Two managers and a metatarsal

7. May 2006

There were important local council elections in England this week, but the only thing people were really talking about was the England football team. The side’s star player, Wayne Rooney, the most naturally gifted footballer of his generation, has broken a bone in his foot (the fourth metatarsal if you really want to know), and the big question is – will he be fit in time for the World Cup? He is so crucial to England’s chances at the tournament in Germany that Uri Geller, the psychic famous for his ability to bend spoons, was attempting to use his powers to cure Wayne’s foot. Has the world gone mad? One interesting question though is why so many footballers are suffering foot injuries nowadays. Is it because modern football boots do not offer as much protection as the old ones?

With all this drama going on, it was almost forgotten that the England team got a new manager this week – Steve McClaren. He will be taking over after the World Cup from Sven Goran Eriksson, who will be leaving the job after five years in charge. Will Eriksson’s final act as England manager be to preside over an England team that wins the World Cup? If England could win the World Cup in Germany, he would leave as a national hero. The job of England manager is a very difficult one though because of the relentless pressure from the media. Jürgen Klinsmann has received criticism from the media in Germany when the German team has lost matches, but the media pressure in England is much worse. I wonder how the German public will react to Klinsmann if Germany perform badly when the tournament starts in June.

The excitement is really building ahead of the World Cup. We in England always think we are going to win every competition we enter. Expectations in Germany are probably more realistic – a semi-final place would probably be quite acceptable. Who do you think will win the World Cup?

Football vocabulary

national manager│Bundestrainer
football boots│Fuβballschuhe
World Cup│Weltmeisterschaft

Link to more football vocabulary

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