{"id":12355,"date":"2022-02-28T01:45:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T07:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/?p=12355"},"modified":"2022-02-28T15:16:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T21:16:36","slug":"ukraine-russia-futsal-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/ukraine-russia-futsal-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"ukraine & russia played a uefa semifinal days before invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

rising<\/a> geopolitical pressure between russia<\/strong><\/span> and ukraine<\/strong><\/span> coincided with an important international clash<\/a> in the world of sport earlier this month. the headline of this associated press<\/strong> story by mike corder<\/strong><\/a> observed…<\/p>\n

RUSSIA VS. UKRAINE PLAYS OUT<\/em> IN FUTSAL SEMIFINAL<\/h3>\n

play out<\/strong><\/em> is a phrasal verb<\/strong> that means happens<\/em>. is represented<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"poster<\/a><\/p>\n

this match was particularly interesting because…<\/p>\n

european soccer\u2019s governing body, uefa, has ensured<\/em> that ukrainian and russian teams aren\u2019t drawn<\/em> to play one another since<\/em> 2014, the year russia annexed crimea. but in a written statement uefa said that the measure<\/em> to keep teams apart \u201cfor obvious reasons cannot apply to the entire knockout<\/em> stages<\/em> of tournaments like the uefa futsal euro 2022.\u201d<\/h4>\n

has ensured<\/strong><\/em> is present perfect<\/strong><\/a> (auxiliary has + past participle [ensured]). it is frequently used with since<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to refer to an action that happened in the past and continues to the present. ensure<\/em> <\/strong><\/a>means guarantee<\/em>. aren’t drawn<\/strong><\/em> is passive voice<\/strong><\/a> (auxiliary aren’t + past pariticple drawn). it is referring to an object (teams) receiving an action (drawn) not a subject performing the action. draw<\/strong><\/em><\/a> means select randomly<\/em>.\u00a0 a measure<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is a plan<\/em>. the knockout stage<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is the elimination phase<\/em> of the tournament — the winning team advances and the losing team goes home.<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a><\/p>\n

a football drawing<\/a> (like this one) is different than the draw at a football tournament (welovesolo.com)<\/em><\/h5>\n

the novelty<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (unusualness) of the moment was recorded like this by corder<\/p>\n

amid<\/em> the simmering<\/em> tensions between their two countries, five-a-side<\/em> soccer teams from russia and ukraine face<\/em> one another<\/em> in the semifinals of the futsal european championships<\/h4>\n

and like this in an article in the moscow times\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

[the semifinal] comes amid<\/em> extreme tensions between the two countries as<\/em> russia\u2019s buildup<\/em> of troops near the ukrainian border<\/em> has raised<\/em> fears of a potential offensive by moscow on its westerly<\/em> neighbor<\/h4>\n

amid<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is used in both articles it means in the middle of<\/em>. simmer<\/em><\/strong> means be right below the boiling point<\/a><\/em>. five-a-side<\/strong><\/em> means futsal teams have 5 players<\/em>; different than the 11 players on a standard football team. side<\/em><\/strong> means team<\/em>. face<\/em><\/strong> means compete against<\/em>. one another<\/strong><\/em> means ukraine and russia were opponents<\/em> in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

\"ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n

ukraine’s side at the five-a-side euro2022<\/em><\/h5>\n

as<\/strong><\/em> means because<\/em> in this scenario. a buildup<\/em><\/strong> is an increase <\/em>(it’s related to the phrasal verb build up<\/em><\/strong><\/a>). \u00a0raise<\/em><\/strong><\/a> means increase<\/em> too. westerly<\/strong><\/em> means ukraine is west of russia. the border<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is the imaginary line that divides ukraine and russia. it is used in the title of this elton john<\/strong> song from 50 years ago. u can also hear the idiom<\/strong>\u00a0cup of tea<\/strong><\/em> which elton uses to say that he doesn’t like <\/em>the cirucumstances he is in. listen at 1:00 for<\/p>\n

won’t u please excuse my frankness but it ain’t<\/a> my cup of tea<\/em><\/h4>\n