Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Spain will play Belgium in the World Cup quarterfinal on Friday. The game is at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Spain has a very strong defense. In five games so far, no team has scored a goal against Spain.
Belgium has a star player named Kevin De Bruyne. He rested during the last game, so he is fresh and ready to play now.
But Belgium also has bad news. A player named Amadou Onana hurt his knee badly. He cannot play anymore in this World Cup.
- quarterfinal
- one of the last eight matches before the final
- defense (sports)
- the players and plays that try to stop the other team from scoring
- goal
- a point scored in soccer, or the place where a team tries to score
- rest (verb, sports)
- to not play in a game so a player can recover energy
- fresh (sports)
- not tired; full of energy
- injury
- damage to a part of the body
- knee
- the joint in the middle of the leg
- tournament
- a series of games to find a winner
Level 2 — Elementary
Spain and Belgium meet in a World Cup quarterfinal on Friday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, a matchup pitting Spain's suffocating defense against one of the tournament's most dangerous attacks.
Spain has reached the last eight without conceding a single goal, keeping five clean sheets across five matches, a remarkable defensive record built around Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte.
Belgium enters the match with Kevin De Bruyne expected to return to the starting lineup after being rested entirely during the team's win over the United States. De Bruyne remains Belgium's creative hub, credited with 18 shots across the tournament's five matches so far.
The good news is tempered, however, by the loss of midfielder Amadou Onana, who suffered a torn ACL during the victory over the United States and will miss the remainder of the tournament, a significant blow to Belgium's midfield depth.
- suffocating (figurative)
- extremely restrictive or overwhelming
- concede (sports)
- to allow the opposing team to score
- clean sheet
- a match in which a team does not allow any goals
- lineup
- the group of players chosen to start a match
- creative hub
- the player who generates most of a team's attacking ideas
- torn ACL
- a serious knee ligament injury
- remainder
- what is left; the rest
- depth (sports)
- the quality of players available beyond the starting lineup
Level 3 — Intermediate
Spain and Belgium collide in a World Cup quarterfinal on Friday at SoFi Stadium, pitting Spain's historically stingy defensive record against Belgium's newly reinforced attacking unit.
Spain has advanced to the last eight without conceding a single goal, having posted five consecutive clean sheets built on a well-organized backline anchored by Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte, while Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena have supplied the attacking spark from the flanks.
Belgium, meanwhile, is expected to welcome back Kevin De Bruyne to its starting eleven after manager Domenico Tedesco elected to rest him entirely during the team's win over the United States. De Bruyne remains the fulcrum of Belgium's creativity, having registered 18 shots across the competition, the most capable player on the roster of unlocking a resolutely compact Spanish defensive block.
The reinforcement is offset, however, by the loss of Amadou Onana, whose torn ACL sustained during the United States match will sideline him for the remainder of the tournament, depriving Belgium's midfield of a key ball-winner just as the stakes intensify.
- stingy (figurative, sports)
- giving up very little, especially goals
- backline
- the group of defenders on a soccer team
- anchored (figurative)
- held firmly in place by a central element
- flanks
- the wide left and right sides of the field
- fulcrum
- the central point on which something depends
- compact (tactical)
- tightly organized with little space between players
- sideline (verb)
- to prevent someone from participating due to injury
- ball-winner
- a midfielder skilled at regaining possession of the ball
Level 4 — Advanced
Spain and Belgium collide in a World Cup quarterfinal on Friday at SoFi Stadium, juxtaposing Spain's historically parsimonious defensive record against a Belgian attacking unit newly reinforced by the return of its foremost creative force.
Spain has advanced to the last eight without conceding a single goal, having compiled five consecutive clean sheets underpinned by a meticulously organized backline anchored by Marc Cucurella, Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte, while Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena have supplied the attacking incisiveness from the flanks.
Belgium, for its part, is poised to reintegrate Kevin De Bruyne into its starting eleven after manager Domenico Tedesco elected to rest him entirely during the team's victory over the United States. De Bruyne remains the fulcrum of Belgium's creative apparatus, having registered 18 shots across the competition, the player best positioned to unpick a resolutely compact Spanish defensive block that has thus far proven impervious.
This reinforcement is counterbalanced, however, by the loss of Amadou Onana, whose torn anterior cruciate ligament, sustained during the United States match, will sideline him for the tournament's remainder, depriving Belgium's midfield of a formidable ball-winner precisely as the stakes intensify.
- juxtaposing
- placing side by side for contrast or comparison
- parsimonious (figurative)
- extremely sparing or frugal; here, conceding very little
- meticulously
- with great attention to detail
- incisiveness
- sharpness and precision of action or thought
- reintegrate
- to bring back into a group or system
- apparatus (figurative)
- the system or machinery by which something operates
- impervious
- unable to be affected or penetrated
- counterbalanced
- offset by an opposing force or factor
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