Learn English Through Football

This football language podcast looks back at Day 7 of the 2020 European Championships. We discuss some phrases connected with the Netherlands’ win over Austria. You can read a transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Hit their stride – Football Language Euro 2020: day 7
DB: You’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football language Euro 2020 podcast. Hello football fans. Are you enjoying the Euros, or maybe your eye is on South America and the Copa America? Well, at languagecaster we are focusing on the big tournament taking place across the continent of Europe. On this show, I’m going to talk about a few phrases found in the opening of a BBC match report. The match report was for the Netherlands versus Austria game, which the Dutch won 2-0. The main phrase is ‘to hit their stride’.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch).
Booked Their Spot
DB: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com and that message was in Dutch. Congratulations to all Dutch fans, as their side win twice in group C, meaning they go through to the next round: the knockout stage.
The BBC report describes this like this: “The Netherlands booked their spot in last 16 at Euro 2020.“
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Booked their spot, or booked their place, means to qualify. They progress to the next stage. The knockout stage in this sentence is referred to as ‘the last 16‘. After that round is the ‘last eight’ or the quarter finals. By the time we have only four teams, most people will talk about the semi finals, rather than the last four. So, the last 16, the last eight or the quarter finals, and the semis.
The BBC report continues with “they saw off Austria in Amsterdam to win Group C with a game to spare.”
See Off
To see off, means to beat, to defeat, to overcome. So, the Dutch saw off Austria, they overcame the Austrians. The sentence also uses the phrase ‘a game to spare‘. this means the Netherlands still have one more game, a spare game, that they do not need to win. They have booked their spot to the last 16 early.
The Dutch have six points, while in second and third, Ukraine and Austria each have 3. Crucially, these two teams play each other next, so they both cannot overhaul or catch the Netherlands.
Hit Their Stride
DB: But the phrase I want to highlight is in the next sentence in the BBC report: “Frank de Boer’s side, who beat Ukraine in their opening fixture, look to be hitting their stride.”
Frank de Boer’s side look like they are hitting their stride. To hit your stride means to get into a good rhythm, to play consistently well. We could also say they have hit form.