THIS IS AMERICA - US World Cup Team

THIS IS AMERICA
–
July 22, 2002: US World Cup Team

By Mario Ritter

VOICE ONE:

The United¹ States soccer team did very well in the World Cup Championship in South Korea² and Japan last
month. This surprised many Americans. I’m Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Soccer in the United States is our report today on the VOA
Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

Nobody was more surprised than the American public at the success of its soccer team in the World Cup
championship. Often success takes a great deal of time to develop in international soccer—or football as it is
known³ to all non-Americans. Also, there are many ways to measure success in a competition that is also the
world’s most watched event.

Many Americans do not realize that, early in the competition, many of the best teams in the world do not win all
their games. In reality, most teams hope to score the same number of goals as their opponent⁴, which is called
playing to a tie.

The two-thousand-two World Cup started with few people expecting the United States to do well. However,
these low expectations already represent⁵ a success. The World Cup competition is actually the World Cup final.
Teams that make the final have played in area competitions for three years to earn the right to play in the final.

VOICE TWO:

This year, the United States finished third in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean
Football Association⁷ competition. Their performance was just good enough to include them among teams in the
World Cup final.

The head of the American team, Bruce Arena⁸ (ah-REE-nah) chose a mixture of older and younger players to be
on the final team. The coach also included several members who play professionally⁹ in Europe. He mixed
experienced¹⁰ players with younger players.

VOICE ONE:

In their first game, the Americans surprised one of Europe’s leading teams,
Portugal, three-to-two. American John O’Brien made the first goal in only the
fourth minute of the game.

Another young player, Landon Donovan, scored in the
thirtieth minute.

Brian McBride made the
final American goal in
only the thirty-sixth
minute of the first half.

The Portuguese¹¹ team was
shocked. They made a

Bruce Arena

Landon Donovan
great offensive¹² effort. Yet, John O'Brien
Portugal made only one goal offensively¹³. An American
player accidentally¹⁴ scored the second Portuguese goal.

VOICE TWO:

In the next game, South
Korea was the opponent
for the United States. Both
sides made goals in the
first half. The rest of the
game, including extra time, was a defensive¹⁵ effort. The one-to -one tie left both
teams with a good chance to continue in the competition.

Yet, in their next game, the Americans appeared to lose all chance of going on to the
next level of the competition. The first part of the World Cup final matches teams playing in eight groups of four
teams. The top two teams from each group continue in the competition. Each team that loses is out. Each team
that wins moves on to play one of the winners. This is the second level or the “knock -out stage
”
of the
competition.

VOICE ONE:

Poland was America’s last opponent in group D. Poland had lost both its games and could not move on. Yet,
the United States played very poorly and lost three-to-one. It appeared that it would not reach the “knock-out
stage”
of the competition.

Then came another shocking¹⁶ result. Portugal lost to South Korea one -to -zero. Most experts had chosen Portugal
to win group D. Portugal had one of the world’s best players in Luis Figo (lou-EES FEE-go). Yet, Portugal’
s
two losses¹⁷ meant that America would continue to the “knock-out stage.
”

Soccer is often called a game of luck. The Americans enjoyed some good luck by continuing to the next level of
the competition. However, they made the best of what luck gave them.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

The American team’s next opponent was Mexico. The two North American nations had played each other
several times. Mexico had also surprised the world by taking first place in group G, which included powerful¹⁸
Italy.

Mexico pressured the United States in the first minutes of the game. However, luck changed quickly and
American team captain Claudio Reyna (CLOU-dee-oh RAY-nah) made a long run toward¹⁹ the Mexican goal. He
passed the ball to Brian McBride who made a goal in only the eighth minute.

Mexico kept the ball for most of the game, pushing the ball forward offensively and
trying to get the tying goal. But, a second American goal came just as suddenly as
the first. Landon Donovan made the final goal of the game in the sixty-fifth minute.

The Americans held the ball only one-third of the time, but won the game two-tozero.
They had defeated a strong team from Mexico.

VOICE ONE:

The victory²⁰ over Mexico put the United States among the last eight teams remaining
in the competition. This would be the team’s best finish in the World Cup since
nineteen-thirty. In that year, the United States was among the final four teams, losing only to Argentina.

However, the next opponent was Germany. The German team has a fine tradition in international soccer and has
won the World Cup three times.

Brian McBride
Claudio Reyna

The United States played its best game of the World Cup against Germany. The team pressed the German
defenders²¹ and tried to score quickly. Landon Donovan and team captain Claudio Reyna had good chances to
make a goal in the first thirty minutes.

However, German player Michael Ballack (BAL-ahk) scored the only goal of the game in the thirty -ninth minute.
The United States came very close to tying the score. But, German goal-keeper Oliver Kahn was too strong.
Kahn would win the award for best goal-keeper of this year’s World Cup. Experts agreed that the game
between Germany and the United States was one of the best of the World Cup.

VOICE TWO:

The two-thousand-two World Cup was a huge success for the United States. Yet, the last two World Cups have
been successes as well. The United States has made the final field of teams for every World Cup since Nineteen-
Ninety. Traditional soccer powers France and England have not done that. Only one team, Brazil, has played in
all the World Cup Final competitions.

For Americans, this World Cup will be remembered as a great success. And for the first time, sports experts in
America may finally understand the key to success in World Cup competition. It is being able to succeed beyond
everyone ’s expectations.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

Many sports experts say that the American public has never shown much interest in soccer. However, experts say
this is only true of older Americans. They never played soccer when they were children. They did not grow up
with the sport as people in other countries have. Sports like American football, baseball and basketball have
always been more popular in the United States than soccer.

The International Federation⁶ of Football Association, or FIFA (FEE-fuh), keeps records of soccer activities
around the world. FIFA says the United States has more official soccer players than any other nation in the world

— almost eighteen-million.
The United States Soccer Federation also says about eighteen-million people today play soccer in the United
States. But those who play are very young. Seventy-eight percent are under the age of eighteen.

VOICE TWO:

Sports experts say these children are making the sport more popular in the United States. The experts say soccer
has become popular with children because almost anyone can play. There are teams for girls, boys, older children
and young adults. Many Americans are becoming interested in soccer because their children play. This has
produced a new American expression, “soccer mom.
”
This is a mother who spends a lot of time driving her
children to soccer games and watching them compete.

The United States Soccer Federation says it is helping²² children improve their playing skills. It provides special
training for young players at soccer camps during the summer.

Federation officials say the United States may one day have a World Cup champion team, but it will be sometime²³
in the future. Soccer fans in the United States will have to wait until young soccer players grow up playing the
world’s most popular sport.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Mario Ritter. It was produced by George Grow. I’m Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO


And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA
Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

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1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 Korea   

n.朝鲜(亚洲)

参考例句：

• Korea lies to the east of China.韩国位于中国东面。
• Korea and China are separated by only the Yalu River.朝鲜和中国只隔一条鸭绿江。

3 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

4 opponent   

n.对手，敌手，反对者；adj.敌对的，反对的

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• After a fierce struggle,he got a beat on his opponent.经过殊死的较量，他占了对手的上风。

5 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

8 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

9 professionally   

adv.职业地；专业地

参考例句：

• You need a complete change,both professionally and personally.你需要在工作上和自身两方面有彻底的改变。
• A professionally installed alarm will cost from about ￡500.请专业人员安装的警报器要花费至少500英镑。

10 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

11 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

12 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。

13 offensively   

adv. 不愉快地, 讨厌地

参考例句：

• He smelled offensively unwashed. 他很脏，散发出难闻的气味。
• He lapsed into long silences or became offensively off-hand. 他要么陷入长时间的沉默，要么变得简慢无礼。

14 accidentally   

adv.偶然地；意外地

参考例句：

• Mary accidentally let out that her mother had telephoned.玛丽无意中说出她的母亲来过电话。
• As I turned around,I accidentally hit him in the face.我转身时不经意撞了他的脸。

15 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

16 shocking   

adj.令人气愤的；令人震惊的

参考例句：

• His attitude was shocking to her.他的态度令她感到震惊。
• Such behaviour is really shocking.这种行为真不像话。

17 losses   

n.损失( loss的名词复数 )；损耗；失败；降低

参考例句：

• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。
• The army was forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses. 部队因伤亡惨重被迫撤退。

18 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！

19 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

20 victory   

n.胜利，成功

参考例句：

• Victory will never come if we only wait for it.如果我们光是等待，胜利永远不会到来。
• It can't be questioned that we will win the final victory.我们将最终取得胜利，这是确定无疑的。

21 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

23 sometime   

adv.将来某一时候；改天

参考例句：

• He came sometime last month.上个月某个时候他曾经来过。
• It will happen sometime and somewhere.有朝一日这总会在什么地方发生的。