Project Time: June 2014

Jumbled paragraph and gapped text

By: Lucía Sosa

Level: intermediate

1-     put the paragraphs in order:

a- Gonzalo Higuain, Rodrigo Palacio and Messi himself all passed up clear opportunities chances to put Argentina in front before Gotze struck seven minutes from time.

b- Argentina captain Lionel Messi regretted his side's missed chances after Germany beat his side 1-0 in the FIFA World Cup Final™ on Sunday thanks to Mario Gotze's extra time goal.

c- And Messi insisted it was hard to take consolation from carrying his country to the final for the first time in 24 years in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.

d- "There is sadness to finish in this way, I think we deserved a little more today", said the Barcelona star. "The best chances were ours and between the forwards we couldn't take them," he told Direct TV.

e- "After a long time not getting past the quarter-finals we managed to get to the final, but today there is the disappointment of having lost in the last minutes of extra time."

f- Messi was still crowned as the player of the tournament for his performances and four goals in seven matches. However, he insisted the individual award was scant consolation for missing out on a much bigger collective prize.

g- "We wanted to win the World Cup for all the people in Argentina and we couldn't do it," he said. "We tried, but we didn't have the luck we had in other games.

1-     ____

2-   ____

3-   ____

4-   ____

5-   ____

6-   ____

7-    ____

2-   Read this article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There’s one sentence that you won’t need.

In 1901 Uruguay played against Argentina in their first ever match, a close contest won by Argentina 3-2. Prior to 1916, Uruguay played more than 30 matches, of which all but one were against Argentina. The inaugural Copa America provided Uruguay with more varied opposition. 1-(___) The following year Uruguay hosted the competition, and retained the title by winning every game. The 1919 Copa America saw Uruguay's first defeat in the tournament, a 1–0 defeat in a playoff with Brazil which went to two periods of extra time, the longest Copa America match in history.



In 1924 the Uruguay team traveled to Paris to become the first South American team to compete in the Olympic Games. In contrast to the physical style of the European teams of the era, Uruguay played a style based around short passes,and won every game, defeating Switzerland 3–0 in the gold medal match. 2-(___) FIFA assumed the responsibility of the organization of the Football Games to be played by FIFA rules and the tournaments would be recognized as World Championships. It only happened twice (1924/1928 Summer Olympics Games) until the creation of it own FIFA World Championship (FIFA World Cup) in 1930.

The team that beat Brazil in the 1950 FIFA World Cup final to win Uruguay's secondFIFA World Cup



Following the double Olympic triumph, Uruguay was chosen as the host nation for the first World Cup, held in 1930, the centenary of Uruguay's first constitution. 3- (___). Due to the refusal of some European teams to participate in the first World Cup, the Uruguayan Football Association urged other countries to reciprocate by boycotting the 1934 World Cup played in Italy. For the 1938 World Cup, France was chosen as host, contrary to a previous agreement to alternate the Championships between South America and Europe, so Uruguay again refused to participate.



Uruguay again won the World Cup in 1950, beating host Brazil in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup History. The final was at the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil. Uruguay came from behind to beat the host nation in a match which would become known as the Maracanazo.

4- (___)

After their fourth place finish in the 1954 World Cup, the team had mixed performances and after the fourth place finish in 1970, their dominance, quality and performance dropped.

5- (___). They reached an all time low, and were at one time 76th in the FIFA rankings.



However, in 2010 a new generation of footballers created a team that is considered to be the best in the last 4 decades, and caught attention of many, by finishing fourth in the World Cup. A year later, they won the Copa America for the first time in 16 years and broke the record for the most successful team in South America.

6- (___). Two days after the match, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee banned Suárez for nine international matches. It was the longest such ban in World Cup history, exceeding the eight-match ban handed to Italy's Mauro Tassotti for breaking the nose of Spain's Luis Enrique at USA '94.Suárez was also banned from taking part in any football-related activity (including entering any stadium) for four months and fined CHF100,000 (approx. £65,700/€82,000/US$119,000).

Options:

a- In the 1928 Summer Olympics Uruguay went to Amsterdam to defend their title, again winning the gold medal after defeating Argentina 2–1 in the final.

b- They were no longer a world football power and failed to qualify for the World Cup on 5 occasions, in the last 9 competitions.

c- Victories over Chile and Brazil along with a tie against Argentina enabled Uruguay to win the tournament.

d- During a match against Italy in the 2014 World Cup, forward Luis Suárez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on his left shoulder.

e- Uruguay are the current reigning South American champions, having won the 2011 Copa América.

f- During the World Cup, Uruguay won all its matches, and converted a 1–2 half-time deficit to a 4–2 victory against Argentina at the Estadio Centenario.

g- Many Brazilians had to be treated for shock after the event, such was the surprise of Uruguay's victory.