Double-click on any word and see its definition from Cambridge Dictionaries Online

For most people in Britain, Christmas is the time to be with the family and friends. It’s a time when we get a week off work or school too! But what if you are a Premier League footballer with several important games to play over the holiday period? Read this fictional Footballer’s Diary to find out what Christmas might be like!

23 December – the day before Christmas Eve

Blast! Lisa put my kit (and boots!) in the washing machine with our daughter’s red school socks. My socks are pink, and my football shirt has gone from white to pink too. The manager’ll kill me!

24 December – Christmas Eve

Bloody car wouldn’t start this morning. Had to get the tube to the training ground. It was our last training day before our match against Norwich. Charlie came with me and watched as we did our training routine. It was pretty intense. After the celebrations following our victory against Southampton 6 days ago, me and the lads were not in good shape.

The manager told us that one victory is not enough. ‘WHEN we’ve beaten Norwich, Crystal Palace, Everton and Manchester United (this is the really tough one), then we can celebrate.’

Charlie told me that I looked very pretty in pink!

25 December – Christmas Day

The rest of the family came round for Christmas lunch. Went for a ride round the block for some light training before they arrived. I got some new white socks from Lisa. White laces from Charlie (she’d taken them off her plimsolls) and mum and dad got me a football kit (unfortunately it was an Arsenal football kit!) – they’ll never understand football!

26 December – Norwich Away, 3.00pm

There was a good feeling on the coach down to Norwich. We felt this would be an easy three points, but at half time the score was still 0-0. In the next half Jermaine, our top scorer, was tackled by Norwich’s Bentley. Jermaine was down rolling around in agony. He was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.  We knew we would have to fight hard to win the game…then Freddie passed me the ball. I passed it to Keano, who ran with the ball then slid it back to me. A few seconds later our fans were cheering…I had scored! The 90 minutes were up and the score was 1-0. I had scored the winning goal!

Lisa and Charlie told me I was their hero! I will sleep well tonight.

27 December

Training as usual. Car still not working – got the number 42 to the training ground and all the lads laughed when they saw me get off. They were still patting me on the back for my winning goal though! Tomorrow we play at White Hart Lane against Crystal Palace.

28 December

It’s great playing on your own ground with all your fans cheering for you. But we needed Jermaine. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t play.

It wasn’t the best football we’d played. The final score was 0-0. Drove home feeling very disappointed. Charlie told me to cheer up. She said ‘Dad, it could have been worse, you could’ve lost!’

31 December – New Years Day

Knackered! Training at 7 this morning, home at 6pm and now it’s 10pm. I’m already in bed. Not sure if I’ll be able to sleep though, as I’m feeling quite nervous about tomorrow’s game.

Most of the population of Britain is out partying tonight. For me, all I can think about is tomorrow’s game against Everton.

12am – Woken by celebrations in the street below my window. The countdown to New Year’s Day could be heard…10,9,8…I ran downstairs and me, Lisa and Charlie gave each other a hug.

1 January – Home v Everton 15.00

Jermaine was back in the team! It was great to have the full squad back again, although we still couldn’t help feeling nervous about playing Everton. ‘Jolly’ said we had ended the year supremely well and he knew that we would continue to play fantastic football.

By the end of the 1st half, the score was 1-0 to Everton. As we came back on the pitch for the second half a supporter shouted to us ‘This half, show them how to play!’ We all smiled and felt uplifted.

I scored making the score 1-1. There were about 4 minutes to go when Jermaine scored our 2nd goal. We went wild and so did the crowd. The whistle was blown and we had WON!!!

We all celebrated at the pub but I got a cab home early as we all knew that we had to keep fit and be well prepared for the next big game in 2 days time. Manchester United here we come!

Activities

If you would like to practise your English, try the following activites:

Decide if statements about the text are True or False

Match words and phrases from the text to their definitions

Your turn

What do you think of this article? Send us your opinion.