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Which player has impressed me the most in the Premier League this season

  My stand out player to date in my view has been James Rodriguez of Everton FC.  He has taken to the Premier League "like a duck to water". The 29-year-old Columbia attacking midfielder was signed in the offseason from Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee believed to be around 20 million pounds.  He signed on a two-year contract for the Toffees. In the opening four games of the season James has scored three goals and assisted two and in general, has been at the hub of everything that Everton have done well in the attacking third of the pitch.  A huge factor getting James to the Premier League was the fact that his old manager who he played under at Real Madrid is the current Everton gaffer.  Italian Carlo Ancelotti is the man in question that attracted the flamboyant winger to the Premier League.  They had a very good relationship at Real Madrid and they wanted to rekindle that at Everton. James has formed a frightening partnership with Everton duo Rich...

Gyeongnam FC player profile: Marcão


Marcos Vinicius Amaral Alves known as Marcão was born in 1994 in Tiete of Sao Paulo.  At the tender age of just 12 years old, he joined Sao Paulo FC youth team.  However, in a strange turn of events, he fell out of love of football within six months and decided on a new career path.  He took up playing basketball instead.  He failed to get a professional contract so he did a u-turn and started playing football again for Ituano FC.  He played for the club for four years making just sixteen appearances scoring six goals.  Soon thereafter he was made available to be loaned out to other clubs to get minutes under his belt.




This is when Gyeongnam FC came calling for his services.  He signed on loan to the club in the early months of 2017.  Then after a blistering start to his career in Korea with the Reds', he signed with the club on a permanent deal halfway through the 2017 campaign.  He had scored seven goals in his first twelve games and he was playing at the top of his game.   In that season he was key in Gyeongnam FC gaining promotion back into the K League 1 scoring 23 goals in 33 matches.  He was rewarded for his efforts with him winning three prestigious awards at the end of season awards ceremony.   He took home the K League 2 most valuable player award, the K League 2 top scorer award, and he was selected in the best K League 2 team of the season.  A truly remarkable achievement for someone playing in Korea for the first time in their career.

Photo credit: Yonhap news

Promotion into K League 1 and for Marcão he was now gaining interest from overseas clubs from various countries but he pledged his future to the club and signed a new, improved one year contract with Gyeongnam FC.  In his first game in the top division of Korean football, he scored a hat trick against Sangju Sangmu FC.  He was a crowd favorite and he formed a great relationship with all his team-mates.  Standing at 6-foot-five-inches tall, he is a real threat to all defenses that played against him up and down the country.  He propelled Gyeongnam into a second-place finish in their return to the top flight.  He scored an unreal 26 goals in just 31 games and as a result, he won the K League 1 MVP award, along with the K League 1 top scorer award and he was selected into the K League 1 team of the season.  

Picture credit: Getty images

Due to his phenomenal performances, several high profile clubs came in for Marcão and in 2019 he made a big-money move to play for Chinese super league team Hebei China Fortune where he plays to this day.  In 26 games for them, the Brazilian has bagged himself 11 goals to date.

A highlight package of Marcão.  Enjoy.




Key Words and Expressions


tender age- Somebody of a young age.


turn of events- Something that changed suddenly.


get minutes under his belt- For a player to play football and to build up their fitness.


blistering start-  A really fast start to something.


prestigious awards- An award wanted by many people.  


pledged- To make a promise to someone.


hat trick- To score three goals in a single match.


propelled- To help someone or a team to an advanced level very quickly.


top flight- The top division in a sports competition.


phenomenal- An amazing thing/achievement.


Choose the correct word or expression to complete the sentences



Jack played amazing yesterday.  I was so proud of him, he scored a ____________________ and his team won 3-1.


Gyeongnam are currently playing in K League 2.  Their aim this season is to get promotion into the ___________________________.


WOW!  After only ten minutes Manchester City are already beating Arsenal 2-0.  They've made a __________________________ start to the game.


At the ________________________ of just 10 years old John signed his professional contract for Chelsea FC.


In a sudden ___________________________ the police came to my school saying someone had broken a window and they were there to investigate.


Daniel isn't quite ready to play first team football yet. so I think he needs to play in the reserves for a month to _____________________________________.  He'll come back a stronger player as a result.









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