Karina LeBlanc – Save
Oct 11 2011
Intro
Karina LeBlanc is a goalkeeper. She is the last person who can stop the opponent from scoring, and very few balls get past her. She has appeared in more games for the Canadian Women’s National Team than any other goalkeeper in the history of the team. She is one of the best keepers in the world.
The goalkeeper has a lot of functions, but the most important one is to make saves. That’s how the keeper directly keeps the opponent from scoring. We recently spoke with Karina about the term “save” both on and off the pitch.
Dialogue
Jason: Welcome to English, baby! I am Jason here with Karina LeBlanc, goalkeeper for the Canadian national soccer team. We’re going to talk about some keeper terminology today.
Karina: Well, a “save” is when you come up with a big save. I mean obviously, you stop the ball from going in the goal. That’s you doing your job. You’re saving the ball from going in the goal. But usually the slang is, “The keeper made a save,” or “Make a save,” stuff like that.
Jason: On the field, what goes into making a save?
Karina: I think the mentality is just that, “You know what? The ball is not gonna get by me. I’m gonna move my feet, I’m get in front of the ball, I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make sure they cannot score.” So that’s me making the save. I think the mentality of goalkeepers is that you understand that you are the last line of defense, so for you, you just want to do whatever it takes to make sure the ball doesn’t get in the back of the net, because when it does, you’re disappointed.
Jason: And then do you, outside of soccer, like with money and stuff, do you save?
Karina: I save a lot. Actually, no. It depends on where we are. If we’re shopping, there is no saving. Saving is when you actually
put the money in…keep it in your pocket or put it in the bank account. I like to shop, so when I’m shopping, I’m not saving, I’m spending, which is the exact opposite. I like to spend.
Karina: English, baby! Woo!
Discussion
Karina introduces the term “save”, which is very important to a goalkeeper. When you make a save, you stop the ball from going in the goal. She says she does what ever she can to come up with a save every time because it doesn’t feel good when she fails.
Outside of soccer, “save” means to keep your money and not spend it. Karina says she likes to shop. When you shop, you spend money, which is the opposite of saving.
Do you like to play goalkeeper? What do you think is the best way to make a save? Are you better at saving or spending?
Grammar Point
Present Progressive Tense
Karina loves to shop. She says, “When I’m shopping, I’m not saving, I’m spending.” She uses the present progressive tense to talk about actions that take place over time.
You can form the present progressive tense with be + verb + ing, as in, “We are watching Karina play” or “Karina is defending the goal.”
Just remember to make sure you change the form of the verb be to match the subject of the sentence. You should say I am, he/she is, you are, we are, and they are, followed by a verb ending in “ing”.
Which is correct, “I are practicing to become a better goalie” or “I am practicing to become a better goalie”?
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