经济学人02: 西班牙足球 Spanish Football

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;

　　文艺；书评；

　　Spanish football;Well red

　　西班牙足球;别样红;

　　How Spain learned to play the beautiful game;

　　看，西班牙如何玩转足球;

　　La Roja: How Soccer Conquered Spain and How Spanish Soccer Conquered the World. By Jimmy Burns.

　　（《红色风暴》作者：吉米·彭斯；

　　In football, timing¹ counts: it makes the difference between a brilliant tackle and a red card, or a smartly taken goal and a raised offside flag. Jimmy Burns's publishers did not have to think too hard about when “La Roja”, his history of Spanish football, should appear: just before the European football championship, which kicks off on June 8th. The Spanish team won last time, in 2008, and are favourites to win again this year.

　　足球赛场上，时机至关重要。分毫之距，天壤之别。时机决定了是出色抢截，还是被出示红牌。决定了是机智地反越位，还是被裁决为越位。之前，吉米·彭斯的出版负责人无须过于深思《红色风暴》此类描述西班牙足球历史的书应何时出版。就在6月8日开赛的欧洲杯之前，西班牙已经赢得了于2008年举行的上届欧洲杯，并且他们还是今年欧洲杯的夺冠大热。

　　Mr Burns starts and finishes his account with Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup. That and the European win two years before put an end to a sorry pattern of underachievement. Spain had not won a major trophy² since 1964. For years their playing lacked harmony. Footballers from Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain's two dominant³ clubs, fought like dogs in domestic matches. But with wise leadership from successive coaches, a brilliant generation of players is now producing flowing, winning football in the national colours.

　　彭斯由西班牙队夺得2010年世界杯记录起，也以此为结尾。那一次胜利以及两年前赢得的欧洲杯结束了那些让人扼腕的反复失败。在此之前，在1964年之后，西班牙队从未赢过一项重要的荣誉。数年来，他们缺乏和谐的合作。来自巴塞罗那和皇家马德里，这两家西班牙顶级俱乐部的球星，在国内比赛中争执不断。然而随着一个又一个教练的智慧领导，这一代球艺高超的球员正在用一场又一场的胜利延续国家荣誉。

　　In the 19th century British engineers and managers had brought the game to the mining towns of southern Spain and to the industrialising north. The tale quickly became a Spanish one—in the early days, with a strong Basque flavour. Athletic⁴ Bilbao provided the core of the team that won the silver medal in the 1920 Olympics in a hard, fast style known as La Furia.

　　西班牙足球故事起源于19世纪，英国工程师和经纪人将足球带到了西班牙南部的矿业城镇以及北部的工业区。很快，在很早的一段时间，这个故事就有了西班牙人的参与，而且带有浓郁的巴斯克风味。1920年奥运会，西班牙队赢得银牌的关键正是毕尔巴鄂竞技队球员带来的硬朗快速球风，也就是众所周知的”旋风式”。

　　Much of the book deals with regional stories and rivalries⁵. Mr Burns, born a stone's throw from Real's stadium but a Barca fan and an author of books about both clubs, traces their complicated interconnections with Spanish politics—notably, the civil war and the dictatorship of General Franco. It is a delicate task, involving the links between Barca and Catalan nationalism, Franco's use of the game for political ends and the intricate links between Basque nationalism, football and the Catholic church. Mr Burns, who has reported on the land of his birth for many years, threads his way skilfully⁶ through it.

　　书中大多记录的是地方故事与竞赛。彭斯出生在离皇家马德里仅有一步之遥的地方，但却是巴萨的球迷。他也撰写过关于这两个俱乐部的书。他的报道描绘了这两家俱乐部与西班牙政治错综复杂的关系，尤其是在内战时期和佛朗哥独裁时期。书里既有探讨巴萨队和加泰罗尼亚人的民族主义之间的联系，又讲述了佛朗哥利用足球比赛达到其政治目的的故事，以及巴斯克民族主义，足球以及罗马天主教错综复杂的关系。这些对他来说，是一项微妙的挑战。彭斯报道他的故乡已有多年，这一次，他通过其高超的采访技术，越过障碍，成功完成这项挑战。

　　Britain's pioneers are gone and the national team may rule the world, but Spanish football has been continually refreshed by foreigners. Tours to and from South America taught Spaniards a thing or two in the 1920s. Real's wonder-team of the 1950s was led by Alfredo Di Stéfano, an Argentine, and Ferenc Puskas, a Hungarian. The most exciting player today is another Argentine, Lionel Messi (although he joined Barca as a boy). Mr Burns enthuses about all these and more—notably a Dutchman who played and coached Barca and remains⁷ a huge influence. Any football-mad reader will envy the author who can write: “The first time I met Johan Cruyff…”

　　英国作为足球开拓者的位置已经消失殆尽。也许其国家队仍将统领世界。然而西班牙足球力量却有外国人源源不断地注入新活力。20世纪20年代和南美的足球比赛，给了西班牙教训。50年代的皇马银河舰队，有阿根廷球星阿尔弗雷多·迪·斯蒂法诺和匈牙利球王普斯卡什的带领。而当今最让人兴奋的足球运动员则是另一位阿根廷人，莱昂内尔·梅西（尽管他加入巴萨时还是个小男孩）。彭斯对这一切很感兴趣，而且更显然的是，他对一个在巴萨踢过球，执教过，拥有巨大影响力的荷兰人更感兴趣。任何足球狂热读者都会嫉妒这个作者可以这样描绘道，“我第一次遇到约翰·克鲁伊夫......”

　　Like many a football team, however, the book is let down a little by its finishing. Even the modern photos are in grainy black and white. Mr Cruyff is pictured in the orange strip of the Netherlands rather than Barca's red and blue. Arriving at Real, a clichéd David Beckham “like a proverbial phoenix⁸ rising from the ashes, calmly ran the gauntlet of the world's media”. Nevertheless, Mr Burns shows that there is far more to tell about Spanish football than today's success on the field.

　　不管怎样，这本书就像大多数足球队，其结尾部分多少让人失望。更别说书中在现代拍的照片是以木纹黑白照的形式出现。约翰·克鲁伊夫在相片中穿的是荷兰的橙色服装而非巴萨的红蓝服。大卫·贝克汉姆加入皇家马德里之后，曾有个关于他的陈词滥调，“如众生所知，凤凰涅槃，于媒体枪林弹雨之前，沉着奔跑”尽管如此，彭斯的书向我们展示了，西班牙足球不仅仅只有胜利，更有许多说不完，道不尽的精彩足球故事。

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

4 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

5 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

6 skilfully   

adv. (美skillfully)熟练地

参考例句：

• Hall skilfully weaves the historical research into a gripping narrative. 霍尔巧妙地把历史研究揉进了扣人心弦的故事叙述。
• Enthusiasm alone won't do. You've got to work skilfully. 不能光靠傻劲儿，得找窍门。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。