Deportes: "España hunde a Inglaterra" de John Carlin

In El País this weekend, there's a brilliant post from John Carlin about the historical relationship between England and Spain - from the sinking of the Armada to the present-day dominance of Spain in the world of football.  It's wonderful whether you like football or not - and even whether you care about history or not.  This is the text we're going to look at today.

First some comprehension questions to help you understand what it's about.  As always, try and predict the answers, even before you read the text itself:

1. In the opinion of the writer, what has defined England's sense of itself since 1588?
2. What helped to undermine this sense of itself in the 20th century?
3. Before, when England qualified for the final phase of a football competition, what was the reaction of the English tabloids and press in general?
4. In the opinion of the writer, was this a reasonable reaction?
5. What has changed since England got through to the final phase of the Eurocopa?  What has been the reaction of commentators and football pundits this time round?
6. Who does most of the press think England will not be able to beat?
7. What's the difference between the Spain from last year's World Cup in South Africa and this year?  What does Spain do better now?
8. In the opinion of the writer, what are English footballers seriously missing?  And what other thing do they also need to acquire?

You can find the original text here and the Google translation here.  But please try and resist the temptation to look at the translation for as long as possible!!!  The important thing is to practise your ability to survive by understanding from context and reading for gist (general meaning).  Remember, when you actually go to a Spanish-speaking country, you won't be able to use your teacher to help you!

:-)

And we'll publish model answers to the comprehension questions tomorrow via newsletter - so if you want to keep up-to-date with those, why not subscribe now?