VOA标准英语2008年-Argentina Successfully Defends Olympic Football

Argentina has successfully defended its Olympic football (soccer) gold medal with a 1-0 victory over Nigeria. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer¹ was at Saturday's match in Beijing's and has a report.

Nearly 90,000 fans filled the National Stadium on a day where the heat was almost as big a story as the game. The kickoff was at noon local time, and under bright sunshine, the temperature reached 42 degrees Celsius² on the field.

That made football's world governing body (FIFA), in consultation³ with medical officials, decide to have short breaks about midway through each half to allow the players to go to the sidelines to drink liquids to prevent dehydration⁴.
　
Nigerian midfielder Sani Kaita (C) is challenged by Argentinian midfielders Angel Di Maria (L) and Javier Mascherano during the men's Olympic football final, 23 Aug 2008

The lone⁵ goal of the match came in the 58th minute. Angel di Maria controlled a well-timed through ball from Lionel Messi and deftly⁶ chipped the ball over the head of the Nigerian goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin.

Argentine coach Sergio Batisa, through an interpreter, said they had a game plan for the conditions.

"It was a difficult game," he said. "We knew that up front. Nigeria from midfield up front had very good players. So we tried to make sure that we did not get up tight, and just play our own game. We wanted to play intelligently, move the ball around. We didn't want to run as much. We wanted the ball to do the work."

Nigerian coach Samson Siasia said because all of the other Olympic games were played late in the day or under floodlights at night, the final should have been also.

"I think it actually affected⁷ both countries," said Siasia. "I'm guessing most players did not actually perform to their level because of the heat, and you got tired in a little bit of time. But we didn't' make the rules. They decided⁸ to play the game at 12 o'clock, which I don't think was a good idea."

Brazil, which has yet to win an Olympic football gold medal, had won the bronze medal by beating Belgium on Friday in Shanghai, 3-0.

Attendance⁹ at the football matches broke an Olympic record, with 2.14 million - 1.4 million for the men's games and 740,000 for the women's games.

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

3 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

4 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

5 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

6 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。