A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
世界杯淘汰赛：奥亚萨瓦尔梅开二度，西班牙三比零奥地利
World Cup Knockout: Oyarzabal's Brace — Spain Beat Austria 3-0
About this story
An easy Chinese listening lesson on the World Cup knockouts: Oyarzabal scores twice and Porro adds one as Spain's passing game overwhelms Austria 3-0. HSK 2 vocabulary on possession play, assists, and a clean sheet.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 7 key vocabulary words such as 控制、差距、地方 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today we're talking about a World Cup knockout game: Spain beat Austria three to zero with ease.
In this game, Spain had the upper hand from start to finish.
First, a word on Spain.
Spain is a very famous, strong team, and won the World Cup many years ago.
Their style of play is lovely to watch — they like to pass the ball one touch at a time and slowly control the game.
Today, they showed off this style to the full.
Alright, let's look at the game.
From the start, Spain seized the initiative.
They passed and attacked non-stop, pinning Austria in their own half.
In the thirty-sixth minute, the first goal came.
Cucurella passed from the left, Oyarzabal got into position and scored — one to zero.
Spain led, and played with more and more confidence.
In the second half, Spain kept attacking.
In the sixty-sixth minute, Porro scored another — two to zero.
Austria wanted to pull one back, but simply couldn't win the ball, which was miserable for them.
Spain kept control of the ball, passing one touch at a time, running Austria ragged.
In the eighty-ninth minute, again Cucurella passed and Oyarzabal scored again.
Three to zero!
This was his second goal today.
In the end, Spain won the game comfortably, without conceding a single goal.
Here's something very special.
Actually, Spain hadn't won so beautifully in a World Cup knockout for many years.
The last time they won like this goes back a very long way.
So this big win means a great deal to them.
So, how should we view this game?
For Spain, this is a near-perfect win.
They both kept the ball and scored, doing very well at both ends.
Oyarzabal scoring both goals himself was the biggest hero today.
For Austria, losing is of course a shame.
They ran into a red-hot Spain, and there really was a gap in quality.
But reaching the knockout stage is already no small feat for them.
That's Spain three to zero Austria, a complete win that belonged to Spain.
See you next match.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇考纲词。牢牢掌握、说了算。西班牙一直控制着球。
考纲词。两者之间的差别。实力上确实有差距。
HSK 1-2. place.
HSK 1-2. to start / to begin.
占优势、压着对手打。西班牙从头到尾都占据了上风。
把球传给队友。西班牙喜欢一脚一脚地传球。
分数更多、走在前面。西班牙一比零领先。
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法从头到尾
'From start to finish' — throughout.
西班牙从头到尾都占据了上风。
根本…不…
'Simply cannot…' — emphatic inability.
奥地利根本抢不到球。
又…又…
'Both… and…' — two things at once.
他们又控球、又进球。
Proper Nouns
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