situation, you know,
although although the price of beer, especially the draft beer has gone up sharply.
So yes, very much, very much the same here, unfortunately.
But yeah, no, it's it's definitely it's something that helps helps get the crowd going a bit more, let's say.
So is the game sold out?
Do you expect full house?
I'm expecting well, so the way things work, especially with the League of Ireland teams,
is that season ticket holders will always get first refusal for for those sort of things.
But it'll be interesting to see how many like what the numbers are like traveling away fans.
Do you know yourself how many fans are going to be traveling?
Not me. I'm not even a Sparta Prague fan.
And it's expensive, it's expensive, although it's not too far.
Right. But it's you know, no, I have no idea.
But it seems like a nice place to go. Right.
So I can imagine at the moment, Carl, basically Sparta Prague are on a high.
They are doing really well in the league.
They won their last two trophies.
They won the league twice in a row, which wasn't the case before in the in the years before.
So now the fans are really excited about the team a lot.
So I expect it will be more than it would have been a few years ago.
You know, so it could be you.
Well, Tala Stadium, which is the name of the stadium that is going to be played in,
is much smaller than, say, the Aviva Stadium that the Europa League finalist stayed in.
And I think that's kind of by design.
They want to have it in Tala Stadium to kind of really get the crowd involved
and have a full kind of sound and, you know, we kind of really make the Sparta
Prague players feel the presence of the fans there.
And now, I mean, whether that's going to make a difference or not,
well, it remains to be seen, but it definitely does help.
I think from the home players perspective, it gives them a little bit more,
perhaps energy, that little adrenaline boost when they come out of the tunnel.
So, you know, we may not be the best, the best offices, favourites,
but certainly in our eyes we'll be giving it a go.
I'm looking at the capacity of the stadium.
It looks like it's around 10, 11 thousand.
Yeah. Yeah.
So like great noise coming out of it, great noise around it and outside as well.
So there'll be plenty of presence there.
And yeah, I'm looking forward to it for sure.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.
Yeah.
As you say, like you guys have been on a good run of form.
It's kind of a mixed bag for Rovers because they got obviously a very good result
in the previous European match.
It was against an Icelandic team or something, right?
Yes. Yes.
And I thought, looking at it, I thought surely that's not the name of the team.
It's like Vikinger or something like that.
That's very much on the nose, naming an Icelandic or a Nordic team.
But there you go.
But following that, a bit of a disappointing result against the team that I previously mentioned,
Bohemians losing 1-0 in the Cup, which is a great result for Bohemians.
Yeah, Seamark Rovers certainly disappointed in that regard to have lost.
But yeah, I like that.
And they, like Rovers, they went away from home against the Vikinger Icelandic team
and got a 0-0 draw, but then came home and as they got the job done at home.
So I think having done that already to a team now, obviously the difference in class
and quality of players is going to be quite stark from the Icelandic team to now this, you know,
more, I won't say European giants, but by kind of difference,
they're certainly much more of a presence in European football over the last couple of years.
I would say so. Not exactly a Champions League team, but that's why we are playing you
and hopefully a few more teams, two more, you know, to get to the Champions League.
It's not an easy route.
No.
This is where it starts.
Something that's been done before and I think Rovers will take solace from the fact that they have also,
or they'll take encouragement from the fact that they've also done it before
and they've seen other Irish teams do it before as well.
Like the likes of Dundalk getting to those group stages of the Europa League.
But yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
So what happens when you lose this game? Do you still have a chance?
I think usually you have a chance to go to the lower league qualifier or something like that, right?
Yes. So this is what I was saying before about Dundalk playing Arsenal that was in the Europa League that year.
And I think it might have actually been Shamrock Rovers the previous time that played against Tottenham
in the Champions League many, many years ago.
Our favourite team, yeah, Gal. We love this team.
We're rooting for them in more ways than one.
How did you manage to squeeze the name of this team into this episode of the Footgrish podcast, I wonder?
Look, it had to be done. It had to be done.
Alright, Gal, and let me ask you one last question. So what's your prediction for this game then?
I mean, head or heart prediction, which one do you want first?
I want both. So you can start with your heart.
If I was going to go with heart prediction, I'm going to go with a very squeaky one-nil victory for Shamrock Rovers at home.
OK. And what does your head say then?
The head would say the complete opposite.
A squeaky win for Sparta Prague then?
A squeaky win for Sparta Prague, yes.
A squeaky 2-nil or 3-nil possibly win for Sparta Prague.
But definitely hoping for the former results.
I bet you do. Well, it was lovely to talk to you, Gal.
Maybe next time we are in touch, it will be to talk about Arsenal, who knows.
Thank you very much for being on the Footgrish podcast and have a good day.
Happy to be here. Thanks so much for having me.
And enjoy the game tonight. Bye bye.
All right, everyone, welcome back to the Language Corner segment.
As always, in this part of the show, I'm going to do my job because I'm an English teacher.
By the way, if you are looking for an English teacher to help you improve your English
and if you want to learn in a fun way through a fun conversation about football, well, I am your guy.
But in this part of the show, I'm going to explain the expression the underdog.
So if someone is an underdog or sometimes it's used in plural underdogs, as Gal said,
in this game, Shemrok Rovers are the underdog against Sparta Prague.
It basically means that they are the team that are not considered the favourites.
The underdogs is the opposite of the favourites.
Yeah. So I can give you a better definition here, which I found in a sports match,
a team with a weaker record or less skilled players compared to their opponents may be labelled as the underdog.
So this is quite a common expression that is used in definitely British English in England and Ireland as well,
I'm sure, to refer to a team whose odds are very high.
Right. Basically, this means that the probability of this team to win is very low.
So the odds are very high. You can win a lot of money if you bet on Shemrok Rovers beating Sparta Prague
or even winning this round two Champions League qualifier tie.
All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed the entire episode, whether you are a fan of the main part,
where I interview my guests or the language corner or even the introduction or is it the jingle?
I don't know. But one more thing, let me remind you that there is a poll in the description of this episode,
a poll where you can tell me which team you support. And we don't have that many entries there yet.
So I'm waiting for more people to fill out the form. And then one day I will speak about this on the podcast.
All right, everyone, that's it for today. Thank you very much for listening and I'll speak to you soon. Take care. Bye bye.