2006年VOA标准英语-US Soccer Team Set for World Cup

By Jim Stevenson
Washington
03 May 2006

The final 23-man roster¹ for the U.S. World Cup soccer team has been unveiled. VOA's Jim Stevenson reports the squad² is a blend of veterans and newcomers who will play in Germany in June.

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Bruce Arena³    
  

U.S. coach Bruce Arena named 12 players Tuesday who were part of the successful 2002 World Cup squad that reached the quarterfinals in South Korea and Japan, the best showing by the United States since 1930.

Arena added 11 players who are joining the team for the first time. Overall, 12 of the players come from European clubs, and 11 from U.S. Major League Soccer, exactly the same mix as the 2002 roster. Arena says with a large pool of quality players, the selections⁴ became very difficult.

"The negative part for me is simply that we have to tell some players that arguably belong on this roster or can be on this roster that they are not going to be a part of it," he said. "So it was difficult. But I think the decisions for the most part were fairly challenging for every position."

Veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller is the oldest player at 36. He is making U.S. record fourth World Cup appearance along with captain Claudio Reyna. The youngest player is 22-year-old Eddie Johnson, a newcomer from Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena says he expects the group to come together well in the month before the World Cup.

"With a good training camp and good preparations games and the right mental approach, our team will be a team that is going to challenge anybody on the field in this World Cup," he said.

The U.S. team's final training camp opens May 10 in Cary, North Carolina. At the World Cup in Germany, the United States opens against the Czech Republic on June 12, meets Italy five days later and closes the first round against Ghana on June 22.

1 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 selections   

n.选择，挑选( selection的名词复数 )；被挑选的人[事物]；选萃，选集；可供选择的东西

参考例句：

• These are selections from ten thousand. 这些是从一万个里挑选出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The band played selections. 乐队演奏一些选曲。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》