Five more activities on the FIFA 2010 World Cup

… just in case there aren’t enough already on the Internet

A. World Cup sentence starters

1. I think vuvuzelas are …
2. So far, the World Cup is …
3. It’s great South Africa is the host nation because …
4. One thing the World Cup needs is …
5. World Cup or Olympics? I think …
6. The best player in the tournament …
7. My favourite World Cup moment is …
8. This World Cup will be best remembered for …
9. If I were a player at the World Cup, I’d …
10. The World Cup is …

B. Two-minute debates

Stand students in two rows facing each other. The teacher tells side A they firmly believe in the argument in column A. Do the same with side/column B. The teacher allows two minutes before moving to the next debate. Move one student along so everyone has a new partner for each debate.

C. Mystery World Cup headlines

Students talk about these mystery headlines:

1. Wayne Rooney to play for Brazil
2. World Cup to restart
3. FIFA says teams must field 5 women players in final
4. Cheering banned at World Cup games
5. All World Cup games now only 20 minutes long
6. World Cup winning captain to become UN boss
7. Use of hands allowed at 2014 World Cup
8. Lionel Messi now a goalkeeper
9. Players must celebrate goals by dancing
10. New barefoot rules for 2014 World Cup

D. New rules for a better 2014 World Cup

You are on the FIFA committee to change the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. With your committee member partner(s), discuss what changes you could make to…

1. The ball
2. The referee
3. Substitutes
4. The goals
5. The offside rule
6. The stadia
7. Ticketing
8. The players
9. The spectators
10. Player celebrations

E. World Cup associations

Agree with your partner on which thing in these categories best fits the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Share your ideas with the class. Vote on the best idea for each category.

1. A colour
2. An animal
3. A food
4. A feeling
5. A time of the year
6. An item of clothing
7. A piece of technology
8. A song
9. A company
10. A person

World Cup football stuff – including 110 all-skills lessons

The World Cup – The biggest sports spectacle in the world. Bigger than the Olympics. Bigger than a president’s inauguration. Bigger than The Simpsons. It’s the FIFA Soccer World Cup.

64 match report lessons – one for every game played (9 pages each, plus listening)
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/world_cup_news_2010/front.html

44 other lessons I made for the World Cup
Before proceeding with the post, some World Cup materials for your classes:

32  nine-page handouts, plus listening, plus online activities for each of the 32 teams at the World Cup at http://www.listenaminute.com

Spain Win the 2010 FIFA World Cup – A 13-page intermediate news lesson.
Germans Want Revenge on Paul the World Cup Octopus - An 11-page pre-intermediate news lesson.
2010 South Africa World Cup – a 9-page one-minute listening lesson.
World Cup Just for the Rich? – An 11-page pre-intermediate news lesson.
World Cup Insured for $9 Billion – A 13-page intermediate news lesson.
English Soccer Boss in World Cup Scandal – A 13-page intermediate news lesson.
Baboons a 2010 Soccer World Cup Problem – A 13-page intermediate news lesson.
Football – A 9-page listening lesson.
Lionel Messi Biography – A 14-page all-skills lesson.
Wayne Rooney Biography – A 14-page all-skills lesson.
Christiano Ronaldo Biography – A 14-page all-skills lesson.
David Beckham Biography – A 14-page all-skills lesson.

There will be a daily round-up (graded at pre-int / int level) of the tournament – again, 9 pages, listening, online stuff… at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com – At least I hope to do this.

Larry Ferlazzo has the biggest list of World Cup resources I’ve ever seen. You’re spoilt for choice here.

Worth waiting for
It only comes around every four years but is definitely worth waiting for. This time it’s in South Africa – the first African nation to get the event.

What makes it so special? The beautiful game… the passion… the players… the goals… the action… the drama… the joy… the heartache… the English….

The English?
Well this is a blog for teachers of English and the language is an important part of this world sporting festival. In Japan, I loved listening to the Japanese commentators infusing hybrid English compounds into their stream of Japanese. My fave was “nice heading shooto” (nice header). The upcoming tournament will be my second in the UAE.

Some quotes on why football is the greatest game on Earth

Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.
Bill Shankly – One of Liverpool Football Club’s most successful managers

I fell in love with football as I would later fall in love with women: suddenly, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain it would bring.
Opening sentence from book “Fever Pitch,” written by Nick Hornby

An artist, in my eyes, is someone who can lighten up a dark room. I have never and will never find any difference between the pass from Pele to Carlos Alberto in the final of the World Cup in 1970 and the poetry of the young Rimbaud, who stretches cords from steeple to steeple and garlands from window to window. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty which touches us and gives us a feeling of eternity.
Eric Cantona – Legendary France international and Manchester United maestro

Some English football terms used as everyday idioms for your students

• kick it into touch    (cancel something or say no to something)
• score an own goal    (make a problem for yourself)
• moved the goalposts  (made unfair changes without warning)
• let the side down     (do badly so your team loses)
• what time’s kick off     (when does the party / meeting / wedding… start?)
• give it your best shot    (try your hardest)

20 items of World Cup trivia

1. Protocol dictates that only heads of state and tournament winners are allowed to touch the World Cup trophy.
2. World football’s governing body FIFA claimed a combined world audience of 26.3 billion TV viewers for the 2006 tournament, with 400 million watching the final.
3. South American and European countries have won the World Cup 9 times each. No other continent has produced a World Cup champion.
4. The winners since 1962 are from: South America (Brazil – 1962), Europe (England – 1966), South America (Brazil – 1970), Europe (West Germany – 1974), South America (Argentina – 1978), Europe (Italy – 1982), South America (Argentina – 1986), Europe (Germany – 1990), South America (Brazil – 1994), Europe (France – 1998), South America (Brazil – 2002) and Europe (Italy – 2006). This means in 2010 the winner will be from South America?
5. Out of the 19 World Cups so far, 6 have been won by the host country.
6. No European team has won a World Cup played outside of Europe.
7. The highest attendance at a World Cup match was 199,854 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 1950 for the game between Uruguay and Brazil.
8. Brazil are the only country to have appeared in every Finals – 19 tournaments from 1930 to 2010.
9. The most common score in a World Cup finals match is 1-0 (18%).
10. Gonzalez / Gonzales is the most common surname of World Cup players – 17.
11. In 1930, the ‘football-crazy’ King Carol II of Romania personally selected the national team. He also asked their employers to give each player a three-month leave with full pay.
12. The trophy was stolen while on exhibition in London just before kick-off of the 1966 finals. It was found hidden in a garden in South London.
13. The term ‘group of death’ was first used by the Mexican press to describe Group 3 at the 1970 tournament. The four teams were England (reigning champions), Brazil (champions in 1958 & 1962), Czechoslovakia (finalists 1962) and Romania.
14. Norman Whiteside was the youngest player ever to play at a World Cup Finals. He was 17 years and 42 days old when he played for Northern Ireland in the 1982 World Cup.
15. The quickest World Cup sending off was just 56 seconds. Jose Batista got sent off for Uruguay against Scotland in the 1986 World Cup Finals.
16. The 2010 World Cup qualification consisted of 853 games, which produced 2,344 goals and saw 268 countries eliminated.
17. A total of 2,063 goals have been scored in World Cup Finals. Brazil are the leading scorers with 201.
18. The smallest attendance at a World Cup finals match was 300 at Romania and Peru during the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.
19. The Frenchman Just Fontaine holds the record for the most number of goals at the Finals. He scored 13 in 1958.
20. The longest surname of a player at the Finals was that of Lefter Kucukandonyadis who played for Turkey in the 1954 Finals.