{"id":8084,"date":"2018-07-18T23:06:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T05:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/?p=8084"},"modified":"2023-05-17T10:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T16:35:13","slug":"croatia-at-the-2018-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/croatia-at-the-2018-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"croatia impresses at the 2018 world cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

one of the top stories at russia 2018 was the exceptional play of croatia. they qualified for the final after playing tough <\/i><\/strong>(strong, physical), exciting football the whole tournament.<\/p>\n

\"domagoj
croatia’s domagoj vida (afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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shireen khalil<\/strong> at news.com.au<\/strong> labelled croatia’s victory over england in the semi-final a major <\/i>feat<\/strong><\/i> (achievement) that defied the odds<\/strong><\/i> (did the opposite of what was expected). this headline accompanied the article…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s more to Croatia\u2019s win than knocking England out<\/i> of the World Cup<\/h1>\n

knock out<\/strong><\/i> means eliminate<\/i>. it’s more than just knocking out<\/i> england because as cristina abellan matamoros<\/strong> points out<\/p>\n

things haven\u2019t always been easy for the croatian national team. many of its talented players still carry the scars<\/i> from the war of independence by yugoslavia and local serb forces.<\/h4>\n

scar<\/strong><\/i> in this context is emotional–bad memories<\/i>, trauma<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"scar<\/p>\n

scar from l<\/strong><\/i>ion king<\/i><\/strong> has a <\/i>scar<\/i><\/u> on his left eye<\/i><\/h5>\n

cool elt practice <\/a>\":)\"<\/a> richyrocks english on youtube<\/a><\/h4>\n

abellan tells that<\/a> goalkeeper danijel subasic<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

[was] born in zadar [croatia] to a serbian father and a croatian mother, [he] was only 11 when his family home was destroyed during the croatian war of independence in 1995. his serbian heritage<\/i> also hasn’t made things easy for the goalkeeper as it raises<\/i> suspicion about his allegiance<\/i> to croatia.<\/h4>\n

\"danijel<\/p>\n

danijel subasic stops a penalty vs denmark. (julian finney\/getty images)<\/i><\/h5>\n

defender dejan lovren<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

comes from a town in bosnia-herzegovina [and] was forced to flee<\/i> to germany with his family during the war….after the war ended, their legal permit was taken away<\/i> and the family was forced to move to croatia which was still in a fragile state.<\/h4>\n

take away <\/strong><\/i>means confiscate,<\/i> seize<\/i>. flee<\/strong><\/i> means escape<\/i>, run away<\/i>. similarly midfielder ivan rakitic<\/strong> and his parents<\/p>\n

fled<\/i> to switzerland to escape the war in the former<\/i> yugoslavia.<\/h4>\n

and according to franklin foer<\/strong> at the atlantic<\/strong>, mario mand\u017euki\u0107<\/strong>, who scored the game-winning goal against england…<\/p>\n

fled to germany to wait out the war.<\/h4>\n

fled<\/em><\/strong> is the irregular past tense of flee<\/em>.\u00a0 wait out\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0means wait longer than the duration of an event<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"mario<\/h4>\n
just an <\/i>awesome<\/a><\/i> picture<\/i><\/h5>\n

foer reports<\/a> that golden ball winner luka modric<\/strong> also lived the horrors of war.<\/p>\n

serbian militia burned down<\/i> his family\u2019s home, and murdered his grandfather and six of his relatives<\/i>.<\/h4>\n

burn down<\/a><\/strong><\/i> means completely destroyed by fire<\/i>. relatives<\/i><\/strong> are familiy members<\/i>, usually extended family<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"luka<\/p>\n

croatia got <\/i>second place<\/a><\/i>, but modric got the golden ball. (getty)<\/i><\/h5>\n

khalil also talks about<\/a> modric’s childhood<\/p>\n

he grew up<\/i> in a war-torn<\/i> country and was a child refugee. now he earns<\/i> $320,000 a week and is on the cusp of<\/i> greatness.<\/h4>\n

grow up<\/a><\/i><\/strong> refers to the process of going from child to adult<\/i>. torn<\/i><\/strong> means devastated<\/i>. refugee<\/i><\/strong> means modric was forced to leave his home<\/i> and didn’t have a permanent residence<\/i>. earn<\/strong><\/i> is used to talk about making a salary<\/i>. on the cusp of<\/i><\/strong> means next to<\/i>, almost there<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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the <\/i>former<\/i><\/u> yugoslavia (socratic.org)<\/i><\/h5>\n

the article offers a few more details from modric about his childhood…<\/p>\n

modric rarely<\/i> talks about his blighted<\/i> childhood, but back in 2008 when he signed for [tottenham] spurs he briefly addressed the hardships<\/i> of his childhood. \u201cwhen the war started we became refugees<\/i> and it was a really tough<\/i> time.\u201d<\/h4>\n

and…<\/p>\n

in a rare<\/i> recent interview he said: i think a lot of things that happened to me as a child in croatia have left me feeling like i should never ease up<\/i>…. i never relax because if you relax in football your level drops<\/i> and it can be difficult to get back into it.<\/h4>\n

rarely<\/strong><\/i> is an adverb. it describes the verb talks<\/i>. rare<\/strong><\/i> <\/i>is an adjective–it describes the noun interview<\/i>. they both mean not frequently<\/i>. blighted<\/strong><\/i> <\/i>means full of disturbance and unrest<\/i>. hardship<\/i><\/strong> is adversity<\/i>, difficulty<\/i>. tough<\/i><\/strong> means difficult. ease up<\/strong><\/i> means work less<\/i>, take it easy<\/i>. drop<\/a><\/strong><\/i> means decrease<\/i>, go down.<\/i><\/p>\n

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don’t expect modric to <\/i>ease up<\/i><\/u> (kyodo via ap images)<\/i><\/h5>\n

what did u think of croatia’s performance at russia 2018? share your thoughts under leave a reply<\/strong><\/p>\n

heritage<\/strong><\/i> is legacy<\/i>, cultural tradition<\/i>. raise<\/i><\/strong><\/a> in this instance is generate<\/i>, provoke<\/i>. allegiance<\/i><\/strong> is loyalty<\/i>, devotion<\/i>.<\/p>\n