VOA标准英语2008年-US Women's Soccer Names Olympic Roster

United States Women's Soccer team head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 18 players who will be going to Beijing for the upcoming Olympic Games. Chris Cox has the story.
　
Briana Scurry¹ warms up with teammates during a training session (2007 file photo)

The biggest surprise is that longtime goalkeeper Briana Scurry was not selected. Sundhage said the 36-year-old Scurry acted very professional when she told her that the goalies would be 25-year-old Hope Solo² and 26-year-old Nicole Barnhart.

Scurry has played more games and earned more victories than any U.S. soccer goalie in history, male or female. But she was at the center of a controversy³ at last year's women's World Cup when former coach Greg Ryan put her in goal in the semifinal against Brazil, citing⁴ her experience, even though goalie Hope Solo had recorded shutouts in the previous two matches. The Americans were upset, 4-0, and Solo made some remarks that were indirectly⁵ critical of Scurry.
　
US goalkeeper Hope Solo (2007 file)

Sundhage said last year's rift⁶ was not a factor in her decision to pick Solo and Barnhart.

"No, not at all. The reason why I have picked these two goalkeepers, they have just the game suited for international games, and especially the way we play," she said. "We want to keep the ball."

Coach Sundhage then pressed the issue on the style of play she wanted to go with and how the goalies fit into her game plan.

"We talk about keep possession and switch the point of attack and I want them to do that in the back four and even use the goalkeeper and both Hope and Nicole, they are very good with their feet and that is necessary the way we're playing right now," she said.

Sundhage, who has been on the job for only seven months, talked about her team's strengths and seems very impressed by the way the players have adapted to her new style.

"They are brave, and the fact that they can play in different systems," she said. "We have different players and we've talked about change since I've started and they've seemed to embrace that word and it has not been too much of a change I think, and not too little either."

Coach Pia Sundhage and the U.S. Women's Soccer Team will travel to Europe in July to take on Norway and Sweden before coming back to the states for two warm-up games against Brazil. The Americans will then head off to Beijing to try to defend their gold medal in August.

　

 

1 scurry   

vi.急匆匆地走；使急赶；催促；n.快步急跑，疾走；仓皇奔跑声；骤雨，骤雪；短距离赛马

参考例句：

• I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
• There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。

2 solo   

n.独奏，独唱；adj.单独的；adv.单独地；v.放单飞，单独表演

参考例句：

• Tara is currently working on a solo album.塔拉眼下正忙着制作个人专辑。
• There's wonderfully lyrical flute solo in the middle of this symphony.在交响乐中间有一段奇妙的抒情长笛独奏。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 citing   

引用( cite的现在分词 )； 传唤； 记起； [军事]传（或通）令嘉奖

参考例句：

• It's no use citing the Bible to somebody who doesn't believe in God. 对不信上帝的人引用圣经的话是没用的。
• It's no use citing the Bible to a non-Christian. 对非基督徒引用《圣经》是没用的。

5 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

6 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。