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17.10 What more do I need to know about commenting
on tables?
Below is a table from Wikipedia showing some statistics on the famous World Cup

semi-final in which Brazil lost to Germany.
A typical mistake is to repeat information from the table. For example:

S1*. As shown in the table, the total number of goals scored was one on the part of the
Brazilian team and seven by the German team. The Brazilians achieved 18 shots,
whereas the Germans accounted for a lower number of shots, namely 14.

The type of commentary in S1 adds no value to the reader. It tells them nothing that they
could not have deduced for themselves. When commenting on a table, your job is to:

• interpret / discuss the results

• bring to the reader’s attention anything that is particularly meaningful or

signifi cant
• add further details that help to explain the results or which enable them to be

compared with previous results
For example, you could write:

S2. Although a close match was expected – both teams had reached the semi- fi nal unde-
feated – the result was a shocking loss for Brazil (see Table 1). For what was the fi rst time
in football history, Germany scored four goals in the space of six minutes. Despite achiev-
ing a greater number of shots, having 4% more possession and committing less fouls, and
having only two shots less on target, the Brazilians were humiliated. This result recalls

the 1952 final when Brazil were defeated by Uruguay.
Note that given that this is the Results section, you should reserve detailed interpre-
tations for the Discussion section.

Table 1 Match statistics Statistic Brazil Germany

Goals scored 1 7
Total shots 18 14
Shots on target 8 10
Ball possession 52% 48%
Corner kicks 7 5
Fouls committed 11 14
Offsides 3 0
Yellow cards 1 0
Red cards 0 0