ENGLISH 4- LISTENING PRACTISE 1

Name : Moh.Fauzi
Class: IF-1
Student No.: 195410033

LIONEL MESSI
A. CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORDS!
Lionel Andrés Messi was (1) birth / born on June 24, 1987, in the city of Rosario,
Argentina. Everyone knows him now as the (2) best / beast football player in the world.
In fact, a lot of people say he might become the greatest player (3) even / ever. We’ll (4)
see/watch about that at the World Cup. Messi is FIFA World Player of the Year. He also
helped his club team Barcelona (5) win / wins the European Champions League and the
World Club Championship.
Messi (6) grow/grew up playing football. He joined his first club when he was five.
At the age of eight, he signed (7) in/up for the famous Newell's Old Boys' youth team. His
career nearly ended when doctors found out he (8) suffered/suffering from a growth
hormone deficiency. Luckily, agents from Barcelona saw his (9) talented / talent and in
2000, he moved to Spain. The Catalan club paid for his medical treatment and coached
him until he (10) made/did his Barcelona debut.
Lionel started breaking (11) records/plates as soon as he played his first game for
Barcelona (12) at/in the 2004-05 season. He became the youngest footballer ever to play
a La Liga game and the youngest (13) for / to score a goal. He helped his team win the
league in his first season, and the league and Champions League (14) double / duo in the
following season. In the 2008-09 season, he scored an impressive 38 goals (15) was /
as Barcelona won the treble.
Messi has an amazing career (16) front / ahead of him. He is set to shine in South
Africa. Many football experts compare him (17) to / by the legendary Pele and Maradona.
This World Cup could be the (18) pitch/stage for him to show people he really is the best.
His skills on the ball, (19) ability/able to get past defenders, and his goal-scoring are
breathtaking. Top soccer coach Arsene Wenger said Messi is “like a PlayStation. He takes
advantage (20) for/of every mistake teams make”.
B. FILL IN THE GAPS!
Lionel Andrés Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in the city of Rosario, Argentina.
Everyone (1) knows him now as the best football player in the world. In fact, a lot of
people (2) say he might become the greatest player ever. We’ll (3) see about that at the
World Cup. Messi is FIFA World Player of the Year. He (4) also helped his club team
Barcelona win the European Champions League and the World Club Championship.
Messi (5) grew up playing football. He joined his first club when he was five. At the
age of eight, he (6) signed up for the famous Newell's Old Boys' youth team. His career
nearly ended when doctors found out (7) he suffered from a growth hormone deficiency.
Luckily, agents from Barcelona saw his talent and in 2000, he moved to Spain. The Catalan
club paid for his medical treatment and coached (8) him until he made his Barcelona
debut.
Lionel started (9) breaking records as soon as he played his first game for Barcelona
in the 2004-05 season. He became the youngest footballer (10) ever to play a La Liga game
and the youngest to score a goal. He helped his team win the league (11) in his first season,
and the league and Champions League double in the following season. In the 2008-09
season he scored an impressive 38 goals as Barcelona (12) won the treble.
Messi has an amazing career (13) ahead of him. He is set to shine in South Africa.
Many football experts compare him to the legendary Pele and Maradona. This World Cup
(14) could be the stage for him to show people he really is the best. His skills on the ball,
(15) ability to get past defenders and his goal-scoring are breathtaking. Top soccer coach
Arsene Wenger said Messi is “like a PlayStation. He (16) takes advantage of every
mistake teams make”.

What is your opinion about this Listening Practice?

Lionel Messi was born in Argentina near Rosario on 24 June 1987 and after showing
promise as a footballer he moved to Barcelona at an early age. The Catalan club had recognised
his talent and offered to pay for his medical treatment as he had a condition that affected his
growth and which had become too expensive for his family to pay. Messi joined Barca’s
underage sides and immediately made an impact moving up through the ranks quickly.

☺ THANK YOU ☺