Swansea ball boy | Bangkok Post: learning

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The talk of the football world today is about a 17-year-old Swansea ball boy who apparently wanted to play a bigger role than just throwing the ball back – and he did.

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Swansea ball boy, a hero or villain?

You rarely notice them, but there are ball boys at English Premier League football matches. Their job is simple: to throw the ball back when it is kicked off the pitch.

It appears that 17-year-old Charlie Morgan felt that ball boys could play a more important role. The son of Swansea director Martin Morgan, he was at the side of the pitch during Swansea's League Cup semi-final second leg at home against Chelsea.

Swansea had taken a 2-0 lead from the first match, so all the home team needed to do was keep Chelsea from leveling. By the 80th minute, with the score still 2-0, Chelsea was increasingly desperate.

The ball went off the pitch in the direction of Charlie Morgan.  When Chelsea's Eden Hazard rushed to retrieve it, he found Morgan was lying on top of it, seemingly with no intention of giving it back quickly. After unsuccessful attempts to free the ball from Morgan’s control, Hazard attempted to kick it out from under the ball boy, apparently hitting his ribs instead.

Seventeen-year-old Charlie Morgan grimaces after being kicked by Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. AFP

Morgan cried out in pain and Hazard was shown a straight red card by referee Chris Foy for violent conduct.

The incident was the talk of the football world yesterday, especially since Morgan had tweeted what seemed to be a message indicating that he would be time-wasting during the match: "The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting."

While fans were divided over the Chelsea player’s conduct, many prominent players defended Hazard’s actions.

The most outspoken was Pat Nevin who told a BBC radio audience, he would have done the same thing.

"I would have kicked the ball out from underneath the ball boy if he had been lying like that, 100 per cent," the former Chelsea player said.

"I was very, very disappointed by the way the ball boy acted, and I say 'acted'," he said.

"He must have been watching footballers, the way he rolled around and pretended to be more injured. He only has one job and his job is to go and give the ball back, and what did he do? He keeps the ball.

After the match, Morgan and Hazard had a chat and apologised to each other, but the Chelsea player is still likely to face an investigation by the Football Association.

villain – a bad character in a play, film or story ตัวร้าย
rarely – not happening often นานๆ ครั้ง, ไม่บ่อย
simple – easy to understand; not complicated ง่าย,ไม่ยุ่งยาก, ไม่ซับซ้อน
pitch – an area painted with lines for playing particular sports, especially football สนามฟุตบอล
appear – to seem ดูเหมือนจะ, ดูเหมือนว่า
play a role – to carry out a particular function or duty มีบทบาท
semi-final (or semifinal) – one of the two games that are played immediately before the last game in a sports competition. The two people or teams who win the semifinals play each other in the last game, called the final, to decide who wins the competition  การแข่งขันกีฬารอบรองชนะเลิศ
leg – one part of a competition ผลัดหนึ่งในเกมการแข่งขันกีฬา
level – (in sports) to score a goal causing the teams to have the same score ทำให้เสมอ
desperate – feeling or showing that you have little hope and are ready to do anything without worrying about danger to yourself or others ทิ้งไพ่ตาย, อย่างเอาเป็นเอาตาย
rush – to move or do something very quickly รีบเร่ง, วิ่ง
retrieve – to get something back ได้กลับคืนมา
intention – a plan in your mind to do something ความตั้งใจ เจตนา แผนการ
apparently – based only on what you have heard or think, not on what you are certain is true; seemingly ตามที่ได้รู้มา
rib – one of the long curved bones that are in your chest กระดูกซี่โครง
grimace – to make an ugly expression with your face to show pain, disgust, etc ทำหน้าตาบูดเบี้ยว,แหกหูแหกตา, ทำหน้าบูดบึ้ง
violent – involving or caused by physical force that is intended to hurt or kill somebody รุนแรง, ร้ายแรง, สาหัส
conduct – the way someone behaves, especially in relation to particular rules or accepted ways of behaving ความประพฤติ
incident – something that happens, usually something bad เหตุการณ์
indicate – to show that something is true, exists or will happen แสดง, ทำให้รู้
appearance – an act of appearing in public การปรากฎตัว
divided – split by disagreements or different opinions  มีความเห็นที่แตกต่างกัน, แบ่งแยก
prominent – important and well known สำคัญ, มีชื่อเสียง, เด่น
defend – to say things to support someone or something ปกป้อง
outspoken – giving your opinion strongly and honestly, even if other people do not like it พูดโผงผาง,พูดตรงไปตรงมา,พูดจาเปิดเผย
audience – the people who watch/listen to an event happen ผู้ชม
disappointed – unhappy because someone or something was not as good as you hoped or expected, or because something did not happen ผิดหวัง
pretend – to behave as if something is true when you know that it is not, especially in order to deceive people or as a game แกล้งทำว่าเป็นจริง
injured – hurt in an accident or attack ซึ่งได้รับบาดเจ็บ
apologise – to say you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem ขอโทษ
investigation – the process of trying to find out all the details or facts about something การสอบสวน

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