【英语生活】世界杯冠军俱乐部将添新成员

A traditional World Cup power's jinx is about to end. The question is whose. Spain reached its first World Cup final with a 1-0 defeat of Germany on Wednesday, while two-time finalist Netherlands advanced to the final with a 3-2 defeat of Uruguay on Tuesday. Just seven nations have won the prior 18 World Cups, and France is the only nation to have joined that club since 1978 with its 1998 crown.

World Cups often feature surprising outcomes in the early stages, but world powers tend to be the last standing. Just 12 teams have made it to the final - the seven winners (Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France) plus Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain. The last time the final was guaranteed to produce a first-time winner was in 1958, when Brazil beat Sweden to win its first World Cup. And the last time there were two first-time finalists was all the way back in 1934, when Italy beat Czechoslovakia. The world changes - Germany gets credit for West Germany's Cups in soccer history - but the World Cup is remarkably stable. The Spanish and Dutch are widely considered the two best sides to never lift the Cup, so it's appropriate they'll face each other on Sunday.

For Germany, it's yet another top finish without a title at a top competition. Germany finished third at the 2006 World Cup and second at the 2002 World Cup, making it the first team to collect three straight top-four finishes at the World Cup without winning any of them. The Germans also lost to Spain in the final of the 2008 European championship. That's four top four finishes in eight years at the two premier international tournaments without a title. Three times before, Germany has had a similar run of success, but always it had at least one title to show for it. Five top-four finishes between 1966 and 1976 included one World Cup and one European championship. Four top-fours between 1980 and 1988 included one European title. And another four between 1986 and 1992 included a World Cup. Still, it's a testament to German soccer that Germany is the only European side to have so many top finishes in such a short time span.

The Dutch did have three top-four finishes in four years in the 1970s without a title, in the era of Total Football. This year's Netherlands team isn't quite as flexible, but it has scored 12 goals, five more than Spain. Spain, though, has won three 1-0 games in the knockout stages, making it just the fourth finalist in World Cup history to win three straight games with a clean sheet in the knockout stages. The best defense can be a good offense, and Spain again held the ball for long stretches against Germany, outshooting the Germans 13-5. Playing against a team similar to itself in the final, Spain will have to, in effect, solve itself to earn another, bigger first.

一支世界杯赛传统强队的厄运大约就要结束了。问题是这会是哪支球队。西班牙队在周三的半决赛中以1比0击败德国队，首次晋级世界杯决赛，已两次晋级过世界杯决赛的荷兰队周二则以3比2的战绩打败乌拉圭队，再次跻身世界杯决赛。在以往的18届世界杯比赛中，只有七支球队曾经夺冠，而在1998年世界杯赛上夺冠的法国则是1978年以来唯一新加入世界杯冠军俱乐部的国家。

Associated Press 在与德国队的比赛中，普约尔关键的一个头球帮助西班牙队挺进决赛。在世界杯决赛阶段初期的比赛中，常常会有出人意料的比赛结果，但能够打入最后几轮比赛的往往是那些世界强队。只有12支球队成功打入世界杯决赛，其中七支获得了冠军(它们是乌拉圭队、意大利队、德国队、巴西队、英格兰队、阿根廷队和法国队)，另外五支球队则是捷克斯洛伐克队、匈牙利队、瑞典队、荷兰队和西班牙队。上一次出现世界杯决赛肯定会诞生一支首次夺冠的球队还是1958年，当时巴西击败瑞典，首次在世界杯夺冠。而上一次出现入围决赛的两支球队都是首次打入决赛的情况则发生在更早的1934年，当时是意大利对阵捷克斯洛伐克，最终意大利队获胜。世界在改变，德国就继承了前西德在足球史上获得的世界杯冠军荣誉，但能赢得世界杯的国家却往往总是那几个。在从未夺冠的各国中，西班牙和荷兰都被普遍视为最有实力捧得世界杯的国家，所以这两个国家在周日的决赛中对阵可谓“天作之合”。

至于德国，它只不过是另一个经常杀入世界杯最后阶段比赛却往往不能夺冠的国家。德国在2006年世界杯上名列第三，在2002年世界杯赛中夺得第二。德国队是世界上首个连续三次成为世界杯四强但这三次却一次也未能夺冠的球队。德国在2008年欧洲冠军杯决赛中也输给了西班牙。那是德国八年中在世界杯和欧洲冠军杯比赛中第四次杀入前四名却无缘冠军。在此之前，德国也曾有三次连续多回打入世界杯和欧洲冠军杯赛前四的经历，但那时它至少每次能有一回赢得冠军。在1966至1976年期间，德国曾五次杀入世界杯和欧洲冠军杯赛前四，并夺得过一次世界杯和一届欧洲冠军杯。它在1980至1988年期间四次打入世界杯和欧洲冠军杯赛前四，并获得过一次欧洲冠军。德国在1986至1992年期间又再度四次打入世界杯和欧洲冠军杯赛前四，其间获得过一次世界杯冠军。不过令德国足球骄傲的是，德国是唯一一个在如此短的时间段内如此多次杀入重要比赛前四名的欧洲国家。

在全攻全守型打法盛行的上世纪70年代，荷兰曾在四年时间内三次打入重要足球比赛的前四名，但却一次也未获得冠军。今年杀入世界杯决赛阶段比赛的荷兰队虽然不像以往那样灵活，但它在已完成的比赛中共打入12个进球，比西班牙队多五个。西班牙队在本次世界杯的淘汰赛阶段曾先后三次以1比0的比分击败对手，这使荷兰成为世界杯历史上第四支在淘汰阶段比赛中连赢三场却未失一球的杀入决赛国家。最好的防守就是良好的进攻，在对阵德国队的半决赛中西班牙队的控球时间再度占优，它与德国队的射门次数之比是13比5。西班牙队在决赛中的对手荷兰队与之打法相似，因此西班牙队必须首先设法在对抗中占据上风。