Sweden Move Up, Portugal Lose at Home
Listen to the story
Sweden have been promoted in the Nations League after a strong win.
Striker Viktor Gyokeres scored twice to help his team move up a division.
The Nations League is a competition between European national football teams.
In a separate match, Portugal suffered a heavy defeat at home.
Ukraine players Trubin, Sudakov, and Kiwior were on the losing side, but it was Portugal who were beaten badly.
The result was described as Portugal's worst official home defeat.
Because of the loss, Portugal missed the chance to finish first in their group early.
Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva spoke after the game.
He said the performance was "very negative" and that the team must understand what went wrong.
Forward Gonçalo Ramos also criticised the team's performance.
He said Portugal played poorly both in attack and defence.
The comments suggest the players were unhappy with how the team performed.
Portugal remain in a strong position in the competition despite the loss.
Fans will now wait to see how the team responds in their next matches.
Vocabulary7 words
- Nations League
- a football competition between national teams in Europe
- division
- a level or group within a competition
- official
- recorded and recognised in records
- negative
- bad or not good
- attack
- the part of play where a team tries to score
- defence
- the part of play where a team tries to stop goals
- promoted
- moved up to a higher level
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Promotion 2. They suffered their worst official home defeat 3. It was poor in both attack and defence
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Sweden have been _____ in the Nations League after a strong win.
Striker Viktor Gyokeres scored twice to help his team move up a _____.
Portugal suffered a heavy _____ at home.
The result was described as Portugal's worst _____ home defeat.
Because of the loss, Portugal missed the chance to finish first in their _____ early.
Bernardo Silva said the performance was "very _____."
He said the team must understand what went _____.
Gonçalo Ramos said Portugal played poorly both in _____ and defence.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think promotion and relegation matter in competitions like the Nations League?
- How do players usually react after a bad home defeat?
- Why might honest comments from players like Bernardo Silva be important for a team?
- What could Portugal do to improve after this result?
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