2006年NPR美国国家公共电台七月-French Have a Word for Zidane: Pourquoi?

A French soccer legend got a hero's-welcome-home today whether he deserved it or not. Zinedine Zidane and his teammates-the World Cup runners-up, made a brief appearance in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac before a flag-waving crowd. Chirac told Zidane he is, quote "a virtuoso 1, a genius of world football". But in yesterday's World Cup final, Zidane's behavior was less than brilliant. He delivered the most memorable 2 moment when he head-butted an Italian player. The French star was thrown out of the game. It was his last match before retirement 3. France lost to Italy on penalty kicks. So, how was France responding to the disgrace of its star in the World Cup final? Francois Picard is website news director for Eurosport, that's a cable sports channel.

--Hello, Monsieur Pickard, thanks for joining us.
--Hello, Michele.

--What a way to go out?
--Oh, it was, it was incredible because Zidane was in the same game both sublime 4 and then this inexplicable 5 gesture in extra time. I don't think anybody here understands exactly why he snapped.

--And, just you know, for those who didn't see it on television, perhaps you could ~ur~ recreate that moment for us, tell us what happened?
--Okay, they're playing the Italians in the final. The Italians dominate the first half, but then, but Zidane scores on a penalty. And so it's Zidane who puts them in the lead. The Italians equalize. The match goes to extra time. And we're in the 110th minute, and after (it) what seems like a harmless play behind the goal, Italy defender 6 Marco Materazzi says something to him and Zidane turns around, and head-butts him in the chest.

--What was amazing about this is he, he took two steps and then he turned around?
--Yeah, it's, what's amazing is that he is a 34 year-old veteran who has seen it all and done it all. Now, usually people who get wound-up by what they call in NBA trash-talking are, you know, 20-year-olds or people who are more hotheaded and here, em. it's just incredible that whatever Materazzi said, now, Zidane played in Italy before, so he speaks Italian. But whatever he said to him, that Zidane would snap at that particular moment.

--Lots of speculation 7 today about what he might have said.
--Yeah, the word that's going around and Materazzi has denied it is that he called him an Arab terrorist. I mean, I~until Zidane speaks and he's promised to do so in the coming days, we won't know for sure.

--Now it seems that the fans and President Chirac were pretty kind to Zidane when he returned home to Paris.
--The fans were in a state of shock this morning. It was quite a come down after reaching the final of the World Cup. France is a country where, you know, there's a lot of bad news these days, you know, with high unemployment, we said no to the European Constitution, and football was a reason to cheer and to reach the final and inexplicably 8 to have their hero in one minute turn into a villain 9. Afterwards ,um,we still had several thousand people, more than 10 thousand who showed up in Paris's Plaza 10 de Concord 11 to greet the team and to,and to say "thank you" to Zidane for his career.

--What were the headlines like in the papers today?
--Well, that's, when it comes to Zidane, the French press has trouble criticizing him. So~the~ the headlines were circumspect 12. You have to understand that Zidane is somebody from a working-class neighborhood of Marseilles, the son of Algerian immigrants, and who's soft-spoken and elegant and graceful 13 and a model figure because of the way he plays and the way he~he carries himself, it's a gesture that's completely out of character.

--Francois Picard, thanks so much for talking to us.
--Thank you.

Francois Picard is website news director for Eurosport, that's a cable sports......

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whether... or not:used between two words or phrases to show that either of two things is possible, or used before the last in a list of possibilities or choices;无论是...或... , 是否
deserve:to have earned something by good or bad actions or behaviour;应受,值得
teammate:someone who belongs to the same team as you;队友
runners-up:the person or team that comes second in a race or competition;亚军
flag-waving:the expression of strong national feelings, especially when these feelings seem too extreme;狂热的爱国主义的
head-butt:用头撞人
throw out:to make someone leave a place, school, or organization, especially because they have done something that is against the rules;红牌罚下场
disgrace:the loss of other people's respect because you have done something they strongly disapprove of;耻辱, 失宠, 丢脸的人(或事)
sublime:something that is sublime is so good or beautiful that it affects you deeply;庄严的, 崇高的, 壮观的, 卓越的
inexplicable:too unusual or strange to be explained or understood;无法说明的
extra time:a period of usually 30 minutes added to the end of a football game in some competitions if neither team has won after normal time;三十分钟的加时赛
snap:to suddenly stop being able to control your anger, anxiety, or other feelings in a difficult situation;突然情绪失控
in the lead:领先
equalize:to get a point in a game, so that you have the same number of points as your opponent;扳平比分
wound-up:anxious, worried, or excited;头脑发热,生气,激动
trash-talking:when a sports player or sports fan says rude or unpleasant things to or about a sports player;体育竞技中一方队员对另一方队员说粗口或令人不愉快的事
hothdeaded:someone who does things too quickly without thinking; 鲁莽的, 冲动的, 苍促的, 草率的
villain:a bad person or criminal;恶棍或罪犯
working-class:the group of people in society who traditionally do physical work and do not have much money or power ;工人阶级的
soft-spoken:having a pleasant quiet voice; 说话温和的, 善于言辞的
out of charactor:untypical of someone's character;不符合某人性格的,与某人性格不相称的