12-15 2004年世界足球先生评选（在线收听）

World Player Gala 2004

This year's FIFA World Player of the Year award on 20 December in Zurich will be a little bit special. For the very first time, the captain of every national team will have a say in the choice in addition to their coaches. The national managers and team captains together will count for 80％ of the final vote whereas FIFPro(the worldwide representative organization for professional players) will count for 20％.

A “best player” title is honorific, of course, but nonetheless reflects a player's performance over twelve months. The shortlist of 35 players, drafted by members of FIFA's Football Committee and Technical and Development Committee, is particularly telling in this respect.

Among the names that stand out are the most recent winners of the award -- Luis Figo in 2001, Ronaldo in 2002 and Zidane in 2003. All three could be crowned again this year, with the Brazilian striker and French midfielder joined in their own private battle to become the only player to win the prestigious award four times. The trio¹ are joined by four more galá cticos: Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Raul and Michael Owen. Indeed, Real Madrid is the club with the most players nominated², seven, ahead of AC Milan, with five: Shevchenko, Nesta, Cafu, Kaka and Maldini. It is interesting to note that in a shortlist dominated by forwards and attacking midfielders, three of the five defenders play for AC Milan, the other two being Roberto Carlos and Roberto Ayala.

At 36, the legendary Italian Maldini is the oldest player selected, followed by Oliver Kahn (35) and nine more players over 30. At the other end of the scale, Wayne Rooney is the youngest at just 18, ahead of 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo.

George Weah is the only world player from Africa, who picked up this award in 1995. This year, two Africans have the chance to follow in Mister George's footsteps: Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o and Ivory Coast striker Drogba.

Europe is by far the continent with the most representatives -- there are 26 Europeans in total, compared to seven South Americans and two Africans. As far as individual nations go, Brazil leads the pack with six on the list, ahead of England's five. Behind them are Portugal, France and Italy.

The shortlist echoes³ performances in this year's international competitions too. A European champion with Greece, Zagorakis earns a place. Czech Nedved and Milan Baros, Dutch stars Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay, England's Rooney and Lampard, and Swedes Larsson and Ibrahimovic are also rewarded for their Euro 2004 displays, combined with a successful year for their clubs.

From these 35 names, it really is impossible to predict who will be elected FIFA Player of the Year in December. National captains, managers and FIFPro representatives will surely be pulling their hair out between now and then.

注释：

1. trio [5tri:Eu] n.  三个(或三人)一组

2. nominate [5nCmineit] vt.  提名

3. echo [5ekEu] vt.  反射（声音）

2004年世界足球先生评选

将于12月20日在苏黎世举行的国际足联2004年世界足球先生颁奖会将有一点特别。从今年开始，除了国家队的主教练，每个国家队的队长也有了投票权。各个国家队的主教练和队长的评选意见将在最后投票中占80％的比重，而其余20％则由国际职业球员工会（代表职业球员的世界性组织）给出。

　　“最佳球员”的称号当然是表达了对球员的敬意，但是也反映了一个球员在过去12个月内的表现。这份由国际足联足球委员会和技术发展委员会共同推出的35人名单，特别表明了这一点。

　　在这份名单中最引人注目的是最近几届足球先生，2001年的路易斯·菲戈、2002年的罗纳尔多以及2003年的齐达内。这3人都可能在今年再次加冕，而巴西前锋和法国中场已经为谁能成为惟一一个4次获此殊荣的球员而展开了秘密的竞争。除了这3人外，还有4名“银河舰队”的队员入选：罗伯托·卡洛斯、大卫·贝克汉姆、劳尔以及迈克尔·欧文。皇家马德里无疑是拥有最多被提名球员的俱乐部——7名，紧随其后的是AC米兰，有5名球员入围：舍甫琴柯、内斯塔、卡福、卡卡和马尔蒂尼。值得一提的有趣现象是，在前锋和攻击型中场球员占据绝大部分的名单之中，入围的5名后卫队员里有3名来自AC米兰，其余两位是罗伯托·卡洛斯和罗伯托·阿亚拉。

　　现年36岁的意大利传奇球员马尔蒂尼是年龄最大的入选球员，其后是奥利弗·卡恩（35岁），还有9名年龄超过30岁的球员。反之，韦恩·鲁尼仅有18岁，是年纪最小的球员，其次是19岁的克里斯蒂安·罗纳尔多。

　　乔治·维阿是惟一一名来自非洲的足球先生，他是在1995年获得这项荣誉的。今年有两名非洲人有机会追随维阿先生的足迹：喀麦隆人萨缪尔·埃托奥和科特迪瓦前锋德罗巴。

　　与南美洲7人入选和非洲2人入选相比，欧洲显然是拥有最多代表的大陆——26名欧洲球员入围。至于具体国家，巴西以6人名列榜首，5人入围的英格兰(英国)居次席。在它们之后的是葡萄牙、法国和意大利。

　　这份名单也反映了球员们今年在国际赛事中的表现。由于希腊赢得了欧洲杯，（希腊国家队队长）扎戈拉基斯获得了提名，捷克人内德维德和米兰·巴罗什、荷兰球星路德·范尼斯特鲁伊和罗伊·马凯、英格兰(英国)的鲁尼和兰帕德以及瑞典人拉尔森和伊布拉希莫维奇都因为他们在2004年欧洲杯的表现以及今年他们所在俱乐部的成功而获得了回报。

从这份35人的名单中，想要预言谁将在12月被选为本年度的世界足球先生完全是不可能的。从现在到那时，各国家队的队长、主教练以及国际职业球员工会的代表们的确都会为此而大伤脑筋。