美丽的运动——足球为何能风靡世界\t

There are many beautiful things about being an American fan of men's World Cup soccer—foremost among them is ignorance. The community in which you were raised did not gather around the television set every four years for a solid， breathless month. Your country has never won. You can pick whatever team you like best and root for1) it without shame or fear of reprisal2). You have not been indoctrinated3) into unwanted-yet-inescapable tribal allegiances4) by your soccer-crazed countrymen. You are an amateur， in the purest sense of the word. So with the World Cup taking place this month in Germany—and the World Cup is the only truly international sporting event on the planet (no， the Olympics， with their overwhelming clutter of boutique5) athletics， do not matter in the same way)—you can expect to spend the month in paradise.

That's what I do. The world of the World Cup is the one I want to live in. I cannot resist its United Nations–like pageantry6) and high-mindedness， the apolitical7) display of national characteristics， the revelation of deep human flaws8) and unexpected greatnesses， the fact that entire nations walk off the job or wake up at 3 a.m. to watch men kick a ball. There are countries that have truly multiracial squads9)—France， England， and the United States—while other teams are entirely blond or Asian or Latin American. A Slovakian tire salesman， an Italian cop10)， or a German concert pianist—having passed the official fitness tests—will moonlight11) as referee. There are irritating fans: \"U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!\" (Blessedly few.) There are children who hold hands with each player as he walks onto the field. National anthems play. Men paint themselves their national colors and cry openly at defeat. An announcer shouts \"GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL! GOL， GOL， GOL!\" on the Spanish-language channel you're watching. (It's often the only way you can see the game live.) There are two back-to-back 45-minute segments12) without commercials. To quote the book every traveling athlete finds in his hotel room: \"Rejoice， and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.\" Or， as my copy of Soccer and Its Rules says: \"Are you ready? Ready to cheer the players to victory， marvel at their fitness， speed， and skills， urging them to win every tackle13) for the ball， ready to explode at a powerful shot? Ready for the excitement of flying wingers， overlapping backs， curling corners， slick one-two passing and goals scored with panache14)? Ready for another moment in a fantasy world?\"作为一个男子足球世界杯的美国球迷有很多美好之处，其中居于首位的就是无知。在你长大的社区里，大家不会每隔四年就围聚在电视机前一起度过不眠不休的、扣人心弦的一个月。你的国家还从来没有赢过，你可以挑选你最喜欢的任何球队，为他们鼓劲喝彩而无须感到羞愧或担心被报复。你没有被爱球成痴的同胞灌输过讨厌的但又无法逃避的种族忠诚思想。用最纯粹的话来说，你是个业余爱好者。所以，当世界杯这个月在德国举行时(编注：本文发表于2006年6月)——世界杯是地球上唯一真正的国际体育赛事(不，奥运会因各种小规模的精品运动项目而杂乱不堪，与世界杯的意义不同)——你可以期待自己这一个月将会在天堂度过。

那正是我所做的。我想住在世界杯的世界。它那仿若联合国一样的盛大场景、崇高品格、对民族特征无政治色彩的展现、对人类深层的缺陷及出人预料的伟大之处的揭示，以及整个国家的人都翘班或者凌晨3点起床看一群男人踢球的事实，我都无法抵抗。这里有许多拥有真正多种族球队的国家，如法国、英国还有美国；而其他球队全部都是金发碧眼的白种人或亚洲人或拉丁美洲人。一个斯洛伐克轮胎销售商、一个意大利警察或者一个德国音乐会钢琴家在通过官方的体能测试后，都将可以在这期间兼职做裁判。还有让人恼火的球迷：“美国加油！美国加油！美国加油！”(还好人数不多。)还有当每个球员走进场地时与之手牵手的孩子们。还会放国歌。人们会把自己涂成国旗的颜色，还会在自己支持的球队战败时当场放声大哭。你观看的西班牙语频道(这通常是看现场直播的唯一途径)中，一个解说员大喊：“球进——了——！进了，进了，进了！”比赛有两个连续的半场，各45分钟，直播中间没有广告。引用每个到外地参加比赛或训练的运动员都会在酒店房间里发现的那本书(编注：指《圣经》，国外酒店多提供)上的话来说就是：“应当欢喜快乐，因为你们在天上的赏赐是大的。”或者就像我手里的这本《足球及其规则》所写：“你准备好了吗？准备好为球员们欢呼直至他们取胜，为他们的体能、速度和球技而惊叹，激励他们在每一次断球中取胜，准备好为一记强劲的射门而爆发欢呼了吗？为令人兴奋的飞一般的边锋、叠瓦式助攻的后卫、弧度精妙的角球、巧妙的带球过人和神气十足的进球准备好了吗？为奇幻世界的下一个重要时刻准备好了吗？”

1.root for: 为……喝彩鼓励；为……鼓劲

2.reprisal [r#618;#712;pra#618;zl] n. 报复

3.indoctrinate [#618;n#712;d#594;ktr#618;ne#618;t] vt. 向……灌输知识(或纪律、规章等)

4.allegiance [#601;#712;li#720;d#658;#601;ns] n. (对个人、团体、事业等的)忠贞；拥戴；热爱

5.boutique [bu#720;#712;ti#720;k] adj. 精品的

6.pageantry [#712;p#230;d#658;#601;ntri] n. (尤指涉及王室人物的特殊正式事件的)盛典；盛大活动

7.apolitical [#716;e#618;p#601;#712;l#618;t#618;kl] adj. (指行为)非政治的，无政治色彩的； (指人)不关心政治的；不支持任何政党的

8.flaw [fl#596;#720;] n. (指人性格中的)缺点

9.squad: 请参见P7注释3

10.cop [k#594;p] n. 警察

11.moonlight [#712;mu#720;nla#618;t] vi. 兼职(尤指不为专职工作的雇主和税收部门知道)

12.segment [#712;seɡm#601;nt] n. 部分；片段

13.tackle [#712;t#230;kl] n. 【足】阻截铲球

14.panache [p#601;#712;n#230;#643;] n. 夸耀；夸示；神气十足I am ready.

Soccer's worldwide popularity isn't surprising when you look at what has always motivated humanity: money and God. There's lots of money in soccer， of course. Club soccer (like capitalism) is basically the childlike desire to make dreams come true， no matter what the cost， realized by men with enough money to combine such commodities as the best Brazilian attacker， Dutch midfielder， British defender， and German goalie15) and turn them loose on whatever the other billionaires can put together—an unfair situation that describes much of the world these days. But the divine's there， too. What is soccer if not everything that religion should be? Universal yet particular， the source of an infinitely renewable supply of hope， occasionally miraculous， and governed by simple， uncontradictory rules (\"laws\"， officially) that everyone can follow. Soccer's laws are laws of equality and nonviolence and restraint， and free to be reinterpreted at the discretion of a reasonable arbiter16). What the ref says goes， no matter how flagrantly17) in violation of dogma18) his decisions may be. My official rule book， after presenting a detailed enumeration19) of soccer's 17 laws， concludes that the ref can throw out any of them in order to apply what it rather mystically calls \"the spirit of fair play\".

The religious undercurrent20) in soccer runs especially deep in World Cup years. Teams from across the globe converge on21) the host nation in something of an unarmed， athletic crusade22). As in the Crusades， the host nation tends to repel them. There's a weird power in home-team advantage. Hosts find a level of success disproportionate to their talents on paper， triumphing over stronger teams， as if exerting a gravitational pull on the game， causing it to be played the way they want to play it， as if， to carry this metaphor to its inevitable conclusion， God were on their side.

It's well-known that soccer， like religion， can provoke violence—hooliganism23) and tramplings at overcrowded， Mecca-mid-hajj-like stadiums are what many Americans assume about the game. But soccer has also proved unique in its ability to bridge differences and overturn national prejudices. The fact that the World Cup could even take place in South Korea and in Japan， as it did in 2002， was a victory for tolerance and understanding. In less than half a century South Korea had gone from not allowing the Japanese national team to cross its borders for a World Cup qualifier， to co-hosting the tournament with the former occupier. Give the world another 50 years and we might see the Cup co-hosted by Israel and Palestine.

And why not? Soccer's universality is its simplicity—the fact that the game can be played anywhere with anything. Urban children kick the can on concrete and rural kids kick a rag wrapped around a rag wrapped around a rag， barefoot， on dirt. Soccer is something to believe in now， perhaps empty at its core， but not a stand-in for anything else.

The beautiful game—let's call it business and religion combined—will be at its most unfair， frustrating， and magnificent this month in unified Germany's first World Cup. And what makes the World Cup most beautiful is the world， all of us together. The joy of being one of the billion or more people watching 32 countries abide by 17 rules fills me with the conviction， perhaps ignorant， but like many ignorant convictions， fiercely held， that soccer can unite us all.我准备好了。

当你看到是什么一直促进了人类的发展时，足球在全世界范围的流行就不会使你惊讶了，而那就是金钱和上帝。足球行业当然有很多钱。俱乐部足球(就像资本主义)基本上就是不论什么代价都要让梦想成真的孩童般的渴望，它由有钱人来实现，他们把诸如最好的巴西前锋、荷兰中场、英国防守还有德国守门员这些商品联合起来，然后放手让他们进攻其他亿万富翁能创建起来的球队——这种不公平的情形描绘的是世界的大部分现状。但足球运动也不乏神圣之处。如果宗教不应该是一切，那足球是什么呢？它是普世而又独特的，是无限可再生的希望之源泉，有时是不可思议的，它由简单的、不矛盾的规则(官方称之为“法则”)支配，每个人都能遵守。足球的法则是公平、克制和非暴力的法则，可以任由理智的裁判对其加以合理的重新诠释。裁判的话就是圣旨，无论他的裁定可能多么明显地违背了规则。我的官方规则书在详细地列举出足球的17大法则后总结称，裁判可以抛开这其中的任何一条，以便践行所谓的相当神秘的“公平竞争精神”。

足球运动中的宗教潜流在世界杯举行的那些年份影响尤其深远。来自全球的诸多球队汇集到主办国，就像是在进行一场赤手空拳的竞技远征。而就如所有的远征一样，主办国常常能抵御他们。主场队的优势有种奇怪的力量。主场队总能获得与他们表面实力不相符的胜利，战胜比他们更强大的对手，就好像他们对比赛施加了一种引力，使之能按照他们希望的方式进行，就好像——这个比喻不可避免会得出这样的结论——上帝在支持他们。

众所周知，足球就像宗教一样也能激发暴力。许多美国人想当然地认为，这项运动就是在像麦加朝圣之路一样过度拥挤的体育场馆里发生的足球流氓行为和踩踏事件。但足球也有业已被证明的独特力量——弥合分歧，颠覆民族偏见。2002年世界杯甚至能够在韩国和日本举办，这个事实就是宽容和理解的胜利。不到半个世纪前，韩国还不允许日本国家队越过它的边境参加世界杯资格赛，如今已经与曾经的侵略者共同主办了这项赛事。再过50年，我们也许能看到以色列和巴勒斯坦共同主办的世界杯。

为什么不能呢？足球的普遍性归功于它的简单，即这项运动可以在任何地方用任何东西来进行的事实。城里的孩子在混凝土马路上踢罐子，乡下的孩子赤着脚在土路上踢着破布裹着破布裹成的破布团。足球是现在就要信仰的东西，也许它是中空的，但它绝不是任何东西的替身。

这项美丽的运动——我们称之为集商业性与宗教性于一体的运动——将于本月在德国展现它最不公、最令人沮丧和最盛大辉煌的一面，这是德国在统一后首次主办世界杯。正是这个世界，是我们所有人一起让世界杯如此美丽。与其他上亿甚至更多人一起观看被17项规则束缚的32个国家的喜悦使我心中充满了坚定的信仰，这种信仰可能是盲目的，但正如许多盲目的信仰一样，无比坚定——我坚信足球可以把我们所有人团结起来。

15.goalie [#712;g#601;#650;l#618;] n. 守门员

16.arbiter [#712;ɑ#720;b#618;t#601;(r)] n. (活动或命运的)控制者；主宰者；裁决人

17.flagrantly [#712;fle#618;ɡr#601;ntli] adv. 明目张胆地；公然地；赤裸裸地

18.dogma [#712;d#594;ɡm#601;] n. 教条；信条

19.enumeration

[#618;#716;nju#720;m#601;#712;re#618;#643;n] n. 列举

20.undercurrent

[#712;#652;nd#601;k#652;r#601;nt] n. 潜流；暗流

21.converge on: (人或车辆等)聚集

22.crusade [kru#720;#712;se#618;d] n. 十字军远征(指西方基督教徒组织的反对穆斯林国家的几次军事东侵)

23.hooliganism

[#712;hu#720;l#618;ɡ#601;n#618;z#601;m] n. 流氓行为