雖然日本與丹麥的比賽仍再進行，不過日本上半場就進了兩球，以2:0領先，看來鐵定晉級了。稍早丹麥的 Caroline Wozniacki 在溫布敦(Wimbledon)贏了我們的選手張凱真順利晉級，雖然是好兆頭，但是丹麥足球隊沒有Wozniacki 那般亮眼的演出。

上一屆冠軍義大利今晚又 3:2 敗給斯洛伐克，一勝難求。雖然和法國一樣，毫無勝績，有些丟臉，但至少法國隊那樣沒品。法國隊的教練多明尼克(Raymond Domenech)是個了不起的人物，所以令人難以理解，但從這次世界盃法國隊的內鬨，拒絕練球，最後教練在輸球後又拒絕與南非隊教練握手...等事情看來，一般人要做到如此地步，還真不可能。

亞洲與拉美的球隊表現相對突出。算得上是我們鄰居的日本與南韓都晉級了，韓國今年場上的表現是比以前好多了，我的印象還是停留在日韓共同主辦世界盃的那一年，不知道是韓國的球技進步了？還是在所得提高後，韓國隊也文明了許多？還是因為這屆不少非洲球隊的表現很野蠻，所以韓國隊也變得文明了？日本隊的表現可圈可點，整體的體力進步很多。名星球員本田圭佑球技優異，就像帶領日本棒球隊贏得經典賽的鈴木一朗，同樣展現十足大將之風。

義法也是文明球隊，是高度文明下的產物：「名人球隊」－高知名度、光鮮亮麗、價格昂貴、自我本位、驕縱
且自以為是...。紐約時報對法國隊輸球的報導真是生動有趣，也讓我一窺了不起的教練多明尼克更多不可思議之處。






法國隊返國如過街鼠 政府究責
20100625 00:14:02    

（中央社台北24日綜合外電報導）在世界盃分組賽慘遭淘汰的法國隊24日一早返國，受到全國冷淡對待，不僅媒體無情砲轟，政府方面更加以究責。

法國隊本屆世足賽表現欠佳，3場分組賽戰績兩敗一和，只有攻進一球，而且還爆出前鋒阿內卡（Nicolas Anelka）髒話辱罵教練多明尼克（Raymond Domenech）而遭退隊的風波，全隊罷練的「內鬨」醜聞讓法國上下對球隊慘遭淘汰的反應是感到屈辱又憤怒。

法國前鋒大將亨利和其他隊友24日一早抵達法國布傑機場（Le Bourget）後，只有少數保安人員到場接機，亨利隨後立即被一輛公務車接至艾里賽宮（Elysee Palace），與法國總統沙柯吉（Nicolas Sarkozy）會面。

沙柯吉昨天在主持一場政府會議後，隨即要求全面檢討法國隊的失利。

法國體育部長巴舍洛特（Roselyne Bachelot）日前曾在歐洲第一電台（Europe 1）上表示：「要為這次災難負責的人得要承擔起後果，首先是球員，其次是球隊管理階層，而後是足球協會。」

巴舍洛特今天又說：「法國足球協會會長艾斯克拉提（Jean-Pierre Escalettes）的辭職無可避免。」990624

http://www.cna.com.tw/ShowNews/Detail.aspx?pNewsID=201006250004&pType0=aSPT&pTypeSel=0


June 22, 2010
Loss Completes France’s Dishonor
By JERÉ LONGMAN



Correction Appended

JOHANNESBURG — France exited in disgrace from the World Cup on Tuesday with no victories and little sympathy for a team that infamously used an intentional handball to get into the tournament and self-destructed on the way out.

The French team’s petulant image did not gain much redemption in its final match, a 2-1 defeat to host South Africa in Bloemfontein, south of here. Les Bleus, as the French team is known, played the final 65-plus minutes a man short after midfielder Yoann Gourcuff was ejected for elbowing an opponent in the head.


Afterward, the eccentric and departing French coach, Raymond Domenech, declined to shake hands with his South African counterpart, Carlos Alberto Parreira. Apparently, Parreira said, the snub was related to his criticism of the way France had qualified for the World Cup: the illegal handling of the ball by Thierry Henry, which was unseen by the referee and led to the decisive goal in a playoff victory against Ireland in November.


Tuesday’s defeat completed a stunning implosion for France, which was the 1998 World Cup champion and 2006 runner-up but lost two of its matches here and tied in the other. On Thursday the star forward Nicolas Anelka profanely insulted Domenech at halftime of a loss to Mexico, then was expelled from the team. In protest, France’s players skipped practice Sunday, drawing widespread criticism from French politicians and in the news media.

Domenech declined to answer questions Tuesday about the snub of Parreira or his team’s crisis, in keeping with a sometimes inscrutable personality that has led him to choose or discard some players based in part on their astrological signs.


“We are not from the same world,” Domenech, 58, told reporters, referring to the team and its crisis.

France’s final World Cup match was played hours after its sports minister, Roselyne Bachelot, said she reduced some players to tears during a rebuke of the team Monday night. During that meeting, Bachelot said, she accused the players of tarnishing France’s image and called their behavior a “moral disaster.”

Philippe Tétart, a French sports historian, said that France’s players had acted like spoiled celebrities instead of potential champions, creating damage beyond the team’s image.

“It created a social injury,” Tétart said. “The positive hero figure has been dethroned. The players have ruined the image of responsible sporting personalities, who set an example.”

While watching Tuesday’s match in Paris on a large screen near the Eiffel Tower, some French fans booed their team in disgust, The Associated Press reported.

Outside of Paris, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Romain Souverain, 30, a logistics worker, said, “We didn’t deserve to qualify, so we didn’t deserve to win.”

Other fans there criticized France’s uninspired, individualist, directionless play at the World Cup, which produced one goal in three matches.

“We’ve hit rock bottom,” said Vincent Colin, 32, who runs a company that makes custom shirts.

Not everyone, though, will be sad to see France depart early. Many may view its exit as just punishment, given the way the French qualified for the World Cup. “The Irish are probably happy tonight,” said Boudewijn Zenden, a Dutch soccer player who is a television commentator for the tournament.

Even before Tuesday’s match, some corporate sponsors, including the Crédit Agricole financial services company, had begun to disassociate themselves from the French team, canceling advertising campaigns.

Le Parisien, a French newspaper, wrote scathingly: “To have the worst soccer team at the World Cup was almost unbearable. To also have the most stupid is intolerable.”

As they took the field against South Africa, France’s players were fully aware that they faced widespread contempt.

“Everyone in the world is laughing at us,” the star forward Franck Ribéry said beforehand.

In truth, France’s team has been troubled since it won the 1998 World Cup at home, drawing a million fans in celebration on the Champs-Élysées in what was said to be the largest gathering in Paris since the liberation of the city during World War II.

That 1998 victory, achieved by players of remarkable ethnic diversity, was viewed as a refutation of the anti-immigrant stand of the far-right National Front party, which had gained popularity at the time.

Four years later, France lost its opening match in the 2002 World Cup to Senegal, a former colony, and exited from the tournament without winning a match or scoring a goal. In 2006, France reached the final, but its star player, Zinédine Zidane, head-butted an Italian player in the championship game, resulting in an expulsion that might have cost his team victory.

The current team showed signs of dysfunction long before this World Cup began. In April, three players — Ribéry, Sidney Govou and Karim Benzema — were accused of having sex with an under-age prostitute. The case did not result in criminal charges but brought a harsh penalty in the court of public opinion.

Even the choice of a posh team hotel for the World Cup came under scrutiny by France’s junior sports minister, Rama Yade, who called on Les Bleus “to show some decency” during the global economic downturn.

Whatever authority Domenech had as a coach seemed undermined by the French soccer federation. It announced before the tournament that at its conclusion, Domenech would be replaced by Laurent Blanc, a star on France’s 1998 team.

Not that the aloof Domenech was popular in the first place. He was often booed at matches by French fans and drew the ire of many by proposing to his girlfriend on television moments after France was eliminated early in the 2008 European championships.

“There’s a Raymond problem, a problem of personality,” Michel Platini, a former French soccer star who is now the president of the Union of European Football Associations, known as UEFA, told reporters in April. “His proposal hurt the whole of France. People were in pain, sad, and here he comes with his words.”

But there seemed to be plenty of blame to go around for France’s catastrophic World Cup performance. Domenech called his players’ revolt “unspeakably stupid.” Some opposition politicians said the players’ behavior represented the selfishness fostered by the governance of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had been called President Bling Bling for his flashy style.

“It’s all about individualism, egotism, everyone for themselves, and the only way to judge human success is the check you get at the end of the month,” Jérôme Cahuzac, a Socialist Party member of France’s National Assembly, said in a radio interview, according to Reuters.

No one on the team refused to play Tuesday, Domenech said, but he made a handful of changes to his lineup, even benching the captain, Patrice Evra.

“It’s time for us to apologize,” Evra told reporters after the match, adding that he had tried to do it earlier, “but the coach would not let me.”

Maïa de la Baume and Dheepthi Namasivayam contributed reporting from Paris.

Correction: June 24, 2010

An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that the acronym UEFA stands for Union of European Soccer Federations.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/sports/soccer/23francegame.html


法國隊世足賽表現 民眾憤怒驚訝
20100623 07:54:10    

（中央社記者羅苑韶巴黎22日專電）巴黎市區架起大型螢幕現場轉播世界盃足球賽，數千民眾觀看法國隊出賽，期待能有奇蹟出現。終場法國隊以1比2敗給地主國南非隊，觀眾情緒夾雜驚訝、憤怒和恥辱。

比賽結束後，觀眾紛紛表示：「真是丟死人了」、「全歐洲一定都在嘲笑我們」、「（教練）多明尼克（Raymond Domenech）滾蛋」。

球評也撂下狠話：法國足協應該負起責任，主席應主動請辭。更有球評表示，整個足協領導階層都該集體辭職；應該通盤檢討足協架構和決策體系。

媒體19日報導球員阿內卡（Nicolas Anelka）對教練爆粗口，由於他拒絕公開道歉，法國足協立即處理，將他開除。球隊不滿此一決定，隔天集體拒絕練球，震驚全世界，成為醜聞。

原本唯一可能挽救球隊榮譽的是今天分組賽程最後一場比賽，對抗地主國南非隊。南非隊的積極攻勢卻讓法國隊難以招架，就在眾人擔心法國隊要在本屆世界盃掛零「抱鴨蛋」回家時，馬盧達（Florent Malouda）下半場在隊友傳球下踢進一球。

法國隊進球時，大螢幕轉播現場歡聲雷動，民眾對球員十分寬容愛護，但是對於多明尼克則是全民爆粗口。

玩完了，法國隊遭淘汰。整支球隊在南非期間傳出辱罵、內鬥不合、少數人操作決定等傳言，今天未獲教練指定上場的隊長埃夫拉（Patrice Evra）在比賽結束後表示，本週將伺機公開說明。

法國隊形象受損，部分贊助廠商和廣告主很快作出回應，立即將阿內卡主演的廣告喊卡。法國隊主要贊助廠商之一農業信貸銀行（Credit Agricole）以球員拍攝的廣告也全面抽出廣告時段。

多明尼克已確定離職，然而他在比賽結束後拒絕與南非隊教練握手，已成為運動精神最糟示範。而後在記者會上，又刻意漠視記者提問，為法國隊在本屆世界盃的表現畫下髒污的句點。（本文附有照片）990622





義大利爆冷出局 斯洛伐克闖進16強
20100625 00:44:22    

=> Italia was not able to win a single game, using the term, "爆冷", is far-fetching to anyone who paid attn to World Cup.

（中央社記者李安東台北24日綜合報導）上屆冠軍義大利今天在世界盃足球賽出戰斯洛伐克，結果上、下半場共失3球，終場義大利以2比3爆冷落敗，提前宣告衛冕失利，也結束本屆世界盃之旅，斯洛伐克則闖進16強。

義大利預賽前兩戰，分別以1比1踢和巴拉圭及紐西蘭，這一戰面臨只許成功、不許失敗的存亡關鍵，但是上半場攻擊疲弱無力，反而在第25分鐘時，被斯洛伐克前鋒維泰克（Robert Vittek）踢進1球，以0比1落後。

下半場，義大利雖然積極搶攻，卻苦無建樹，比賽到第73分鐘，意外再度發生，義大利大門2度失手，斯洛伐克則由維泰克「梅開二度」踢進了這場比賽個人的第2球，和本屆世界盃的第3球。

義大利在第81分鐘時，終於開啟反攻契機，由前鋒迪納泰利（Antonio Di Natale）射門追回1球，但斯洛伐克在第89分鐘時，中場科普內克（Kamil Kopunek）第3度踢破義大利大門，依然以3比1兩球領先。

最後在傷停補時的第92分鐘，義大利即使由前鋒奎利亞雷拉（Fabio Quagliarella）勁射破網，已經於事無補，義大利還是以2比3落敗，而且3戰一勝難求，黯然退出本屆比賽。990624

http://www.cna.com.tw/ShowNews/Detail.aspx?pNewsID=201006250006&pType0=aSPT&pTypeSel=0


June 24, 2010
Italy Coach Blames Himself for Early Exit
By JERÉ LONGMAN



JOHANNESBURG — Like a car on a frigid morning, Italy always seemed to need time for its engine to turn over at the World Cup.

In 1982, the Azzurri idled to three ties in the first round but still won the tournament. In 1994, Italy lost its opening match against Ireland, then lost goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca to a red card in its second match, before settling into a drive toward the final.

Not this time. Italy seemed to have no alternator or accelerator to provide energy and speed, no steering wheel for direction. No reliable classics, no Baresi or Baggio, no new model to roll off the assembly line like Toto Schillaci in 1990.

Finally, perhaps even mercifully, this rusted hulk of a team was towed away from the World Cup on Thursday, its battery dead, tires flat, windows smashed after a 3-2 loss to Slovakia, which was playing in its first World Cup.

While Slovakia advanced, Italy, the defending champion and a four-time winner, exited after group play for the first time since 1974, having steered far off its intended course.

A tie would have sent Italy to the second round, but even that remained elusive for a team that seemed aimless until late in the second half. Slovakia played more urgently, controlling much of the game, receiving two goals from forward Robert Vittek and refusing to be awed by Italy’s reputation.

“We didn’t dominate, but I think we were better,” Vittek said.

The most extraordinary act that Italy performed in this hapless World Cup was Thursday’s postgame soliloquy by its coach, Marcello Lippi, who retired after the match.


Lippi, who guided Italy to the 2006 World Cup title, blamed himself for everything that went wrong this time, from lineups to tactics to the team’s lack of inspiration and self-assurance.

“I take all responsibility for what happened because if a team shows up at such an important game, like tonight’s game, with terror in their head and heart and in their legs, and if the team is unable to express their abilities, it means the coach didn’t train the team as he should have done psychologically, technically or tactically,” Lippi, 62, said.

He did not expect to win the World Cup, Lippi said, but neither did he expect his team to play so forlornly. Repeatedly, he apologized and expressed sorrow for the outcome.

“I really firmly believe that the men I chose would have been able to deliver something different,” Lippi said. “I guess this time around I was just not capable to motivating the men as I should have done.”

There will be much discussion about what went wrong. Many have criticized Lippi for relying on aging players, like defender Fabio Cannavaro, 36, and midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, 32, who both showed their years against Slovakia.

The forwards he favored, like Alberto Gilardino, did not deliver here. And perhaps Lippi was too stubborn and loyal to call earlier on a reserve like Fabio Quagliarella, who played inspired on Thursday in the second half but was unable to lift his team fully from its torpor.


Injuries did not help. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, one of the best in the world, left Italy’s opening match and was told he had a herniated disk in his back. The playmaker Andrea Pirlo injured a calf muscle before the World Cup began and did not appear until the 56th minute on Thursday.


It did not help, either, that creative players like Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero had retired from the national team, or that an emerging player like Giuseppe Rossi was not chosen.

There was some bad luck, too, especially on Thursday. A shot by Quagliarella was stopped in the 67th minute, perhaps past the goal line, by the right knee of Slovak defender Martin Skrtel. Quagliarella put the ball into the net in the 85th minute but was ruled offside.

Lippi did not complain about the controversial plays, finding much more fault with himself and his team than with the officiating. Surely his players will have to join their coach in accepting some responsibility for Italy’s failure.

“I just didn’t create the necessary psychological dynamics and the players didn’t play right,” Lippi said. “They didn’t press; they didn’t build. They didn’t do anything.”

In the 25th minute, midfielder Daniele de Rossi made a careless pass that was intercepted by Slovakia’s Marek Hamsik. He passed to Vittek, who split two defenders and buried a shot from the top of the penalty area to put Italy down, 1-0.

After a corner kick in the 73rd minute, Slovakia went ahead, 2-0, when Hamsik again found Vittek, who beat defender Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, who was caught between standing up and going to the ground.

Forward Antonio Di Natale scored for Italy on a tap-in in the 81st minute as Italy finally slipped into gear. But moments after entering the game, Kamil Kopunek chipped a shot over Marchetti in the 89th minute to pull Slovakia ahead, 3-1.

Quagliarella finally delivered an official goal in added time, drawing Italy to 3-2, but it was not enough. At the final whistle, the Slovak players began to dance and belly-flop onto the turf at Ellis Park, while Quagliarella could only lie on his back in disbelief.

Mighty Italy was headed home far too early. When last seen, its emergency lights were flashing.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/sports/soccer/25slovakiagame.html