五位技驚四座的球員
1.意大利 法比奧 格羅索
2.阿根廷 馬克西 羅德里格斯
3.德國 菲利普 拉姆
4.法國 弗蘭克 裏貝裏
5.厄瓜多爾 埃迪森 門德斯
五位最令人失望的球員
1.巴西 羅納爾迪尼奧
2.英格蘭 蘭帕德
3.阿根廷 裏克爾梅
4.西班牙 勞爾
5.德國 巴拉克
五支最令人失望的球隊
1.巴西
1.英格蘭
3.瑞典
4.美國
5.捷克
改進世界盃的五點建議
1.取消點球決勝制
2.將32支球隊都列為種子隊，確保一直打到最後
3.再增加一名裁判
4.比賽錄像即時回放
5.打擊假摔
鏈結: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=373611&root=worldcup&cc=4716
原文:Five Players Whose Stock Rose
David Cannon/GettyImages
Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez was one of the surprise performers in Germany.1. Fabio Grosso, D, Italy -- A relative newcomer to the Italian team and an unfashionable Serie A team (Palermo) at that, Grosso wasn't even assured of a starting spot. That all changed after Cristian Zaccardo's enormous gaffe against the U.S. thrust Grosso into the lineup. Since then Grosso has been a dynamic threat down the wings and solid defensively. His goal against Germany in the semifinal is destined to etch him in Italian lore. Adding the deciding kick in the penalty shootout against France doesn't hurt, either.
2. Maxi Rodriguez, M, Argentina -- If you were making a list of prospective players who were, a) likely to score one of the best goals in the World Cup, and b) lead Argentina in scoring, Rodriguez would be far and away off the radar. Entering the tournament, most people's impression of Rodriguez was that of a blue-collar, hard-working midfielder of limited flair. However, after three goals and that winning volley against Mexico, the book on Rodriguez has changed.
3. Philip Lahm, D, Germany -- One of the revelations of the World Cup at left back for the hosts. Lahm only returned to action earlier this year after a long injury layoff but impressed throughout the tourney with above-average defensive skills and dangerous attacking verve.
4. Franck Ribery, M, France -- Ribery's played so well that he's been touted by French media as Zidane's successor. The truth, of course, is that they're completely different players, but Ribery offers trickery and pace on the wings. He still needs to refine his shooting touch and pick his spots, but his inclusion in the lineup was the missing piece in the French puzzle.
5. Edison Mendez, M, Ecuador -- Mendez impressed as the Ecuadorian playmaker in the first round when Ecuador played some spirited, attacking football. Despite his slight size, Mendez is versatile enough to also operate as a holding midfielder or in a wide attacking role. Apparently he's now on the wish list for several La Liga outfits.
Five Most Disappointing Players
1. Ronaldinho, M, Brazil -- Given that the expectations were so great for the current FIFA World Player of the Year, it was almost inevitable that Ronaldinho would fail to live up to the hype. Having said that, no one expected him to fall flat on his face and appear peripheral to the action in most of Brazil's games. Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Ronaldinho didn't look sharp toward the tail end of the Spanish domestic season and his performance in the Champions League final indicated that he was far from his best form. To be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault; unlike at club level, he simply wasn't the fulcrum of the Brazilian team. Often he would demand the ball on the field from his Brazilian teammates and yet would not receive it.
2. Frank Lampard, M, England -- Touted by his club manager, Jose Mourinho, as the best player in the world, Lampard had a horrid World Cup. He failed to mesh with Steven Gerrard in a disappointing English midfield, and his fabled scoring touch wasn't just off, it seemed to have deserted him completely. No player took more shots on goal with less accuracy than Lampard at this World Cup. A cynic would argue that Lampard was merely exposed for what he really is: an excellent domestic league goal scorer who lacks the creative qualities and vision to be a truly world-class midfield player.
3. Juan Riquelme, M, Argentina -- Argentine coach Jose Pekerman basically placed the burden on Riquelme's shoulders and built the team around him. As a result, his lineup was devoid of the creative talents of players such as Pablo Aimar, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez. Pekerman believed that their styles wouldn't mesh with Riquelme's and that Riquelme would provide all the guile that Argentina would need. He was wrong on both counts, and for the most part Riquelme failed to dominate in the manner expected of an Argentine No. 10.
4. Raul, F, Spain -- It now seems so long ago that the case was made for Raul being one of the top three strikers in the world. His game and scoring touch have fallen off so dramatically that it's hard to believe he's same person. The reality hasn't seemed to hit the Spanish media yet, because they still trumpet him as a pivotal part of the team and champion his dubious leadership qualities. Was it merely coincidence that Spain's performance rapidly dropped off the moment Luis Aragones restored Raul to the starting lineup? A completely innocuous performance against France in the second round would suggest not.
5. Michael Ballack, M, Germany -- The stage seemed set for Ballack to make his mark. A German team playing at home, playing above expectations and with a new attacking mindset built around him. Unfortunately, Ballack was plagued by injuries throughout the tournament although he gamely soldiered on. But truth be told, he failed to make much of an impact.
Five Most Disappointing Teams
1. Brazil -- A team that had been touted as the most offensively gifted lineup the Selecao had fielded since the 1982 edition, this team turned instead into the biggest flop of the World Cup. Aside from the second half against Japan, Brazil failed to recreate the beautiful style it is famed for. There are a variety of reasons they disappointed -- coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's insistent meddling with lineup combinations, poor play by past-their-prime wingbacks (Cafu and Roberto Carlos) and a general lack of urgency from many of the team's biggest stars.
2. England -- On paper, possibly the finest English team since 1970. In reality, one of the dullest English teams to appear in the World Cup in recent times. Obviously the pre-tournament injuries to key strikers Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, which left both less than 100 percent, didn't help, but neither did coach Sven-Goran Ericksson's insistence that the team play long-ball style with lots of aimless punts in the direction of the gangly Peter Crouch. The only time the English team looked inventive and not one-dimensional was when the criminally underused Aaron Lennon took the field.
Action Images/WireImage
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sweden had a disappointing tournament.3. Sweden -- After watching the impotent Swedish attack struggle throughout the World Cup, it's hard to believe that this was the same free-scoring team that lead all teams in scoring during the qualifying stage. Henrik Larsson's missed penalty against Germany summed up his tournament and golden boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to make any kind of impression.
4. United States -- No American team had ever entered the World Cup with such a high profile and fanfare. However, the U.S. failed to come close to living up to the hype. The group draw didn't help matters, but other than the inspired performance against Italy, the U.S. disappointed fans by its listlessness and poor technical skill in defeats against the Czechs and Ghana. For a nation that had hoped to validate its soccer pedigree after the '02 run, this was by all accounts a miserable failure.
5. Czech Republic -- On the heels of its explosive Euro 2004 performance, great things were expected from the Czechs. However, a litany of injuries to key players (Vladimir Smicer, Milan Baros, Jan Koller) left a thin squad shorthanded for its group games. Matters weren't helped by midfielder Karel Poborsky finally showing his age, and even strong individual showings by Pavel Nedved and goalkeeper Petr Cech weren't enough to mask this team's deficiencies.
Five Suggestions To Improve The World Cup
1. Discontinue the penalty shootout. No one likes to see a game decided on penalty kicks. It's about time FIFA came up with a more imaginative way to settle ties. One suggestion: Play overtime until one team scores, but with a twist -- force the coaches to take off one player every two minutes, up to a maximum of six players. Five on five on a full-sized pitch -- at some point someone's bound to score.
2. Seed all 32 teams from top to bottom. This would at least make for some semblance of a balanced draw for the opening group stage, and would avoid situations where some teams face a "Group of Death," whereas other teams face a far easier draw.
3. Add another field referee. Given the pace of today's game and the fact that half the time key decisions are made by referees who are trailing the action by 20 to 30 yards, it's about time FIFA wised up and added another referee. Each referee would have the responsibility of one half of the field.
4. Instant replay. Even the best referees blunder when making game-turning penalty decisions. It's time to institute instant replay to analyze every penalty decision that's awarded. Instant replay should only be allowed with a caveat, though -- when the video gives conclusive evidence that the original decision was erroneous.
5. Crack down on diving and cheating. There's no real way to catch every single dive on the field, but there's been an abundance of cheating going on in this World Cup which has hurt the sport. FIFA needs to have a video panel of referees watch games after the fact and issue fines and postmatch cards for players found guilty of pure play-acting. (Thierry Henry's masterpiece dive clutching his face against Spain despite no contact would be a prime example.)
作者-北京第二外國語學院英語系王帥
責編：佟杉杉