2006年NPR美国国家公共电台七月-Europe Monopolizes World Cup Semifinals（在线收听） |
| On this American holiday, we have a report on the most international sports competitions, the 1st semifinal match in Soccer's World Cup will be played today in Germany. The host country takes on Italy. On Wednesday France and Portugal meet, rounding out an all European final four. To talk about the action is soccer analyst Seamus Malin. ----Good to have you with us. ----Thank you, good to be with you. Lynn. ----So I guess at the beginning of this World Cup, no one would have imagined a semifinal without Brazil, what happened? ----Brazil, I think, got victimized by putting on the field a team of 11 superstars. Everybody looked at the 11 names on the sheets and said, my goodness, what talent in every position. But there came the weakness. It was not really a team. They never played a comprehensive style that works. They simply could not gel at the time when they needed it most. But France was prepared for them and comprehensively outplayed them and deserved to win. ----How unusual is it for the semifinal line-up to be all European? ----It is really not all that unusual when the matches are played in Europe. In fact, it has been a perennial problem for teams from outside Europe to make the final four. It just doesn't happen very much. The last time in fact a Latin American team won the World Cup in Europe was in Sweden 1958 when of course Brazil beat Sweden, the host country. ----Any explanation for that? ----Well, certainly the host teams in Europe have their definite home field advantage. On the other hand, Brazil and Argentina have many, many players who play with club teams in Europe. So this time around, it was a bit more of a surprise because unfamiliarity with the geography should not have been an obstacle. ----Well, let's talk about the match between Germany and Italy, what will you be looking for in this match? ----The Italians have quietly managed to get themselves into the semifinal and sort of moving along quietly, not really overwhelming anybody, And then you look around and you said 'Oh, My goodness. It is Italy again.' They have given up only one goal and that was scored inadvertently by one of their own players. Germany, on the other hand, has been on an absolute incredible ride. Everybody wrote them off before the championship. Now, all of a sudden, they have come on like gangbusters and had a wonderful result against Argentina, convinced everybody that they were ready for it, and Italy is (the) team to beat here, unless it goes to a penalty shoot-out, in which case you can turn off the TV and count on Germany winning it. ----And when France and Portugal take the field, what do you expect to see there? ----Aha, that's a wonderfully intriguing match-up. Portugal, nobody expected them to be quite this far. They did a very good job in their group. And then they knocked off England in a grueling match. They take on a French side that had a dreadful beginning but may have found the formula that always seems to work in World Cups, that is to begin indifferently, maybe even poorly, and then gradually build confidence and suddenly, just at the right time, gel. They gelled wonderfully against Spain and was a preseason favorite, and of course, they knocked out Brazil. So I think they are now our favorites to beat Portugal, who had two very grueling physical matches to play in last 2 rounds. ----And in the end, do you care to speculate on who's going to walk away with the trophy? ----Well, France, Italy are the 2 I'm picking, but these are 4 teams very, very evenly matched. But if it does get to Italy-France, you always put your money on Italy from these big matches. But France to me has managed to capture the formula in Zinedine Zidane, just about to retire. They have found a man who has suddenly re-found his youth and is playing better than he's ever played before and he could be the single individual who could bring the championship back to France. ----Well, thanks for talking with us, Seamus. ----You're welcome. ----Soccer analyst Seamus Malin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- round out:fill out;完成(成功,圆满结束) gel(=jell)::if two or more people gel, they start working well together as a group;象一个团队合作 outplay:to beat an opponent in a game by playing with more skill than they do;击败,胜过 line-up:the players in a sports team who play in a particular game;在某种比赛中属于同一队的一组球员组合. perennial:continuing or existing for a long time, or happening again and again; 长期的, 永久的 unfamiliarity:to not have any experience of something;无经验的,不熟悉的 look for:expect; 期待 goal:the action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing this; (球赛等的)得分 score:to give a particular number of points in a game, competition, test, or experiment;得分 gangbuster:very eagerly and with a lot of energy, or very quickly;扫荡流氓的执法者 penalty shoot-out:an occasion when each team in a football match takes penalty kicks until one team misses the goal - used as a way of deciding which team will win when the ordinary part of the match has ended in a draw;罚点球决胜负 count on:to depend on someone or something, especially in a difficult situation; 依靠, 指望 ttake the field:go on the playing field, of a football team;开始比赛 intriguing:something that is intriguing is very interesting because it is strange, mysterious, or unexpected; 迷人的, 有迷惑力的, 引起兴趣(或好奇心)的 grueling:very difficult and tiring; 非常困难和疲劳的;严惩的,重罚的. preseason:preseason matches, training etc happen in the time immediately before a sport's normal season;(世界杯)预赛的,热身赛的 |
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