Learn English Through Football Podcast: Seal a Spot In this football language podcast we look back at some of the language from this week's European action, including the phrase 'seal a spot'. You can read the transcript for this podcast below you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster. https://languagecaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/podcast.seal_.310125.mp3 Hello DB: You're listening to Languagecaster's Learning English Through Football Podcast. Hi there everyone. Welcome to the Learn English Through Footbal l Podcast. I'm you host Damon, and I'm talking to you from a bright, sunny, but cold Tokyo. It is the end of January, so that's no surprise. I imagine it is chilly in London too, where Damian, the other half of the team is based. Maybe his team's win, Tottenham, in the Europa League last night will warm him up a bit. How about where you are? What's the weather like, and more importantly, how is your favourite team doing? Did they win, lose or draw this week? Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Persian) DF: OK, that message, or stinger, was in Persian and we'll be hearing some more languages throughout the show - test your knowledge of languages and try and guess what languages they are. Here's one to get us started. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Turkish) Today's Show Right, I just mentioned Damian's team Tottenham and their 3-0 win against Swedish outfit, Elsborg. That means means Tottenham qualify for the last 16 knockout round. In this podcast, we will look at phrases that mean to qualify for, and different ways to say this in football. To Seal a Place (Tottenham Hotspur) Our first phrase is from a Guardian report on the Spurs vs Elsborg game: 'it was at least heartwarming for Tottenham to seal their place in the last 16 of the Europa League thanks to three academy products...'. In this sentence we have the verb phrase to seal a place - Tottenham sealed their place - in the last 16. To seal a place in the last 16 is to qualify for the last 16. The place is decided, it is sealed. http://gty.im/2196182665 Let's look at some variations for this phrase. First, we can change the noun 'place' for 'spot'; so seal a spot in. A little less common is 'berth' - seal a berth in. To Clinch a Spot (Liverpool) We can also choose from a variety of verbs. So, rather than seal a spot in, we can say, secure a spot in, or clinch a spot in. This last pattern was used in ESPN's report on the Champions League results: 'one of the only two losses (in the top 12) was suffered by a Liverpool team that had already clinched a spot in the top two.' So, we have a lot of options to talk about qualifying with these words. We can change the noun: to secure a place, or spot, a berth. Or the verb: to secure, to seal, to clinch. Remember, we also need to say what the team has qualified for: so, Tottenham secured a spot in the last sixteen in the Europa League.