足球：2002年世界杯：夺冠热门：免于点球之苦的蓝衣军团魅力四射：西蒙·库珀表示，意大利队比以往任何时候都更加强大
中文译文
在日本仙台的意大利队营地里，大家意见分歧最大的是索尼的PlayStation。 大多数球员都喜欢它，但罗马中场达米亚诺·托马西——那个留着蓬乱卷发、秉持着旧时代左翼思想的球员——却表示：“我不感兴趣。”队长保罗·马尔蒂尼（没错，他还活着）赞同托马西的观点：“我儿子玩这个，我属于另一代人。我更喜欢通过网络摄像头看我的家人。”
除此之外，仙台营地一片平静。每晚，皮波·因扎吉和克里斯蒂安·维埃里都会一起看电影。门将吉吉·布冯带了一本3000页的书来日本，希望能在40天内读完。
考虑到布冯曾身穿印有法西斯口号“投降者死”的T恤，曾在一个赛季中选择象征法西斯的88号球衣，且本周还赞同意大利极右翼政党北方联盟领袖翁贝托·博西的言论——“我希望意大利赢得世界杯，那样来这里的外国人就会少一些”——人们宁愿不知道这本书的书名。 布冯不妨找托马西聊聊。
不过，这位门将和博西的愿望或许会成真。这个过去20年间在世界杯上仅输过两场比赛的国家，在本届赛事中看起来是最强大、最稳定的球队。当英格兰球员们伤病不断时，因扎吉、马尔蒂尼和弗朗切斯科·托蒂都已从长期伤病中及时康复，为世界杯做好了准备。 没有人批评意大利主帅乔瓦尼·特拉帕托尼，因为无论你对他有何看法，都无法否认他是一位优秀的教练。在现役教练中，只有亚历克斯·弗格森赢得的奖杯比他更多。
事实上，迄今为止仅出现过两起风波：一是球员们不会唱国歌，二是罗伯托·巴乔的缺席。 这位34岁的“幻想家”已成为每个意大利人心目中最受宠的“家庭宠物”，当他在膝盖手术后仅77天便重返绿茵场——这简直是个奇迹——人们愈发坚信他注定要参加世界杯。但“特拉帕”还是将他排除在外。
周二，意大利队抵达罗马机场准备飞往日本时，随处可见意大利航空印有巴乔形象的海报，上面写着： “每周15班航班送您去日本，每周2班航班送您去韩国。”但航空公司方面表示这只是个玩笑。意大利人心里都明白特拉帕托尼是正确的：既然队中已有托蒂、亚历山德罗·德尔·皮耶罗和文森佐·蒙特拉，若再带上巴乔，无异于在身材矮小的“幻想家”名额上过度堆砌。对巴乔落选最感到惋惜的莫过于日本人，这或许源于佛教式的同情心。
意大利人对自己的球队很满意。事实上，他们期待球队能赢得世界杯。“鉴于我被描绘成暴君和独裁者，”意大利总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼对球员们说道——其中几位还是他在AC米兰的雇员，“我告诉你们：去日本赢球，否则等你们回来，我就把你们关进监狱。 而且还要戴着镣铐，脚边放个球。”（虽然不愿曲解贝卢斯科尼，但他自己确实该停止这种言行了。）
意大利球员们离开这次会议时，心情恐怕相当沉重。但他们其实大可放松些。世界杯上最常见的陈词滥调之一是“死亡之组”，但他们所在的小组——与克罗地亚、厄瓜多尔和墨西哥同组——倒更像是“生命之组”。 蓝衣军团从这个小组出线后，接下来的赛程简直轻松得离谱——直到决赛前都能避开法国、阿根廷、巴西，甚至还有英格兰（尽管这没什么大不了的）。在此之前他们可能遇到的最强对手不过是西班牙、葡萄牙和德国。如果意大利队连这些队都打不过，那他们大概真该进监狱。
这支意大利队正是当年距离2000年欧洲杯冠军仅差一分钟的那支队伍，如今在某些位置上还得到了加强。 弗朗切斯科·托尔多在2000年表现神勇，但布冯似乎已略胜一筹。后防线与2000年一样，应由马尔蒂尼、亚历山德罗·内斯塔和法比奥·卡纳瓦罗组成。
中场则更难抉择。意大利队拥有过多的乏味跑动型球员，他们彼此之间毫无区别，以至于很难决定该选谁。 目前看来，路易吉·迪比亚吉和克里斯蒂亚诺·扎内蒂将出任中场中路，詹卢卡·赞布罗塔司职右路，左路则由弗朗切斯科·科科或克里斯蒂安·帕努奇担纲。“如果我有贝克汉姆和吉格斯这样的边前卫，我肯定会选他们，”特拉帕托尼耸耸肩说道。
托蒂必须承担起意大利全队的创造力重任，担任所谓的“前腰”（trequartista），位置介于中场与锋线之间。 锋线上，特拉帕托尼表示预计将派出维埃里和因扎吉这对“电影社”组合首发。这听起来不错。因伤缺席2000年欧洲杯的维埃里，在上届世界杯五场比赛中攻入五球；虽然针对热衷越位的因扎吉很容易提出理论上的质疑，但他通常也能进球。 这意味着德尔·皮耶罗将坐上替补席，这令支持尤文图斯的40%的意大利球迷大为沮丧。
意大利队的防守强度应该会比1998年稍弱一些，当时切萨雷·马尔蒂尼打造了一支防守如此严密的球队，甚至连意大利人自己都觉得太过保守。然而，这支队伍依然让人想起约翰·克鲁伊夫的名言：“意大利人不会击败你，但你会输给他们。”
其他热门球队都无法与之比肩。法国队首发阵容中约有一半球员已过巅峰期，而意大利队只有马尔蒂尼一人；至于阿根廷队，意大利球迷指出，加布里埃尔·巴蒂斯图塔、埃尔南·克雷斯波和克劳迪奥·“皮奥乔”·洛佩斯在本赛季意甲的表现，与胡安·塞巴斯蒂安·维隆在英超的表现大同小异。 更不用说英格兰了：在意大利队中，每位球员都已证明了自己的国际级水准。
若非点球大战，意大利本有可能赢得过去三届世界杯。若非点球，这次我们都该押注他们。
Italiano 原文
Football: World Cup 2002: The Favourites: Allure of the Azzurri on a path free of penalties: Simon Kuper says that Italy are stronger than ever
IN THE ITALIAN camp in Sendai, Japan, the main difference of opinion concerns Sony's PlayStation. Most players love it, but Damiano Tommasi, the Roma midfielder with the frizzy hair and leftwing beliefs of a bygone era, says: 'It doesn't interest me.' Paolo Maldini, the captain (yes, he is still alive), agrees with Tomassi: 'My son plays it, I am of another generation. I prefer watching my family on my webcam.'
Otherwise, calm reigns in Sendai. Every evening Pippo Inzaghi and Christian Vieri watch a film together. Gigi Buffon, the keeper, has brought a 3,000-page book to Japan and hopes to finish it by the end of 40 days.
One would rather not know the title, given that Buffon is the man once seen in a T-shirt with the fascist slogan, 'Death to those who surrender', chose the talismanic fascist number 88 for his shirt one season, and this week agreed with Umberto Bossi, leader of Italy's far-right Northern League, who said: 'I hope Italy win the World Cup, because then fewer foreigners will arrive here.' Buffon should talk to Tommasi.
But the keeper and Bossi may get their wish. The country that has lost just two World Cup matches in the past 20 years look the strongest and most settled team at this one. While bits keep falling off England players, Inzaghi, Maldini and Francesco Totti have all recovered from longstanding injuries nicely in time for the World Cup. No one is attacking the Italian coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, because whatever you think of him it is impossible to argue that he is a bad manager. Among current managers, only Alex Ferguson has won more prizes.
In fact, there have been only two kerfuffles so far: about the players' inability to sing the national anthem, and the absence of Roberto Baggio. The 34-year-old fantasista has become every Italian's favourite household pet, and when he returned to football recently only 77 days after knee surgery - an apparent miracle - belief grew that he was destined to go the World Cup. 'Trap' omitted him anyway.
Arriving at Rome airport for their flight to Japan on Tuesday, the Italian squad were confronted everywhere with Alitalia posters of Baggio bearing the text: 'We Will Take You to Japan with 15 Flights a Week, and to Korea with Two.' But the airline itself said it was just a joke. In their hearts Italians know Trap was right: taking Baggio when you already have Totti, Alessandro del Piero and Vicenzo Montella would have been to overdo the undersized fantasista quota. The people most upset by Baggio's omission are the Japanese, perhaps motivated by Buddhist solidarity.
The Italians are happy with their team. In fact, they expect them to win the World Cup. 'Seeing as I have been depicted as a tyrant and a dictator,' the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi told the players, several of them his employees at AC Milan, 'I tell you, "Go to Japan and win, or else when you come back I will put you in jail. And in chains, with a ball at your feet."' (One hates to misrepresent Berlusconi, but he should really stop doing so himself.)
The Italian players might well have left this meeting in a ponderous mood. They should relax. One of the great World Cup cliches is the 'Group of Death', but they are in what could be called the 'Group of Life', with Croatia, Ecuador and Mexico. The Azzurri emerge from this into a scandalously easy run, avoiding France, Argentina, Brazil and, for what it's worth, England until the final. The toughest teams they could face before then are Spain, Portugal and Germany. If the Italians can't beat those, they probably deserve to go to jail.
This is the Italian side that came within a minute of winning Euro 2000 strengthened in a couple of places. Francesco Toldo kept brilliantly in 2000, but Buffon looks to have edged him out. The defence, as in 2000, should consist of Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro.
Midfield is trickier. Italy has a surplus of tedious runners so indistinguishable from each other that it is hard to know which of them to pick. It currently looks as if Luigi di Biagi and Cristiano Zanetti will play in the centre, with Gianluca Zambrotta on the right and Francesco Coco or Christian Panucci on the left. 'If I had wing-halves like Beckham and Giggs I would have picked them,' shrugs Trap.
Totti must provide all Italy's creativity, playing as the socalled trequartista , three-quarters of the way between midfield and attack. Up front, Trap says he expects to start with the filmsociety duo of Vieri and Inzaghi. That sounds good. Vieri, who missed Euro 2000 through injury, scored five goals in five games at the last World Cup, and while it is easy to construct a theoretical argument against the offside-loving Inzaghi, he usually also scores. That would leave Del Piero on the bench, to the chagrin of the 40 per cent of Italian fans who support Juventus.
Italy should be slightly less defensive than in 1998, when Cesare Maldini built a team so defensive that even Italians thought it was defensive. Yet it is still a side to recall Johan Cruyff's dictum: 'Italians can't beat you, but you can lose to them.'
None of the other favourites have their stability. Whereas about half of France's starters are past their peak, the Italians only have Maldini, and as for Argentina, Italian fans point out that Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo and Claudio 'Piojo' Lopez have all had much the same sort of season in Serie A that Juan Sebastian Veron has had in the Premiership. Let's not even mention England: in the Italian team, every player has proved his international calibre.
If it weren't for penalty kicks, Italy might well have won the past three World Cups. If it weren't for penalties, we should all be betting on them this time.