Shadowing Practice: How Jose Mourinho Became a Champions League Legend 🏆 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
449 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
To win the Champions League is to be immortal.
2
The winners are legends.
3
You are always going to be a legend.
4
When I go to a European competition, I always feel that I came in.
5
If you don't enjoy the pressure, you are in trouble.
6
You need to have the best out of everybody.
7
You have always to control your destiny.
8
Why am I now here speaking with you?
9
It's because I am a double Champions League winner.
10
It's something that stays forever.
11
The Champions League is the biggest trophy in European club football.
12
And I have to say it's the biggest trophy in the world.
13
Because you play against the best and the minimum detail is going to dictate many things.
14
We had a very good relationship.
15
We were friends for a lot of time.
16
When you arrive in Porto, you know that this club has achieved European success. Although you know
17
that at some stage you might not be able to compete against other teams with higher budgets and better players, that's the way it is.
18
When Mourinho joined Porto, he completely transformed the football club.
19
He pushed to get the new training facilities.
20
It was more structured to the club, the discipline levels, like players couldn't just come and go as they pleased.
21
We made a decision of let's go for the best Portuguese young players
22
and having a base of three or four more experienced players.
23
We did that to win the Portuguese title, but we found ourselves winning UEFA Cup.
24
So the next season we start the season playing against the Champions League winner in the Super Cup
25
and we felt this is our level.
26
My first meeting with Jose Mourinho, our first press conference, he told the media that this This team was going to win the Champions League.
27
And obviously for me, sitting there, I was like, wow, this guy oozes confidence.
28
Just getting through the group is an achievement.
29
They end up finishing second behind Real Madrid.
30
But that means that they're playing a group winner in the last 16.
31
We watch the draw together and Jose says, give us Man United.
32
And Jose jumps up and all the players are like, oh my God, no way, like, this is our exit.
33
Sir Alex Ferguson was this huge overarching figure and his pursuit of that Champions League had become such a big narrative.
34
They have a top team, they are a team made to win it.
35
But when I go to the European competition, I always feel that I can win.
36
In the preparation for the game, Jose says, Pedro Mendes, your job, you don't play this game.
37
Where Paul Scholes go, you go.
38
If Paul Scholes goes to the toilet, you go to the toilet with him.
39
That's how we beat him.
40
So then we say, good luck, Pedro!
41
It doesn't matter if there are teams with, let's say, the odds at their favour or with the most incredible players on their side.
42
If you build a strong team with the great resilience,
43
you always have a chance. of my life.
44
I love the knockout.
45
I love to prepare the knockout.
46
I love to play one match of 180 minutes and not two matches of 90 minutes.
47
Every second matters.
48
You know it's difficult for a Portuguese team to win this trophy.
49
Of course, it's exciting to play against Man United, but the players start to get more nervous.
50
It's difficult at Old Trafford to have a face-to-face fight with such a strong team.
51
A bit difficult game for both sides, but you would have to think we would improve dramatically.
52
I think most people at United thought that at Old Trafford, they'd have enough.
53
I predicted with the team that a very difficult moment in the match is going to happen.
54
Sometimes you have to control your emotions because your moment is going to arrive.
55
20 minutes of the second half I was looking and I was looking and people were scared.
56
People were nervous.
57
People felt we are in the edge.
58
Last minute free kick.
59
One goal will get in three.
60
I felt now is the moment for us.
61
Jose says, you take it.
62
And I went for it.
63
Everyone went to the corner.
64
And we just see Jose is also there.
65
What was he doing there to begin with?
66
That really is a game that's an English audience that puts Mourinho on the map.
67
Mourinho just changed what playing at Old Trafford means.
68
It was a goal that makes our miracle happen.
69
The team was tactically very, very good.
70
It was a team with individual talent, yes, but tactically was very, very good.
71
And I always looked at each one of them as one individual.
72
Mourinho knew how to push all the right buttons.
73
And that is the desire to kind of understand who his players are as people.
74
He knew almost everything about every single player in the team.
75
Their backgrounds, where they come from, your mum and dad still alive.
76
The way they looked at it was we are a family.
77
That individual way of communicating, of motivation, is always something very, very important.
78
The club bonded with the team, bonded with their manager.
79
I was like, wow, this guy cares about me.
80
When you show an interest in someone's life, you're able to get the best out of that person, to get them to do whatever it is that you want them to do.
81
You then, willing to run through a brick wall for him, then he gets what he wants as well.
82
When you see his team playing, you saw them also playing for their life.
83
What he demanded from us was absolute professionalism.
84
We had an extraordinary generation of players, people like Javito Baia, Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Palo Ferreira, Danny McCarthy, Manish.
85
Manish, when we faced Leon, on fire.
86
We went through Leon the way that we did playing good football.
87
We weren't household names.
88
People were about to know who we were.
89
You know, Porto, zero pressure.
90
We won the UEFA Cup the year before.
91
We go to the Champions League to try to prove ourselves.
92
We had Real Madrid in the group phase.
93
We played them, we had a feeling.
94
Then we beat Man United, then we have even a bigger feeling.
95
So the big challenge was to improve the team all the time.
96
But zero pressure.
97
We started feeling pressure when we got a semi-final where we played Deportivo La Coruña in Spain.
98
We felt we were a much, much better and stronger team, but they do play in La Liga.
99
And La Liga is three times probably tougher than Portuguese League.
100
Not one of the big sides in Spain now, but a very good side back then.
101
Champions League winners are always teams.
102
Only teams do it.
103
And very complete teams teams that can cope with all the difficult moments of the competition.
104
And I think in every Champions League winner there is always a moment where a detail is going to make a difference.
105
The final of the Champions League.
106
Everyone was feeling that it could be possible.
107
In Portugal, we were a very good player.
108
We were a very good player.
109
We were a very good player.
110
We were a very good player.
111
We were a very good player.
112
We were a very good player.
113
In Portugal we were champions, and we were champions in advance, so I could play the last two,
114
three matches instead of being fighting for the title and taking the players to their limits.
115
We had time to prepare our players not just by the tactical viewpoint,
116
we were also preparing them by the individual situation.
117
We had all of our opposition scouted on their last five games
118
and we used to compile a lot of reports and DVDs.
119
Individual DVDs per position as well for the players.
120
I was just analysing Monaco at every possible detail.
121
So, for example, they had a left winger, Jeremy Rotin, a very quick player, left-footed player, left typical winger.
122
My right-back, Paulo Ferreira, he was two or three weeks having injections of Rotin.
123
What he does, the way he plays, let's see everything, let's see every detail.
124
Match analysis 20 years after is something that has become even more extensive.
125
In 2004, we suddenly were pioneers in the way that we used the match preparation.
126
The final of the game is the final of the game.
127
When you look at the book and you see the 32 teams who were in the beginning,
128
nobody in this room would say in the beginning of the competition that the final will be Porto and Monaco.
129
We knew that they had a fantastic team.
130
They beat Real Madrid, they beat Chelsea, So they reached the final probably even with the most difficult run than we get.
131
But we felt very, very confident.
132
It's the most important match of my career.
133
We work for two years to arrive into this situation.
134
And we must play with everything we have.
135
Football qualities, human qualities, we have to stick together and go for it.
136
How you can say a year ago that we're going to win the Champions League and we are in the final?
137
This guy has to go down as one serious wizard.
138
In South Africa we have this thing we call them Shangoma.
139
You've got some serious magic there.
140
To win the Champions League it is required to have everything at an elite level.
141
A performance level that you are able to make a difference to.
142
I might put it in with an advantage, was normally a match in the pocket.
143
They feel rampant.
144
Wow.
145
Ah, this is a Shangoma for sure.
146
That was a game controlled by the Mourinho game plan.
147
Stop the opposition, get ahead, and then pick them off when they overcommit.
148
We had no business doing what we did, winning the Champions League in the way that we did.
149
Winning the Champions League with Porto was the biggest moment in my career.
150
To take a side from outside the big four leagues and win the UEFA Cup Champions League back-to-back seasons, that was an astonishing achievement.
151
And then, things just changed.
152
It's strange.
153
To win the trophy is amazing.
154
But something was wrong with Jose.
155
He didn't seem himself.
156
I think everybody knew before that final that there'd been contact between Chelsea and Mourinho.
157
The fact
158
that he won two European competitions two years in a row
159
I think were important factors for him to be considered the next big thing.
160
It kind of left a bitter taste because something that he wanted so bad,
161
we couldn't even celebrate with him because he then was gone.
162
We are in the game.
163
Hello Jose, welcome to England.
164
We went there for another adventure.
165
Why Chelsea, of all the places you could have gone?
166
Why Chelsea?
167
We have top players.
168
and I'm sorry, I'm a bit arrogant.
169
We have a top manager.
170
I think everyone had an immediate visceral reaction to that first interview that Jose Mourinho gave.
171
We should not be afraid to say we want to win.
172
Who's this guy?
173
He's so arrogant.
174
He comes across very entitled.
175
What I'm saying is true.
176
I'm European champion, so I'm not one of the bottle.
177
What Porto did winning the Champions League, it was an extraordinary achievement.
178
But still, it wasn't the British way, I suppose.
179
I think I'm a special one.
180
To show up and declare yourself as immediately special before you'd won something over here.
181
Jose!
182
Jose!
183
Jose!
184
Jose!
185
Jose!
186
Jose!
187
We killed ourselves with laughter, because we know what it's like.
188
That was the Jose that we knew.
189
50 shots for one foot.
190
Every reporter wanted to get a soundbite like that.
191
Actually, what he said isn't quite the special one.
192
He said, I am not one from a bottle, I am a special one.
193
What he was saying was, look, I'm not an idiot.
194
Look at what I've just done in Porto.
195
OK, done.
196
He changed how we think about football.
197
The game starts in the press conference, not at kick-off, at 3 p.m on a Saturday.
198
He has 11 top players to play.
199
He was an extraordinarily charming figure.
200
He worked the press constantly.
201
You sensed the power of him.
202
You wanted to be liked by him.
203
What can I say?
204
I arrived here with my ego.
205
Mourinho did a half gag in a press conference, and everybody's rolling about on the floor.
206
Now he's even higher.
207
Whether we believed it or not in the media, the fans bought it and the players bought it, and that's really all that mattered.
208
To win the Premier League for the first time in 50 years and to break up Ferguson and Wenger.
209
He split those two right in the middle.
210
Wins start the first two seasons.
211
The third season, he basically says, yeah, the recruitment's been disastrous.
212
I don't think that's going to go down great with Abramovich.
213
Mourinho didn't agree with the club, but nobody there in that moment was expecting for him to leave.
214
The fans are upset.
215
Your players were crying yesterday.
216
And I was crying too.
217
And I was crying too.
218
So that's not the point.
219
But you still had to go?
220
Yes.
221
Inter in Italy have always come under some level of criticism
222
because they are one of the biggest clubs in Italy
223
but perhaps didn't taste as much success as Juventus domestically or as Milan in Europe.
224
I'm sorry.
225
Helenio Herrera.
226
The last great era of Inter in Europe.
227
He took Inter to three European Cup finals, won two of them.
228
Helenio Herrera was an outsider, he wasn't Italian.
229
He was nicknamed Il Mago, which you can translate as magician, the sorcerer, someone who is more than human.
230
Italian football in the late 90s, in the early 2000s, had been the epicentre of Europe.
231
It had been the place where all the best players wanted to play and where the biggest money was being spent. That was gone.
232
And Inter were looking for someone who would, at that time, keep them at the top domestically, because Roberto Mancini had won de Messi with them.
233
But they weren't getting anywhere in the European Cup.
234
They needed a winner.
235
And it was about no longer spending the money on the best players, but rather spending the money on the best coach.
236
And there was only one special one.
237
I try to establish always the European competition as a dream.
238
You know, the Champions League is the Eldorado.
239
To win the Champions League is like to be immortal.
240
If not immortal for the world, at least immortal for that club.
241
You are always going to be a legend.
242
The winners are legends.
243
It's something that stays forever.
244
I just signed the contract with Inter.
245
I'll be your coach.
246
You'll be my captain.
247
Excuse me for my Italian.
248
The Italian was perfect.
249
In Inter the pressure was there.
250
We came to win everything in Italy, but there was no important step to win in Europe, to be the best in Europe.
251
Everything started in my first season when we were knocked out by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
252
I had a phenomenal president, Mr Moratti, and he was the first person I met after the match.
253
I walked to the corridor, the narrow corridor at Old Trafford, and Mr Moratti was there.
254
He shook my hand and he told, Mourinho, what do we need to win the Champions League?
255
And I told him immediately, I need this, this and this.
256
I need a faster centre-back that allows me to play a higher line.
257
That was Lucio's centre-back.
258
I need a creative centre midfielder because the profile of my centre midfielders are very, very similar.
259
That was Wesley Schneider.
260
And I need one attacking player that, in the crucial moment, is going to be there for us.
261
We bought Milito from Genoa.
262
We sold Ibrahimovic to Barcelona.
263
And we took Eto'o in the business.
264
That must be one of the best swap deals anyone has ever done.
265
Because Eto'o joined having won the treble with Barcelona.
266
All the players were not-funcionals.
267
The idea was that Mourinho, that Josea Beba, for us.
268
I don't think there's a better transfer window.
269
Inter started in the Champions League poorly.
270
We were still in the group phase.
271
We lost 1-0 with Dynamo Kiev.
272
They were really on the brink of going out.
273
The group phase is something that you have to play with the mathematics in front of your eyes.
274
You have always to control your destiny.
275
the dying seconds of the game when Wesley Schneider turns that game on his head.
276
Generates two goals out of nowhere that change into his entire history.
277
Absolutely pivotal moment in the season.
278
You know, you need to be lucky.
279
You need to be lucky
280
because you need a certain profile of players with the mental stability to cope with the difficult moments
281
and tell them exactly what you expect from them.
282
I give you an example of a very strong-minded guy, Samuel Eto'o.
283
The week before, the last 16 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, I fought him every day.
284
Big, big discussion, big level of pressure.
285
I told him, I'm not going to play you, You are not in your best level, you are not going to play.
286
Please, mister, let me play.
287
No, there is no. Please, mister, you are not going to play, you are not performing.
288
I don't trust you.
289
It was one week, one week of an emotional work with him.
290
Such a strong guy that I knew that he would react the way he did react.
291
It made
292
us believe that this team could make history.
293
I wouldn't do that with a player of a completely different profile, so there is no secret is just to look at each one of them,
294
to know them, to understand them, and to deal with them as a complete individual.
295
With Mourinho, this team really did bond.
296
They had this Argentine core of Samuel, Javier Zanetti, Milito, Cambiasso, and they would have these barbecues.
297
Walter Samuel would be the kind of grill master.
298
We were really a team.
299
We had everything, personalities, experience, physicality, at empathy, friendship.
300
When you allow somebody to be themselves, you allow them to form a bond with you, and that's what his players had.
301
They felt that they could come to him with their problems.
302
They felt that they could confide in him.
303
They have this almost spiritual belief in Mourinho's gifts.
304
It is like talking about a cult leader.
305
In the words of Wesley Snider, he would run through the wall and go to war for Jose Mourinho.
306
I arrived as the principal coach for Sporting Lisbon in 1999.
307
And Jose met me, introduced himself to me, that he would be my interpreter.
308
Not only in sporting, but later on in Porto.
309
I'm very happy that Jose is here.
310
I do need him for my work.
311
My work is very important, and Jose can help.
312
I went from Porto to Barcelona.
313
I took Jose.
314
So, Mourinho works as an interpreter in Barcelona.
315
He was working with great managers, Bobby Robson, Louis van Gaal, and obviously working with great players,
316
among whom there was Pep Guardiola.
317
The Barcelona squad, they nicknamed him the translator.
318
Mourinho sort of felt it was putting him on the outside, he wasn't one of them them.
319
In time, that really came to great on him, that he felt he wasn't taken seriously.
320
Barcelona come to replace Frank Rijkaard.
321
Rijkaard who'd won the Champions League as Barcelona's coach in 2006.
322
They wanted either Jose Mourinho or Pep Guardiola.
323
You think of a comparative CVs at that point.
324
Mourinho has won a Champions League, he's won UEFA Cup with Porto, he's He won two league titles for Chelsea.
325
Guardiola's had one season managing Barcelona's reserves.
326
And still they give it to Guardiola because Guardiola's one of them.
327
He reflected their values, their identity, more so than Jose Mourinho.
328
After that rejection, it's almost like that's the moment which he becomes the Dark Lord.
329
That's the moment in which he decides, I am that which Barcelona is not.
330
If they're going to play with the ball, I will play without.
331
If they're going to play to entertain, I will make sure nobody has any fun ever again.
332
Inter reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and they're playing against Barcelona.
333
Of course it's Barcelona.
334
Aguariola's Barcelona, the defending champions.
335
There was not a feeling that they could go and take the game to a team like Barcelona.
336
Nobody believed he could win.
337
So before the semi-final, Eiffelio-Jürgen, the Icelandic volcano, erupted Kassan and ash cloud over Europe,
338
and that means that Barcelona can't fly to Milan for the first leg.
339
They had to get a bus.
340
It's a long journey for a whole team to take right before one of the most important games of the season.
341
How much that impacts the game itself, that's a thing that we can never fully know the answer to.
342
When you get to the knockout against a team like Barcelona, you have to win your match at home.
343
His fury that he didn't get the Barcelona job back then, he motivated so much.
344
After all, Mourinho told me, I'll take the left third and I'll mark Messi.
345
I met Messi because we were a national company.
346
At the moment, as he was in his career, he was the best player in the world.
347
The Federer scores the first goal, they started at a decent pace.
348
But Inter were magnificent.
349
They played genuine attacking football.
350
In every area that Messi was, there was always me and two other friends to not leave this space where he could make the difference.
351
B-1-3-1 could be more.
352
It was a fantastic performance.
353
In Inter, my bench was full of top players in the end of their career.
354
Cordoba, Toldo, Materazzi, Stankovic, they were not my first choices, but they were my big allies.
355
I still remember the Cordoba Awards in the semi-final in Barcelona.
356
Corda was on the bench and he wanted to do a little speech to the players.
357
And he was saying, this is my dream.
358
This is my last opportunity.
359
I'm not playing because of him.
360
He decided to put me on the bench.
361
He decided to play you.
362
So you are going to play for me.
363
When you have this kind of person on the bench, on the dressing room, your work becomes much more easier.
364
I know that they could do anything for me.
365
I would do also anything for them.
366
It's the game of all games.
367
It's the game that becomes such a core element in Jose Mourinho's legend.
368
I remember when we came out of the field, there was this huge stricceline that was lifted from Barcelona.
369
And that was, I believe, a pressure for them, that they believed that this could be possible.
370
We went there with a strategy to try to control, to try to bite in counterattack.
371
We had fantastic qualities to play and defend in a lower block, then to counter-attack.
372
After 20 minutes or so...
373
When Thiago Molto is sent off, Sergio Busquets...
374
Does a little peek-a-boo through his hands to make sure the referee is doing the right thing.
375
People sometimes is afraid to speak about it.
376
I'm never afraid to speak about it.
377
which is the referee decisions that are always crucial. Can they survive?
378
Ten men having to defend a two-goal lead against the best attacking team on the planet.
379
To play with ten players in Barcelona becomes epic.
380
You need heroes.
381
You need to have the best out of everybody.
382
He was convinced that we were able to get to the end.
383
I think I was brilliant in the way I organized the team.
384
His conviction was very strong and he has transmitted us all.
385
We defended with everything we had.
386
It was gripping.
387
It was drama.
388
We defended with hearts, with souls.
389
We give absolutely everything.
390
The best thing about it for Mourinho is that the final whistle, he runs on the pitch to celebrate and Barcelona turn on the sprinklers.
391
It's the most beautiful defeat of my career.
392
Everything they did didn't care about us.
393
And in that moment, whatever moral superiority Barcelona tried to claim about playing football the right way, that is destroyed in that moment.
394
And it's Mourinho who's destroyed it.
395
The fact that you play with ten men for so long makes it something absolutely incredible.
396
If I could choose one of my most emotional performances, career more than 20 years, I had to choose that one.
397
No one in Italian football had ever won the treble.
398
We played Italian Cup final, we played the last match of the season.
399
To win the title, we have to win the match to win the title.
400
The drama of the semi-final against Barcelona, To win the way we did, the feeling was...
401
It's our cup.
402
But Inter were coming up against a very, very good Bayern Munich side, coached by Louis van Gaal, someone who taught him so much about the game.
403
Jose was his assistant coach in Barcelona, and there was a special relationship and a lot of respect between the two coaches.
404
I don't think that gets emphasized enough, because people take literally the words of the fact that Van Gaal had called him a defensive coach.
405
Van Gaal said those words in hopes of provoking a reaction of Mourinho.
406
But of course, Mourinho wasn't going to fall for that.
407
Diego Melito really was a kind of hidden gem and would be the man in the decisive moments.
408
Bluntly, you could call it Route One, But it's not an act of chance.
409
It's all part of the plan.
410
Melito was the one Mourinho said, you're going to be the one who leads the line for us.
411
Knowing the right words to say to a player, to get under their skin and tell them who they're going to be.
412
And he told Melito that you're going to be the guy.
413
You would score the goal that won them the league, the goal that won them the Coppa Italia, the goals that won the Champions League.
414
It was an incredible emotion for me.
415
Being the captain of the squadron, having the privilege and honor of raising that trophy will be one of the most beautiful moments I remember.
416
I didn't sign with Real Madrid before the final.
417
I refused to.
418
I wanted to play the final without any contract signed with Real Madrid.
419
I went to the dressing room and I ran away.
420
I went to the buzz to say goodbye and I didn't even shake one hand.
421
I wanted to escape because I know if I get into the dressing room, if I get into the buzz,
422
if I go back with them to Milan, if I walk into the San Siro full, if I walk into the Duomo full of people,
423
I think I wouldn't go to Real Madrid.
424
I think the emotion would stop me to go.
425
But I wanted so much to go.
426
But I had to escape.
427
And Marco got me there.
428
As the car is pulling out, he sees Marco Matarazzi.
429
Even more perfect because he's Italian, the end of an Italian journey.
430
When you see this image, Marco is hugging him, what is the demonstration of what I know it means for us in these two years?
431
I have replicas of the cups, and of course I have the original medals.
432
But I'm honest with you, I don't care about the Cubs and I don't care about the medals.
433
I care of what I have here.
434
And I care what people from those clubs, they have here and there.
435
His passion, his love, his respect.
436
What he did with Porto and with Inter with Inter.
437
Taking Porto to the most improbable Champions League win, a thing that has not been matched in the modern era, a team from outside the big leagues.
438
He marked a generational change of European coaches by his methods that were a breakthrough at that time.
439
Our report was not a report of a coach-sister, a captain-sister.
440
He was beyond the edge.
441
Wow, what a manager.
442
Not only one of the great managers of the era, but one of the great managers of all time.
443
It's history, you know.
444
Why am I now here speaking with you?
445
I am a double Champions League winner.
446
You go to Porto and Milan and everybody knows that 2004, the winner of the Champions League,
447
2010, the winner of the Champions League.
448
Who was the coach?
449
Mourinho.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B21
180 sentences
The Mindset That Will Change Your Life | Cristiano Ronaldo
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
179 sentences
How England’s football league is breaking the sport
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B26
200 sentences
Bruno Fernandes "honoured" to be voted Footballer of the Year - EXCLUSIVE
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B24
108 sentences
2022 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking: Cyril Junior Dim
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
52 sentences
"What a time we have had together." A message from Pep Guardiola
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B27
35 sentences
‘I was crying for a central defender!’ | Jose Mourinho on Manchester United's defence | Super Sunday
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
345 sentences
Thierry Henry Analysis How Chelsea Smashed Brighton 4-3 | Can Xabi Alonso Contend For The Title?
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B127
7 sentences
Embrace Success as a Language Learner from Day One!
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B210
23 sentences
Talks at GS – David Beckham on the Secret to His Success
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B22
118 sentences
The 4 Habits Behind Messi's World Cup Hat Trick
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
154 sentences
They Were a Joke… Then Messi Changed EVERYTHING
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
140 sentences
Mbappé, Lamine, Bellingham... Who will be the heir to the throne in Football? | Rio & Cris Part 4
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 449 sentences and 4835 words to shadow. The speech runs for 42:22. The speaker talks at a steady 114 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| defend verb | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | To ward off attacks against (something or someone). |
| legend noun | /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/ | The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend). |
| trophy noun | /ˈtɹoʊfi/ | An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement. |
| bench noun | /ˈbɛnt͡ʃ/ | A long seat with or without a back, found for example in parks and schools. |
| immortal adjective | /ɪˈmɔɹtəl/ | Not susceptible to death; living forever; never dying. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| achievement noun | /əˈt͡ʃiːv.mənt/ | The act of achieving or performing; a successful performance; accomplishment. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| knockout noun | /ˈnɑk.oʊt/ | The act of making one unconscious, or at least unable to come back on one's feet within a certain period of time; a TKO. |
| medal noun | /ˈmɛdəl/ | A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object. |
| extraordinary adjective | /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/ | Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual. |
| shake verb | /ˈʃeɪk/ | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
| preparation noun | /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/ | The act of preparing or getting ready. |
| toilet verb | /ˈtɔɪ.lət/ | To assist another (a child, etc.) in using a toilet. |
| crucial adjective | /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/ | Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. |
| run through verb | To summarise briefly. |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. |
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. |
| come under verb | To come underneath (something). |
| come up against verb | To face (someone, something) in a match, problem, competition or fight. |
| draw together verb | To cause (someone) to seek emotional support from each other; to cause to pull together or come together. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 61 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, interpreter /ɪnˈtɝ.pɹɪ.tɚ/, stability /stəˈbɪlɪti/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like defend, legend, trophy.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is required · be considered · be liked |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has achieved · has become · I've just done |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who is · someone who would · someone who taught |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.