VOA标准英语2009年-Ghana Under-20 Soccer Team Vies for FIFA T

By Brent Latham
Cairo
15 October 2009

The Ghana national youth football team has advanced to the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. The squad¹ will take on Brazil on Friday, looking for the country's first title at this level.

When they take the field against Brazil Friday at Cairo's International Stadium, the Black Satellites, as Ghana's Under-20 team is known back home, will be aiming for their first championship after two previous unsuccessful final appearances.

Ghana earned a berth² in this year's Under-20 World Cup final by seeing off Hungary in the semi-final round Tuesday. Coach Sellas Tetteh was pleased with his squad's performance in the 3-2 victory. "It is a good win to the finals. Zooming³ into the finals is so important, and we have done that beautifully," he said.

Ghana has blasted its way through the field in Egypt, scoring a remarkable⁴ 16 goals in six matches.

They now face perennial⁵ power Brazil, a four-time champion at this level, but Tetteh says he is not concerned by the formidable opponent. "We have come a long way and we are ready for any opponent at all. We have scraped through any opponent that comes on our way, and by the special grace of God we will scrape through any opponent we get in the final," he said.

The Black Satellites have battled through some adversity to reach the final, edging South Africa in extra time in the first elimination⁶ match, and surviving a pair of exciting 3-2 games that came down to the wire in the quarter and semifinals.

The coach says those close results have relieved any pressure his team might have felt going into the final. "There is no pressure. I have gone through pressure up to this time, so I need a cool head. We come in front of worrying situations, and that is where you see the character of a good coach. And I still believe that in Africa we have been going through this kind of pressure for a pretty long time, so I believe that when it comes we can handle it and lift the cup on Friday," he said.

Ghana also reached the final of the Under-20 World Cup in 1993, losing to Brazil. The Black Satellites were finalists again in 2001, but came up just short of being crowned champions when they lost to Argentina. Brazil claimed the most recent of its four titles in 2003.

1 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。

2 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

3 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

6 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。