在與瑞典的比賽踢成平局之後，英格蘭媒體們開始向國家隊冷嘲熱諷。最暢銷的《太陽報》在首頁標題明顯帶有諷刺意味，他們把拉美人比作小魚，諷刺英格蘭只撿軟柿子捏。首席體育作家史蒂芬霍華德報道説英格蘭隊在中場休息後變得“渙散”，“就像他們2002年對陣巴西，2年後歐洲盃時和法國與葡萄牙的比賽一樣。”

　　不過《太陽報》的主要對手－《每日鏡報》似乎對結果更為滿意，稱本場比賽是“Ecuadorable”（厄瓜多爾與‘令人喜愛’2個詞的合成詞），不用跟德國隊碰頭很好。”它們同樣也指出下半場實在很糟糕，並預言歐文將就此離開世界盃。

　　《每日電信報》的首頁是歐文受傷的三幅畫面，“這個夜晚的開頭糟透了。”

　　《衛報》回顧了英格蘭隊38年不剩瑞典的事實，稱“下半場，英格蘭的壞習慣斷送了自己。”

　　鏈結: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblwc2006engswebritainmedia&prov=afp&type=lgns

　　原文:Sports scribes snap at England after World Cup draw

　　AFP

　　June 21, 2006

　　LONDON (AFP) - England faced some flack from the pundits after their 2-2 draw with Sweden put them on track to meet "minnows Ecuador" in the ongoing World Cup tournament in Germany.

　　"Bring on, er, Ecuador," shouted the front page of the top-selling Sun newspaper, which likened the Latin Americans to little fish, then groaned with an inside-page headline: "We're right up Schmidt creek now".

　　Chief sports writer Steven Howard, reporting on deadline from Cologne, complained of "seeing England disintegrate" after the half-time break, "just as they had done against Brazil in 2002 and France and Portugal two years later".

　　"Once again Sven Goran Eriksson's side put us through the wringer as they strumbled through" the second half, wrote Howard, who nevertheless hailed Joe Cole as "pure dynamite from the first blast of the referee's whistle".

　　The Sun's main rival on news-stands, the Daily Mirror, said the result was "Ecuadorable!" and that "we're just pleased it's not the Germans" that England will face in the upcoming knock-out round.

　　It too dismissed the second half as "bloody terrible," and predicted that the tournament was "over" for Michael Owen after he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher in the first minute, the apparent victim of a knee injury.

　　"Relief was tempered by the knowledge that (England's) leading goal-scorer will not be present" for the rest of the series, or indeed from any match in the next six months, The Times reported.

　　The Daily Telegraph run a triptych of colour close-ups of Owen's painful fall, saying "the night could hardly have begun more wretchedly".

　　The Guardian, recalling that Sweden remains unbeaten by England for 38 years, said "England's worse habit reasserted itself" in the second half.

　　"As so often, Eriksson's men proved unable to defend a hard-won lead (and) with Rooney in temporary eclipse England were choosing to live dangerously," observed its football scribe Richard Williams.

　　作者-北京第二外國語大學英語系王帥

責編：佟杉杉