As a committed football fan (or soccer fan, as the Americans would say), I thought the first 'SPOT THE MISTAKES' exercise on this blog should be about the World Cup.
These exercises are intended for non-native speakers of English, and in most cases the level will be advanced.
In the ten sentences about the World Cup that I've written below, there are a total of eight mistakes: can you spot them and then correct them? In my experience they are the kind of mistakes that might be made by non-native writers of English even if they have already become very proficient in the language.
Note that two of the ten sentences do not contain a mistake, and that no sentence contains more than one mistake.
In some cases it might be possible to correct a mistake in more than one way.
The answers will be revealed here soon!
1. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal is the early leader in the race to win the Golden Boot in this World Cup, having marked four goals so far.
2. This is the first time that Russia has hosted the World Cup.
3. Spain against Portugal, a wonderfully exciting game, has taken place on 15 June.
4. Of all the countries that have ever taken part on the World Cup, Iceland has the smallest population.
5. So far, no match has ended in a 0-0 drew.
6. The Swiss defenders faulted Neymar many times in the Brazil v Switzerland game.
7. England managed to win Tunisia 2-1, with a winning goal by Harry Kane in the last minute.
8. Germany started badly, with a 1-0 defeat against Mexico.
9. Of all the Russian host cities, Ekaterinburg is the most east.
10. There has been one victor so far by an African country, when Senegal beat Poland 2-1.