东道主首战告捷

　　
　　Germans never really give up hope on their team, which has won three Cups and is always in the hunt. But there has been a lot of talk about the national team's 17-match losing streak against top world opponents, and that streak is still alive as Germany prepares to face Poland in a game that will revive a hot and ancient rivalry -- and will put the Cup's law-enforcement forces on hooligan alert.
　　
　　Friday's win kept alive the German fans' enduring belief that Germany tends to be a turnier mannschaft -- a tournament team. In other words, a team that rises above its talent level when it absolutely has to, comes through in the clutch.
　　
　　That's kind of what happened. With so much riding on the first game for Germany, the boys could've choked. Instead, they scored in the sixth minute, gave up a goal, then scored again -- two goals in the first 17 minutes.
　　
　　"This team has unbelievable energy," Klinsmann said in his mostly conservative postgame comments, and the next couple of weeks will tell if that's an honest evaluation or Klinsi trying to sell his new program to a skeptical country.
　　
　　One group that's groovin' on Klinsmann's live-wire fussball team is his friends and neighbors in Huntington Beach. They're pickin' up good vi-brations, Juergen's givin' them ex-ci-tation.
　　
　　
　　Key Words 注释
　　herald vt. 传达，预报
　　bizarre adj. 奇异的
　　frantic adj. 狂乱的；疯狂的
　　groan vi. 呻吟
　　curiously enough 说也奇怪；最奇怪的是
　　showpiece n. 范例
　　oompah band 铜管乐队
　　cornucopia n. 富裕；丰饶
　　see-through adj. 透明的
　　eat one’s heart out
　　big-time adj. 一流的
　　fussball [德]足球
　　Deutschland 德意志；德国
　　revved-up adj. 加快的；快速的
　　lob-wedge倒挂金勾式击球
　　kaiser n. 皇帝
　　dribble v. 运球
　　hooligan n. 恶棍，无赖
　　live-wire n. 活泼的人；精力旺盛的人