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.

據雅虎體育網站7月10日報道，脾氣暴怒的荷蘭主帥范加爾炮轟國際足聯，怒批其拒絕取消世界杯三四名決賽，范加爾認為這種比賽只是安慰性的，并堅稱這項有爭議的比賽應當廢除。

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，在圣保羅體育場舉行的世界杯半決賽中，范加爾的荷蘭隊經歷了一場驚心動魄的點球大戰后，負于阿根廷無緣決賽。因此，本周六荷蘭隊將不得不與東道主巴西爭奪第三名。

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.

即將成為曼聯主帥的范加爾稱，自己十多年來都在勸說國際足聯取消三四名爭奪戰，但毫無效果。

"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.

球隊敗給阿根廷不到一個小時，范加爾就在采訪中稱，“我認為三四名決賽永遠都不要踢，過去十年我一直在說這句話。”

"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."

“我們不得不去踢這場比賽，但這不公平。我們少休息一天，這不公平。但我認為最糟糕的是，即使你在比賽中表現得非常出色，你也有可能在世界杯這樣的大賽中連輸兩場比賽。你會作為一個失敗者回國，因為你輸掉了最后兩場比賽。”

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.

三四名決賽充滿諷刺，且少有人銘記。參賽球隊通常會派出實力較弱的球員，給之前上場時間較短的球員一個比賽機會。

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.

但這一次的三四名決賽對巴西隊意義重大，在半決賽1-7慘敗給德國后，巴西隊急需一場大勝找回尊嚴。但很顯然，爭奪第三名對范加爾來說幾乎毫無意義。

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.

國際足聯堅持世界杯要保留三四名決賽，且從第一屆世界杯開始，三四名決賽就已寫入賽程。然而，即便那時，這一安排也并非很受歡迎。

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

1930年第一屆世界杯，美國隊獲得第三，因其三四名決賽的對手前南斯拉夫隊拒絕參賽。

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

范加爾稱，周六他很有可能對首發陣容做出較大調整，并會收斂一下自己的不滿。

"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.

“在我看來，這場比賽與競技無關，”范加爾補充道，“但我想說，過去十到十五年，情況并未改觀。任何比賽，任何足球比賽，尤其到最后階段，都不該讓球員參加爭奪三四名這樣的比賽。”

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

“只有一個獎項意味著全部，那就是冠軍。”

（譯者 SurpassZhao 編輯 齊磊）