2006年VOA标准英语-Italy Beats France in World Cup Championship

By Parke Brewer¹
Berlin
10 July 2006

Italy is the 2006 World Cup football champion after defeating France in a penalty kick shootout, 5-3. 
 

Italian defender², capitan Fabio Cannavaro, surrounded by teammates, holds up World Cup trophy³  
  
They played with a special gold colored ball in this final and Italian goal keeper Gianluigi Buffon wore a gold colored jersey⁴ and shorts. And it is Italy that is going home from Germany with the gold World Cup trophy.

The beginning of the championship match did not start out well for Italy. Marco Materazzi fouled⁵ French midfielder Florent Malouda in the box, giving France a penalty kick in the seventh minute. Star midfielder Zinedine Zidane took the kick, but he struck the ball rather softly. It hit under the crossbar, then barely bounced down over the line for a goal.

 
Gold ball used for the final game of the World Cup
  
Italy got the equalizer 12 minutes later as Materazzi scored on a diving header off a corner kick.

Neither team was able to find the net through the rest of the 90 minutes of regulation or 30 minutes of extra time. France nearly scored in the 114th minute, but Buffon jumped high with an outstretched hand to knock a Zidane header over the bar.

Some six minutes later, Zidane uncharacteristically head-butted Materazzi in the chest and was expelled. It was a puzzling way for the three-time world footballer of the year to end his international career, as he had already announced he was retiring after this World Cup.

His coach, Raymond Domenech said Zidane's expulsion was significant.

"We can say that Zidane being sent off was a key element of the game," he noted⁶, " because especially in the extra time, the Italian team was obviously waiting for the penalty shootout.

French fans at the final game  
  
And that's what was needed to settle this World Cup final. The Italians do not have a good history in shootouts. Notably⁷, they lost the 1994 World Cup final in the United States to Brazil in a shootout, and lost a quarterfinal shootout to World Cup host and eventual⁸ champion France in 1998.

But this was their night, as the Italians took the first kick from the spot and made all five.

David Trezeguet missed the second attempt for France when his shot hit off the top right side of the crossbar. With the Italians converting all of their penalties, there was no reason for the French to take their last one, so the Italians prevailed, 5-3.

Italian coach Marcelo Lippi said he was proud of his players in this World Cup, and especially in the championship win over France.

"We legitimized the victory by taking the penalties with great precision and great clarity," he said.

With the 5-3 shootout victory, Italy is now a four-time World Cup champion. Only Brazil has more world football titles with five.

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

3 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。