国外媒体:德西大战 "章鱼哥"预测西班牙胜

Sorry Germany, the mystic mollusc has spoken

Soccer fans across Germany will be hoping a "psychic¹" cephalopod's fabled² skills of prophecy have failed him after Paul the octopus³ predicted a German loss in their World Cup semi-final with Spain.

With a 100 percent record so far, the British-born aquarium⁴ dweller⁵ at Sea Life in Oberhausen, western Germany has become a celebrity⁶ having correctly predicted a series of German wins and even Germany's surprise group stage loss to Serbia.

On Tuesday, Paul once again was given the choice of picking food from two different plastic containers lowered into his tank -- one decorated with a Spanish flag and one with a German flag.

The container which Paul opens first is seen as his pick.

He settled on both containers at first in a sign of hesitation⁷ before opening the box with the Spanish flag.

The decision was broadcast live on several news channels in Germany, although commentators⁸ immediately cast doubt over the prediction by Paul, who was born in Weymouth, England.

While Paul has been faultless at the World Cup so far, he is not infallible - at Euro 2008 he incorrectly picked Germany as the victor against Spain.

南非当地时间7月7日20点30分（北京时间8日凌晨2点30分），世界杯半决赛在德班球场继续进行，此前相继大比分淘汰英格兰、阿根廷等强队的德国队，与08年欧洲杯冠军得主西班牙队争夺一张决赛门票。西班牙全场占优，普约尔在第73分钟利用角球机会头球得分，帮助球队以1比0力克德国队，与荷兰队会师决赛，本届世界杯也将诞生第8支世界冠军。

　　本场比赛是德国队在世界杯历史上的第98场比赛，他们也超越巴西的97场，成为世界杯历史上参赛场次最多的球队。主帅勒夫继续排出451阵型，后防线上，拉姆、默特萨克、A.弗里德里希和J.博阿滕一字排开，施魏因斯泰格与赫迪拉坐镇后腰，特罗霍夫斯基顶替累积两张黄牌停赛的T.穆勒，与厄齐尔和波多尔斯基组成攻击型中场，打入4球的克洛泽继续充当单箭头。

　　西班牙同样以451应战，皮克与普约尔搭挡中卫，拉莫斯、卡普德维拉分居两侧，中场方面，布斯克茨与哈维·阿隆索组成双后腰，哈维担任前腰，伊涅斯塔与小将佩德罗分居两侧，状态不佳的托雷斯坐到了替补席上，比利亚一人突前。

　　开场后场波，第4分钟，场上出现戏剧性一幕，有一名球迷冲入场内，被保安拉出，比赛短暂中断。第6分钟，西班牙获得良机，佩德罗弧顶右侧巧妙直塞，比利亚反越位成功后铲射，被出击的诺伊尔用身体挡出。第14分钟，西班牙队角球配合，伊涅斯塔右路传中，普约尔小禁区线上头球冲顶，球居然高出横梁！上半时前15分钟，西班牙队占据绝对优势。 

1 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。

2 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

4 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

5 dweller   

n.居住者，住客

参考例句：

• Both city and town dweller should pay tax.城镇居民都需要纳税。
• The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.城市居民从未经历过这种担忧。

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

8 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》