Brazilian Barcelona midfielder Ronaldinho was named both the European and the FIFA World Player of the Year 2005. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard came second, while his England international teammate Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, came third.
Frank Lampard (born June 20, 1978 in Romford, London) is an English football player currently at Chelsea and previously with West Ham United. He is a regular member of the England national team. He was voted English Footballer of the Year 2004 and 2005.
After guiding England to the World Cup, Lamps tells us he can't wait to go to the Germany!
Congratulations Frank, you're going to the World Cup!
“It means a lot to me! I wasn't involved in the last one in 2002-I was on the fringes1 of the squad2 and I didn't go. We were determined to get to the World Cup, and for me it will be massive to compete at the highest level!”
England won their qualifying group by beating Poland 2-1...
“It's great to be the group winners! We felt we were the strongest team in the group, but we had to go out and prove that. The Poles3 have had some fantastic4 results, but we finished above them!”
Do you think the fans are happy now?
“I'm sure the fans are behind us! We know that criticism comes with the territory5, but hopefully now that we've qualified it will silence some of the critics! Hopefully the newspapers and the media can see all of the good points, and we'll improve now in the build-up6 to Germany!”
Will the team get even better?
“We will do more and we are capable of more—we won't hide from the fact. With all of the stuff that gets said about England, the players and the manager are more upset7 at ourselves than anyone else when we don't perform in a game!”
You're England's penalty8 taker as well now, Frank!
“Taking penalties for your country is a step up! It's a bit different to taking penalties for Chelsea, especially with the qualification campaign and with how the results had gone. It was important to get to the World Cup, I had to take that extra responsibility and I'm really pleased that I scored my penalty against Austria!”
Is there lots of extra pressure with taking penalties?
“That's the nature of football. I've seen Beckham take penalties to beat Argentina, to beat Turkey at home and other penalties that have been really important for England. At international level, games are always tight and penalties are very important!”
FRANKY FACT!
●Lampard's dad, and his older cousin Jamie Redknapp, also played for England!
●The ace9 midfielder scored five goals in England's World Cup qualifying games!
● Frank made his England debut10 against Belgium back in 1999!
巴塞罗那队中场球员巴西人罗纳尔迪尼奥当选为2005年欧洲足球先生以及国际足联世界足球先生，切尔西队中场球员弗兰克·兰帕德紧跟其后排名第二，兰帕德的英格兰国家队队友、利物浦队队长斯蒂文·杰拉德排名第三。
弗兰克·兰帕德1978年6月20日出生于伦敦郊区的罗姆福德，目前效力于切尔西队，之前在西汉姆联队踢球。他是英格兰国家队的正式队员，2004年和2005年两次被评为英格兰足球先生。
在带领英格兰队进军世界杯之后，兰帕德告诉我们他有点迫不及待想去德国了。
恭喜你，弗兰克，你要参加世界杯了！
“这对我意义重大，我没能参加2002年的世界杯——当时我还不是主力队员，没能参加。我们是下定决心要参加世界杯的，对我而言，参加顶级水平的比赛是一件很重大的事情。”
在小组资格赛中英格兰以2比1击败波兰……
“小组出线感觉很好，我们觉得我们是本小组实力最强的队，但我们得尽力证明这一点。波兰人取得了一些不错的成绩，但是我们最终成绩比他们好。”
你认为球迷高兴吗？
“我相信球迷是支持我们的，我们知道他们对我们的防守有很多批评。但是，既然我们出线了，可以让一些批评家闭嘴了。希望报纸和媒体能够看到我们所有的优点，我们会在积攒力量迎接德国世界杯的过程中不断完善自己。”
球队会有更好的表现吗？
“我们会加倍努力，我们能够取得更好的成绩——但我们不会回避事实，关于英格兰有各种各样的传言，当比赛表现不好的时候，没有人比我们这些球员和球队经理更生我们自己的气。”
你现在也是英格兰队的点球手，弗兰克！
“为国家队罚点球是一次升华，这同在切尔西队罚点球有些不一样，特别是在资格赛的时候，或者决定比赛结果的时候。参加世界杯非常重要，我得承担一些格外的责任，我很高兴在和奥地利的那场球赛中我的点球罚中了。”
罚点球是不是要承受很多额外的压力？
“这就是足球的本色。我亲眼看见贝克汉姆通过点球战胜了阿根廷队，在英格兰主场战胜土耳其队，还有其他一些对英格兰队十分重要的点球。在国际赛场上，比赛常常是势均力敌的，点球十分关键。”
弗兰克点滴
*兰帕德的爸爸以及他的大表兄杰米·雷德克纳普也曾是英格兰队的国脚。
*这位优秀的中场球员在英格兰小组出线赛中踢进了5个球。
*弗兰克在1999年英格兰对比利时的比赛中首次正式露面。
1. toss sth. to sb. 扔；抛
2. break the ice 打破沉默
3. pierce v. 在（某物）上扎眼、穿孔
4. infect v. 使某人感染
5. negative adj. 消极的
6. peer n. （通常作复数）同龄人
7. hallway n. 走廊
8. straighten sth. out 解决某事物
9. stick up for sb. 支持或维护某人
10. pass sth. up （口）放过（机会等）
11. quit （口）停止（做某事）
12. preventable adj. 可预防的
13. stink n. 非常难闻的气味