France Held by Italy in Zidane's First Setback as Coach
Listen to the story
The French national football team played Italy at the Stade de France.
The match was part of the Nations League, a competition for European teams.
France did not win the game. It was a difficult result.
Zinédine Zidane is the new coach of France. This was his first hard moment as coach.
Zidane spoke about the match after it finished.
He said France played much better than Italy.
But France could not get the win they wanted.
Fans at the stadium felt frustrated too.
The team wanted three points, but they did not get them.
This was game three in their group.
France are in Group 1 of the Nations League.
Zidane will try to get a better result next time.
Vocabulary15 words
- coach
- a person who leads a sports team
- Nations League
- a football competition between European countries
- frustrated
- feeling upset because something did not go well
- Stade de France
- a big football stadium near Paris
- group
- a small set of teams that play each other
- era
- a period of time linked to one person or event
- match
- a game between two teams
- result
- what happens at the end of a game
- national team
- a team that plays for its country
- draw
- a game that ends with no winner
- points
- numbers teams get for winning or drawing games
- stadium
- a big place where sports games happen
- competition
- an event where teams try to win
- opponent
- the other team you play against
- fans
- people who support a team
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Stade de France 2. Nations League 3. Zinédine Zidane
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The French national football team played Italy at the _____.
The match was part of the _____, a competition for European teams.
France did not win the game. It was a difficult _____.
Zinédine Zidane is the new _____ of France.
This was his first hard moment as coach.
He said France played much better than _____.
But France could not get the win they wanted.
Fans at the stadium felt _____ too.
France are in Group 1 of the Nations League.
Zidane will try to get a better _____ next time.
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