World Cup Stories: Brazil-1

Oh, what a goal.
For 50 years Brazil have dominated international football.
5 times World Cup winners, no other nation has had so much success.
Absolutely brilliant!
Their yellow shirts have come to symbolize¹ flamboyant² football.
Brazilians aren't interested just in winning, they want to win with panache³. They are lucky that they can choose.

But for Brazil, success has not come easily. Their World Cup history is dominated by one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history.
I was an 11-year-old child. You don't know much about life, you don't know much about the world. At the end of that World Cup, I thought that the worst thing in the world had happened to me.
It was a trauma⁴ that would take years of soul searching to overcome. Soul searching and two of the greatest footballers the world had ever seen.

When Pele and Garrincha would play for the Brazilian team. Brazil never lost a match.
Pele was the first true professional, Brazil’s football ambassador.
Pele was a pro⁵. I still believe that Pele is not from this planet. He came from somewhere.
Garrincha was the last amateur.
Garrincha shouldn’t really have played football, he was a cripple, illiterate⁶, alcoholic⁷.
He wasn't the sort of player who usually scored. Garrincha promised to score all those goals for me.
And there is Garincha, it’s a goal.
That is the generation which really turned Brazil from losers to the best football country in the world.
This is the story of how, driven on by these two unlikely heroes, Brazilian football overcame its biggest setback⁸ to become the gold standard against which all future winners of the World Cup would be judged.

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flamboyant: adj. 艳丽的，华耀的
panache: n.华丽，灿烂

1 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

2 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

3 panache   

n.羽饰；假威风，炫耀

参考例句：

• She dresses with great panache.她穿著十分浮华。
• Her panache at dealing with the world's media is quite astonishing.她应付世界媒体的派头非常令人吃惊。

4 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

5 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

6 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

7 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

8 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。