范加尔炮轰国际足联：干嘛还要踢三四名决赛

Furious Netherlands head coach Louis Van Gaal blasted FIFA for its refusal to scrap the World Cup's third-place consolation game and insisted the controversial playoff should be consigned to history.

据雅虎体育网站7月10日报道，脾气暴怒的荷兰主帅范加尔炮轰国际足联，怒批其拒绝取消世界杯三四名决赛，范加尔认为这种比赛只是安慰性的，并坚称这项有争议的比赛应当废除。

Van Gaal's Dutch side will be forced to play host nation Brazil in Brasilia on Saturday after losing its semifinal to Argentina in a heart-stopping penalty shootout at Arena de Sao Paulo on Wednesday night.

周三晚，在圣保罗体育场举行的世界杯半决赛中，范加尔的荷兰队经历了一场惊心动魄的点球大战后，负于阿根廷无缘决赛。因此，本周六荷兰队将不得不与东道主巴西争夺第三名。

The coach, who takes over English Premier League team Manchester United at the end of the tournament, claimed he has urged soccer's hierarchy to abandon the game for more than a decade, to no avail.

即将成为曼联主帅的范加尔称，自己十多年来都在劝说国际足联取消三四名争夺战，但毫无效果。

"I think that this match should never be played," said Van Gaal less than an hour after his team's 0-0 tie and subsequent 4-2 loss on penalties. "I have been saying this for the past 10 years.

球队败给阿根廷不到一个小时，范加尔就在采访中称，“我认为三四名决赛永远都不要踢，过去十年我一直在说这句话。”

"We will just have to play the game but it is unfair. We will have one day less to recover and that's not fair play. But the worst thing is, I believe, there is a chance that you lose twice in a row in a tournament in which you've played so marvelously well. You go home as a 'loser' because possibly you've lost the last two matches."

“我们不得不去踢这场比赛，但这不公平。我们少休息一天，这不公平。但我认为最糟糕的是，即使你在比赛中表现得非常出色，你也有可能在世界杯这样的大赛中连输两场比赛。你会作为一个失败者回国，因为你输掉了最后两场比赛。”

The third-place game is much derided and is rarely memorable. Teams often select weakened teams in order to give playing time to squad members who have gotten little playing time in the tournament.

三四名决赛充满讽刺，且少有人铭记。参赛球队通常会派出实力较弱的球员，给之前上场时间较短的球员一个比赛机会。

This time around, the game will have some significance for Brazil, which is desperately seeking to regain some pride following its crushing 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany. But playing for third place obviously means very little to Van Gaal.

但这一次的三四名决赛对巴西队意义重大，在半决赛1-7惨败给德国后，巴西队急需一场大胜找回尊严。但很显然，争夺第三名对范加尔来说几乎毫无意义。

FIFA has insisted on keeping the match as part of the World Cup schedule and it has been a part of the format since the inception of the competition. Even then, however, it was not very popular.

国际足联坚持世界杯要保留三四名决赛，且从第一届世界杯开始，三四名决赛就已写入赛程。然而，即便那时，这一安排也并非很受欢迎。

The United States won third place in the inaugural tournament in 1930 when its scheduled opponent, Yugoslavia, refused to play the game.

1930年第一届世界杯，美国队获得第三，因其三四名决赛的对手前南斯拉夫队拒绝参赛。

Van Gaal hinted he may make widespread changes to his lineup on Saturday and could not hide his displeasure.

范加尔称，周六他很有可能对首发阵容做出较大调整，并会收敛一下自己的不满。

"This game has nothing to do with sports in my opinion," he added. "But I have said this 10 years or 15 years ago and nothing changed. No tournament, no football tournament, especially in the last stage, should you have players playing for third or fourth.

“在我看来，这场比赛与竞技无关，”范加尔补充道，“但我想说，过去十到十五年，情况并未改观。任何比赛，任何足球比赛，尤其到最后阶段，都不该让球员参加争夺三四名这样的比赛。”

"There is only one prize and one award that counts for anything and that is becoming champion."

“只有一个奖项意味着全部，那就是冠军。”