#84- 16 Words for Mental Toughness: World Cup Edition

What does it take to win when everything is on the line?

In this episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, we’re heading to the World Cup to learn 16 real-life English idioms and phrasal verbs related to pressure, mental toughness, and winning.

In this episode, you’ll learn how English speakers talk about staying calm under pressure, fighting until the end, and performing when it matters most.

You'll learn useful expressions like:

• sink or swim
• raise the stakes 
• lock in
• rise to the occasion 

And more! 

And remember: these expressions aren't only useful when you're talking about sports. You can use them when talking about work, school, presentations, exams, interviews, business, and personal challenges, too.

And as a special bonus, download the FREE STUDY GUIDE!

Want to actually remember and use the vocabulary from this episode?

Download the free Study Guide that goes with this episode. It gives you extra practice and helps you get more exposure to the vocabulary so you can start using these expressions naturally in your own English.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of the RealLife English with Gabby podcast, you'll be learning 16 words for winning under pressure and mental toughness, World Cup edition. You'll be learning vocabulary like raise the stakes, edge out, go all out, hang in there, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to the podcast.

To all of the Spaniards listening to this podcast, I just wanna say congratulations. What a World Cup tournament we had. The World Cup was awesome this year. Here in New York City, we had front row to the whole world come through and watch the World Cup. I saw so many amazing cultures coming together, enjoying life, and it was honestly something that the world really needed.

The world was so united, more than ever before.

And for all of the other countries who tried but lost, your players tried their hardest. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner. I'm really happy that my team made it to the knockout round, but, you know, unfortunately, we did not win.

Maybe next World Cup, Team USA. And if your team didn't make it either, well, we have another four years, and in just two years we've got the Olympic Games, so maybe some of our football teams can win then. You know, I wanna tell you something really funny. In the last episode, episode number 83, I talked all about how New Yorkers are having such an amazing spring and summer season.

And do you know, right after that episode, guess what happened? New York City had some crazy, crazy stuff happen, and I think I jinxed it. You know, that means when you talk really good about something happening and then something bad happens, we say, "Oh, I jinxed it," like I brought bad luck. So first thing that happened is we had crazy heat.

Okay, so we had a crazy winter. You know this because I talked about it in a lot of the podcast episodes from winter. We had a crazy winter here with colder temperatures than we've had in, like, 20, 30 years. It was insane. We stayed home so many days over the winter. We had a lot of snow, cold temperatures.

Spring was pretty cool, [00:03:00] but they made two big predictions about this summer. They said New York City summer is gonna be thunderstorms and extreme heat. And guess what?

That's exactly what July has been. When I tell you it has been raining, flooding, thunderstorms, like, the past 10 days have been insane. Since the beginning of July, we've had crazy temperatures. See, here's the thing. If I'm gonna have a really cold winter, okay, but give me a good summer.

Summer has been insane. Absolutely insane. We had extreme heat and extreme flooding and weather. We've had trees falling. I don't know if you've seen videos on social media. If not, look up NYC flooding. Subways flooded. Like, it's been crazy. Thankfully, where I live in the south of Brooklyn, we don't get flooding that's that crazy.

Some places do, but it's just been crazy. And then on top of that, we had the smoke from Canadian wildfires. Five straight days of toxic air where the air quality alerts were so high they told children and older adults and people with respiratory, you know, breathing problems to stay inside. So my kids were inside.

And so it has been crazy. Now, finally, you know, as we are getting to the end of July, it seems like things are getting a little bit better, but we're trying to just enjoy every good day when it comes. Pretty much when we get one good day, we have to enjoy it because we don't know when the next good day is going to come.

We were riding high after the Knicks won, and everything was going great, and then bam! Mother Nature was like, "Nope, stop your celebrating." Here I am. And so, yeah, it's been a tough two weeks, and I was just laughing because I said, "I have to talk about this on the podcast," because I was just talking about how amazing it was to be a New Yorker, and now we are paying the price.

But anyway, back to the World Cup. Today's episode is all about mental toughness and winning under pressure, and it's got the flavor of the World Cup because I wanted to talk about sports and talk about the World Cup, but we've had sports episodes, including the previous episode, so I wanted to focus more on mental toughness and having a strong mindset because that is almost just as important as other components of sports and being an athlete.

By the way, we don't say sports player. We say athlete, A-T-H-L-E-T-E. This is anyone who plays [00:06:00] competitive sports.

Before I continue, I just wanna remind you that there is a free study guide waiting for you that has everything you need to really practice what you hear in the episode. It will help you go deeper and give you more exposure and more opportunities to remember what you learn and use them naturally. If you want the study guide, click the link in the episode description.

If you're already on my email list, that means that it's already in the folder that has all of the study guides.

All right. Now let's talk about the vocabulary that you're going to learn in this episode. Sink or swim, raise the stakes, when everything is on the line, face off, lock in, lose your nerve, crack under pressure, keep your cool, hang in there, in the heat of the moment, [00:07:00] go all out, neck and neck, the tide turns, hold off, edge out, and rise to the occasion. Now I'm going to read you a story that has all of the vocabulary used in real-life contexts.

Listen along and see if you can use context clues and critical thinking to figure out the meanings of the vocabulary. After I read the story, I will explain the definitions and give you some examples. All right, here we go. People often think that the best athlete is the strongest, fastest, or most talented.

But most coaches will tell you something different. At the highest level, success often depends on your mindset. When athletes [00:08:00] prepare for a championship, they know it's sink or swim. There are no second chances. Months and years of hard work can depend on a single game.

Let's take a look at the World Cup. As the tournament goes on and on, the pressure continues to grow. We see examples of this with the World Cup.

Teams start off strong with lots of hopes and dreams of making it to the final. But as the tournament continues, the pressure keeps growing. Every victory eliminates another team. Every match raises the stakes. By the time players reach the World Cup final, they know that everything is on the line.

Millions of fans are watching. Their countries are counting on them, and one mistake could [00:09:00] end their dream. On the day of the big final, before the last two teams even face off, the biggest battle often happens inside the players' minds. They have to block out the noise, ignore the pressure, and lock in on the next pass, the next shot, or the next decision.

Some athletes lose their nerve when the pressure becomes too much. They hesitate, second-guess themselves, and stop trusting their instincts. Others crack under pressure, rushing their decisions or making mistakes they normally wouldn't make.

The best athletes do something different. They keep their cool. They trust their training. They hang in there even when things aren't going their way.

Sometimes the entire competition [00:10:00] changes in the heat of the moment. One quick decision, one brilliant pass, or one incredible shot can completely change the outcome. That's exactly what happened in this year's FIFA World Cup final. Spain and Argentina had already defeated some of the best teams in the world to earn their place in the championship match.

From the opening whistle, both teams went all out. Every pass mattered. Every foul mattered. Every mistake could decide who would become world champion. For the entire ninety minutes of regular time, the two teams were neck and neck. Neither side could find the back of the net. The score remained zero zero, and the tension inside the stadium continued to build.

When the referee signaled for extra time, everyone knew the match had reached its most important moment. Then the tide turned. Only a few minutes into extra time, [00:11:00] Spain found a small opening. A perfectly timed pass broke through Argentina's defense, and Spain scored the first and only goal of the match.

After many attempts at the net through the match, they were finally able to get the ball past Martinez. As soon as that shot made it in, the stadium erupted. Argentina refused to give up, though. They desperately tried to get a goal before time ran out. Spain's defense had one job: hold off the pressure. The final minutes felt like they lasted forever. Each player was exhausted, but they stayed focused. They communicated with one another and continued making smart decisions under enormous pressure.

When that last whistle finally blew, Spain had managed to edge out Argentina [00:12:00] one-zero to become the World Cup champions. This victory wasn't just about talent; it wasn't just about strategy. The players who rose to the occasion weren't necessarily the fastest or the strongest.

They were the ones who stayed calm, trusted themselves, and performed when the pressure was at its highest, and that's a valuable lesson that goes far beyond sports. Whether you're giving a presentation or interviewing for your dream job, taking an English exam, or trying to achieve a more personal goal, there will always be moments when everything feels like it's on the line.

And it's those moments that require a very strong mindset. The end.

All right. Now let's get to the definitions and example sentences. First up, we have the idiom sink or swim. This is a really great idiom, and it's also used in [00:13:00] business. So sports mindset and business. Sink or swim means to be in a situation where you must succeed on your own or fail because there is no help available.

Imagine if you jump out of a boat into the ocean. There's no one there to help you. You have two choices. You either sink to the bottom or you swim and save yourself. That is what this idiom means. For example, the first week at my new job was sink or swim. A few new hires were let go, but I learned quickly and kept my job.

Next up, we have to raise the stakes. To raise the stakes means to make a situation more important, more difficult, or more risky by increasing what can be won or lost. This expression actually comes from gambling. The stakes are the money or [00:14:00] valuables that players risk during a game. So if you've ever played poker, and you played with little poker chips, fake money, the more you put in, the more you are raising the stakes. Some people go all in, and you say, "Ooh, you raised the stakes." Raising the stakes means increasing the amount that people can win or lose, and so it makes the situation much more important and much more risky. For example, the company raised the stakes by offering a huge cash prize to the winning team.

Next up, we have the expression when everything is on the line. This means when the outcome is extremely important and you could gain or lose everything. This expression also comes from gambling and other types of competition. The line refers to everything that you risk. You're all putting it on the line, and it can either [00:15:00] all go away or you can gain even more.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb face off. Face off means to compete or confront someone directly in a contest, a game, or some type of challenge. We use the word face to face someone to compete. So two teams are facing each other. We took face, and we made it into a phrasal verb, face off.

This actually comes from ice hockey because when people are about to play, they stand face to face, and then the referee drops the puck and the two teams try to get it and get a goal. For example, the two best chess players will face off in the championship tomorrow. Next up, we have another phrasal verb, lock in.

To lock in means to become completely focused and mentally prepared for a task or challenge, so it [00:16:00] really means to be mentally committed to one specific thing. For example, before giving her presentation, Maya locked in and ignored all distractions. Next up, we have to lose your nerve. This means to become too frightened or nervous to do something you had planned to do.

Nerve in English means courage or confidence. So sometimes someone does something and we say, "Wow, you have a lot of nerve. You have a lot of courage or confidence." So the opposite of that is to lose your nerve, and so you lose your confidence out of fear. For example, he wanted to ask for a promotion, but he lost his nerve at the last minute.

Next up, we have the expression to crack under pressure. This means to fail or make mistakes because of stress or high-pressure situations.

Think about glass or [00:17:00] ice. If too much pressure is applied to it, it begins to crack, and that is where this comes from. For example, even experienced speakers can crack under pressure during important presentations.

Next up, we have to keep your cool.

This means to stay calm and be in control during a really stressful or difficult situation. The word cool, I know it's like, "Oh, that person is so cool, hip, popular." But the word cool also is associated with calmness. So we say to people, "Hey, stay cool. Stay calm." And so here to keep your cool is to stay calm, and then we also have lose your cool.

This is when someone's emotions take control. So keep your cool, stay calm, stay in control. [00:18:00] For example, even when everyone else was panicking, James kept his cool and solved the problem.

Next up, we have hang in there. This means to continue trying and not give up even when something is difficult.

It's like if you're actually hanging from a bar or hanging from something and you just have to keep going and you can't let go. For example, hang in there, you've almost finished the semester.

Next up, we have in the heat of the moment. This is a very popular English expression, and it means that you are feeling strong emotions that may impact your judgment or your actions.

So, oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that. I was in the heat of the moment. Like, you were in the middle of feeling strong emotions, and they impacted your judgment. They impacted your actions. For example, [00:19:00] I didn't mean what I said. I was just speaking in the heat of the moment.

Next up, we have to go all out. This means to put in your maximum effort and do everything possible to succeed. For example, our team went all out to finish the project before the deadline.

Next up, we have to be neck and neck. We've talked about this previously. To be neck and neck means that the score is so close that neither person or neither team has a clear advantage. It also means that there is, like, the same score. Now, typically, for example, in the World Cup final, we could say, "Oh, they're neck and neck," because it's zero-zero. But we're more likely to use the expression, it's a tie. When there's a number, like if teams are one-one, two-two, we say it's a tie. But if it's a race where neither team has a [00:20:00] clear advantage, we typically say neck and neck.

For example, the two runners were neck and neck as they approached the finish line. Next up, we have the tide turns. This means that the situation changes, especially from a disadvantage to an advantage or vice versa. This is a really, really good idiom. It can be used for business, war and military battles, sports. This expression comes from the ocean. The tide is the regular rise and fall of the ocean, and it's typically caused by the moon. The tide often changes direction. Sometimes we have high tide when the water comes in a lot at the beach. Sometimes we have low tide where the water goes all the way far back. This is actually where this came from.

So it means a sudden change, either good [00:21:00] or bad. For example, everything looked hopeless until the tide turned and we found a solution.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb hold off. This means to prevent someone or something from advancing, succeeding, or causing problems for a period of time. For example, the firefighters managed to hold off the flames until more help arrived.

Next up, we have a really great phrasal verb that you typically don't see in books, and that is edge out. This is to defeat someone by a very small margin or a very small difference. When we say that someone has the edge, this typically means that we have a very small advantage.

If you edge someone out, you beat them. So we use edge out to say that you beat someone by a very small amount, and that's how [00:22:00] we would use it to describe the World Cup. Argentina was edged out by Spain. That's passive voice or active voice. Spain edged out Argentina. For example, our school edged out the competition by just one point.

And then lastly, we have to rise to the occasion. This means to perform exceptionally well when faced with a difficult challenge or an important moment. For example, although she was nervous at first, she rose to the occasion and gave an outstanding speech. Well, guess what? You just learned sixteen awesome vocabulary words and expressions that will help you talk about mental toughness, especially in regards to challenges, battles, or sports.

Next, if you haven't already downloaded [00:23:00] the study guide, go do that now, because I'm gonna give you some homework. The average person will listen to an episode and then never do anything to follow up. And yes, listening to this episode alone does great things for your English. But if you wanna take that to the next step...

Take a look at the study guide and use it to reinforce what you learned. This will help everything you hear to stick in your brain, and that will make you more likely to use it naturally while you're speaking or writing. So right now, go download the study guide, and then I want you to pick five vocabulary words or expressions from this episode, and I want you to try and use them.

You can use them in a lot of different ways.

But one of the main things I want you to do is practice using this out loud. You can say it to yourself, or you can record yourself reading this. Or even [00:24:00] better is teach it to a friend who's also learning English, because then you're actually speaking to a person. Or you can practice with a friend who is your same level.

However you do it, I want you to use the vocabulary out loud this week. Thanks so much for tuning in. See you in episode number 85.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.