貧窮，內陸，人口5百萬，南美中心的巴拉圭，只擁有11家職業足球俱樂部，只有一個可容納4萬人的球場，觀看職業比賽的觀眾數字始終在4位數的邊緣徘徊，國內頂級俱樂部一直因為對自己青少年足球發展投資不當而飽受非議，但就是這樣的一個國家卻不斷涌現有天賦的球員，國家隊創造的戰績也讓很多更大更富的國家望塵莫及，巴拉圭在過去兩屆世界盃上均成功打進16強，這個紀錄超過了葡萄牙，瑞士，比利時，俄羅斯，日本和尼日利亞，只稍稍比意大利遜色，今年，拜仁慕尼黑與22歲的巴拉圭球員胡利奧多斯桑托斯簽約，看好其會成為巴拉克的接班人，另外簽約德甲的還有運達不來梅的阿埃多巴爾德斯，何塞蒙鐵爾在去年自己還只有17歲時首次為國家隊出賽，2004年，巴拉圭U23球隊勝過巴西，以第一名的位置晉級奧運會，足球在巴拉圭的盛行是這個國家在國際足壇取得如此好成績的原因之一，

　　鏈結：http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-worldparaguay_world_cup_feature&prov=reuters&type=lgns

　　原文：World-Impoverished Paraguay defy the odds to reach finals

　　ASUNCION, June 2 (Reuters) - Paraguay, an impoverished, land-locked country of five million in the heart of South America, has only 11 professional soccer clubs and only one stadium holding more than 40,000 people.

　　Attendances at professional games struggle to reach four figures and top clubs are criticised for failing to invest in their youth divisions.

　　Yet the country continues to produce talented young players and has a far more impressive curriculum than many bigger and richer neighbours.

　　The national team have reached the last 16 of the last two World Cups, a better record than Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Japan and Nigeria and only slightly worse than Italy.

　　Even Paraguayans find it difficult to explain.

　　"It's a paradox," said former goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez, who played at the 1986 World Cup.

　　"The clubs don't give much importance to the grass roots but players still appear, it's strange."

　　"The youth divisions don't get any help from the directors, there are clubs where groups of players have to make do with only three goals."

　　Paraguay's under-20 coach, Argentina's Ernesto Mastrangelo, admits he was shocked after arriving from Boca Juniors, the biggest club in his homeland.

　　"At Boca, we give trials to 25,000 boys every year and select 30. They go to play in tournaments in Switzerland, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico and elsewhere."

　　"They get healthcare and education. Here, it's a different world."

　　OLYMPIC FINALISTS

　　Yet the country continues to produce a regular supply of good players.

　　This year, Bayern Munich signed Cerro Porteno's 22-year-old midfield playmaker Julio dos Santos, seeing him as a possible successor to Michael Ballack.

　　Nelson Haedo Valdez, another 22-year-old, has made a good impression at Germany's Werder Bremen and midfielder Jose Montiel, who still plays for local club Olimpia, last year made his international debut at the age of 17.

　　Paraguay's under-23 team reached the final of the 2004 Olympics after qualifying for the tournament in the first place at the expense of Brazil.

　　Fernandez believes the sheer popularity of the game is one reason for Paraguay's success.

　　"Paraguay is a football country, everyone plays football, here in the city and in the interior," he said "Everywhere, you see pitches where boys are playing."

　　Paraguay also has a flourishing culture of football schools, which offer an alternative to the first division clubs.

　　"The boys in the football schools go abroad, they play in Brazil and Argentina," said Fernandez. "Most social clubs have football schools for eight to 14-year-olds.

　　"By the time they're 15, they've been to Uruguay, Argentina and even Sweden. They have experience, that's why Paraguay is producing players."

　　Jose Parodi, who played in the Paraguay's 1958 World Cup team, said Paraguay had always believed in themselves.

　　"We are the smallest and the poorest but we are very proud," he said.

　　"We like to beat the biggest and we always believe we are going to win. We maybe poor but we never believe that someone is going to beat us."

　　WELL-BALANCED

　　Paraguay will face England, Sweden and Trinind & Tobago in their first round group in Germany, the England match bringing back memories for Fernandez who was in goal when Paraguay lost 3-0 in a 1986 second round match.

　　"Our mistake was that we played a very attacking game, we didn't worry too much about the defensive side and that left us exposed to the counter-attack," said Fernandez.

　　"(Alfredo) Mendoza and (Adolfino) Canete both had good chances early in the game. We attacked and attacked but England had a very good team and in the end we were well beaten."

　　Fernandez, who won 79 caps, believes that his country have a good chance of qualifying from a group which also includes Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago.

　　"Of course, England are the favourites...and I think Paraguay and Sweden will fight for the second place.

　　"Paraguay is a very well-balanced team, with players who have a lot of experience and some youngsters. But some players are getting on a bit such as (Carlos) Gamarra and (Roberto) Acuna, he added.

　　Acuna was recalled last year after a three-year absence, even though he has played only a handful of games this season for Spain's Deportivo Coruna.

　　"Everyone was surprised because he hadn't been playing, the whole country was surprised," said Fernandez.

　　"But he has great experience, he positions himself well on the field, he can organise the midfield and distribute the ball."

　　Updated on Thursday, Jun 1, 2006 10:00 pm EDT

　　作者 佟杉杉

責編：佟杉杉