彩色世界杯？352名球员，只有12名穿黑色战靴

 　　Fancy footwear in an array of dazzling colours has been the order of the day. What are the most popular choices? And how many players have dared to wear old-fashioned black?

　　It used to be that coloured boots were the sole preserve of one or two flashy, flair¹ players per football team. They were the exceptions to the rule: the cocky prima donnas to their journeymen teammates.

　　Not any more. From Hackney Marshes² to the Premier³ League, everyone now wants to be the star. What's amazing is how quickly we've grown accustomed to flash Harrys. Back in 1970, Hummel caused shockwaves by sending a few star players out in its white footwear; now white is conclusively⁴ the new black.

　　I know, because I've spent the past fortnight obsessively⁵ staring at footballers' feet and making notes. In this World Cup, it seems, we've finally reached saturation⁶ point: coloured boots have now become so devalued that Puma⁷ have gone one step further, releasing the evoPOWER Tricks Boot – with one shoe in pink and the other in blue. Even Mario Balotelli thought they were a bit much ("I have to be honest, the first time I saw the Tricks boots, I thought the Puma guy was mad," he admitted).

　　彩色世界杯？352名球员，只有12名穿黑色战靴

　　As the World Cup has played out, so the dazzling array of coloured footwear has become ever more bewildering. White has become the predominant colour. But that's just for kick-off.

　　True flair players have had to up the ante: for the knockout stages, Neymar has even awarded himself his own golden boot, courtesy of Nike. Messi has gone one step further by attempting to fit every single available colour on one boot with his personal Adidas Lionel Messi 2014World Cup Birthday Boot – worn for the match against Nigeria on 25 June (the day after his 27th birthday).

　　Isn't this all getting a bit much? Whatever happened to the no-nonsense, socks-around-the-ankles (as opposed to over the knees) approach? It's hard to imagine Terry Butcher turning out in one – any – of the new designs. It's time someone put their foot down.

　　I engaged in some unscientific research, tallying⁸ the most popular colourways for the starting XI of each nation as the tournament progressed. The results were even more stark⁹ than expected: of 352 players, only 12 wore black boots in contrast to 118 in white (or variations thereof), 96 in yellow and 64 in orange.

　　Surely it's time for someone to shake up the status quo? It would be about the cockiest thing a player could do – like a modern-day George Best, with his bare shins taunting¹⁰ the leg-breakers – to turn out in ordinary black boots and make the statement that they don't need fancy footwear to dazzle the opposition¹¹.

　　The black-booted dirty dozen of the World Cup is heavy on goalkeepers, including Sergio Romero (Argentina), Asmir Begovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Charles Itandje (Cameroon), Joe Hart (England), Alireza Haghighi (Iran) and Maya Yoshida (Japan). An honourable¹² mention, though, goes to Colombian playmaker Juan Cuadrado, who stepped out in a pair of black boots (albeit with a yellow flash) for the Group C clash with Greece on 14 June.

　　Who's special now?

1 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

2 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

4 conclusively   

adv.令人信服地，确凿地

参考例句：

• All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

6 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

7 puma   

美洲豹

参考例句：

• The police and the volunteers combed the forest for the lost puma from the zoo.警察和志愿者们在森林里到处寻找动物园迷失的美洲狮。
• A businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.一位商人去钓鱼，看见那只美洲狮在树上。

8 tallying   

v.计算，清点( tally的现在分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• In 2007 the state set a U.S. record, tallying 141 twisters. 该州在2007年以总计出现了141个龙卷风而创下了一个美国记录。 来自互联网
• We charge extra fee at 100% of the rates of tallying fees. 我们按理货收费率的100%收取附加费。 来自互联网

9 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

10 taunting   

嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• She wagged a finger under his nose in a taunting gesture. 她当着他的面嘲弄地摇晃着手指。
• His taunting inclination subdued for a moment by the old man's grief and wildness. 老人的悲伤和狂乱使他那嘲弄的意图暂时收敛起来。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。