Football， or soccer as it is called in America， is the most popular sport in the world. Millions of people play or watch the sport every week and with the Beijing Olympics coming up， we have another feast of international football to look forward to. The China Olympic team， also known as the China national under-23 team， and the China women's team will both be aiming to show off their skills to the rest of the world. Success in Beijing would not only prove that China can compete in football at an international level， but also reward the passion of millions of Chinese fans.

足球是世界上最風(fēng)靡的運動，美國人將其稱為英式足球。數(shù)百萬人每周都看球賽或者去踢球。隨著北京奧運會的臨近，我們又將迎來一場世界足球盛宴。中國奧運足球隊，即23歲以下足球青年隊，和中國女足都期待向全世界展現(xiàn)他們的球技。北京奧運會不僅將見證中國足球隊在世界賽場上的奮勇拼搏，更將贏得數(shù)百萬中國球迷的熱情支持。

In England， football is often known simply as \"the beautiful game\". The modern version involves two teams of eleven players who kick， head， or chest a ball around a pitch aiming to score more goals than their opponents. The players pass， shoot， tackle， dribble， complain and sometimes even dive their way to victory. Despite some shortcomings， in many people's opinion there are few sports which are more entertaining.

足球在英國被稱為“美麗游戲”。現(xiàn)代足球比賽中參賽的兩支球隊，每隊在場上各有十一名球員，球員被允許用腳、頭和胸等部位觸球，進球多的一方勝利。球員們通過傳球、射門、搶斷、盤帶、向裁判抱怨甚至不惜一切來爭取贏球。雖然足球仍存在一些不足，但在很多人看來，沒有什么其它運動項目比足球更有趣了。

The World Cup remains the premier football tournament， yet the Olympics offer something different. In the men's competition it is a showcase for future talent， as the majority of players are required to be under 23 years of age. Superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo， Alberto Gilardino and Carlos Tevez all lit up the Athens tournament in 2004， and Chinese players will no doubt hope to impress foreign scouts and coaches when they play in Beijing. The women's tournament has no such age restrictions， but it remains one of the few chances for the women's game， still growing as a sport， to receive genuine worldwide attention.

世界杯是最高等級的足球比賽。奧運會則與之不同。參加奧運會男足比賽的主要是23歲以下的青年隊員，奧運會正為未來的新星們提供了展示的舞臺。像克里斯蒂亞諾#8226;羅納爾多、阿爾伯托#8226;吉拉迪諾和卡洛斯#8226;特維茲等巨星就是從2004年雅典奧運會上開始嶄露頭角的。中國國奧隊的球員們也希望通過在場上的表現(xiàn)給外國的球探和教練們留下印象，繼而獲得留洋的機會。女足比賽沒有年齡限制，奧運會的比賽也為女足運動的發(fā)展提供了機會，使之真正為世界矚目。

The coming Olympics are particularly special for football fans this time because， in holding the Games in China， the sport may also be returning to the place where it all began. Few people know about early versions of the game， which are very far from the beautiful game played today. One reference describes Roman soldiers kicking the heads of their enemies around as a ball. In England， where many people believe football was invented， there are records of a pig's bladder being used as a football and matches being played in the streets of the town. Some sources even suggest that the game may have come from China， where bamboo sticks were used for goalposts as early as 3000 BC. A military training book， dated at around 400 BC， describes something known as \"tsu chu\". Translated into English， \"tsu\" means to \"kick with the foot\" and \"chu\" means \"a ball made of leather and stuffed\". It seems that the Chinese had realized early on that a leather ball was far more practical for sport than the heads of enemy soldiers.

即將到來的這次奧運會對于中國球迷來說是一個有特別意義的時刻。奧運會在中國舉辦，也讓足球回到了它最初誕生的國度。很少有人知道早期的足球是怎樣的，它的規(guī)則與“美麗游戲”的現(xiàn)代足球大相徑庭。有資料描述了羅馬士兵把敵方士兵的人頭割下當(dāng)作球來踢。在英國，人們相信足球是在他們國家發(fā)明的，因為有記載人們在城鎮(zhèn)的街道上把豬的膀胱當(dāng)球踢。一些文獻還指出足球可能起源于中國，公元前3000年就有人用竹竿作門柱來踢球了。一部公元前400年的兵書記載了一項叫“蹴鞠”的運動。翻譯到英文，“蹴”就是“用腳踢”，而“鞠”則是“皮制實心球”。看上去中國人早就意識到踢足球用皮制球比用敵人的頭來得實

際得多。

In recent years， football in China has become ever more popular. Millions of Chinese follow the Spanish and English football leagues closely. At the 2006 World Cup， thousands of people regularly slept through the day to wake up for the early kick-offs， and the streets of Shanghai and Beijing were full of fans cheering every goal that was scored. The problem is that this enthusiasm has so far not been matched by the performance of the national teams. When China qualified for the World Cup in 2002， 300 million people tuned in to watch their matches. An incredible 170 million television sets were bought around the time by citizens eager to follow the national team's progress. Traffic congestion also went down and the number of emergency calls dropped by 11%. This is clear proof that watching football is good for your health， but the Chinese fans were left disappointed when the team failed to score a goal in the entire tournament. The question now is whether the Beijing Olympics will finally give these dedicated fans the success they deserve.

近年來，足球運動在中國越來越流行。數(shù)百萬的中國球迷密切關(guān)注英超和西甲聯(lián)賽。2006年世界杯期間，數(shù)千人有規(guī)律地晝夜顛倒等待比賽開球的那一刻，上海和北京的街頭擁滿了球迷，每進一個球他們都要歡呼一陣。問題在于中國足球隊的表現(xiàn)實在很難與球迷們的熱情相符。當(dāng)中國隊闖入2002年世界杯的時候，三億中國球迷通過收聽廣播或收看電視關(guān)注中國隊的比賽。難以置信的是，市民們?yōu)榭磭谊牭谋荣惗诖似陂g購買的電視機總量達一億七千萬臺。與此同時，城市交通擁堵現(xiàn)象有所緩解，緊急事件的發(fā)生率也降低了11個百分點。這些都清楚地表明了看球?qū)】涤幸?，然而中國國家隊在整個世界杯上一球未進，讓球迷們倍感失望。現(xiàn)在就要看本屆北京奧運會上中國足球隊最終能否給那些狂熱的球迷們帶來喜悅了。

Until now， China's greatest footballing moment at the Olympics was the silver medal won by the China women's team in Atlanta， 1996. This marked the debut of women's football at the Games， and China was only defeated in the final on penalties by an excellent U.S. team. Since then， China's women have always been among the top teams in the world， but they still have not improved on this early achievement. Since that success， Germany， Brazil and Norway have all emerged to compete with the U.S team， whilst China has failed to build on their earlier success. As the recent World Cup shows， these countries remain the dominant forces in women's football today. But that does not mean China is out of the race for a medal just yet.

到目前為止，中國足球隊在奧運會歷史上最輝煌的時刻就是在1996年亞特蘭大奧運會上獲得銀牌了。這是奧運會第一次舉辦女足比賽。中國隊在決賽中輸給了一支更優(yōu)秀的球隊——美國隊。從那以后，中國女足一直居于世界頂級強隊的地位，然而她們還從未突破1996年奧運會銀牌的紀(jì)錄。在奧運會成功舉辦女足比賽后，德國、巴西、挪威都加入了和美國爭冠的行列，中國卻沒有在她們早年取得的成績上更進一步。最近一屆世界杯的戰(zhàn)績表明，還是這些國家占據(jù)著世界女足格局的統(tǒng)治地位。當(dāng)然這也并不意味著中國女足已經(jīng)提前退出了奧運獎牌的爭奪。

When Marika Domanski-Lyfors was appointed the first foreign coach of China's women， she inherited a struggling team. With her new style and training methods， however， she managed to raise the confidence of the Chinese women and make them a force in world football once again. At the 2007 World Cup， China was unlucky to lose 0-1 to Norway in the quarter final. The Chinese players were devastated， but it was clear the \"Steel Roses\" had made a massive step forward in challenging for major honors.

多曼斯基成為了中國女足歷史上的第一名外籍教練。她接手的中國隊當(dāng)時正在苦苦掙扎。多曼斯基采用了新的戰(zhàn)術(shù)風(fēng)格和訓(xùn)練方法，讓中國女足重拾信心，重回世界強隊行列。2007年女足世界杯上中國隊在四分之一決賽中不幸以0比1負(fù)于挪威隊。中國女足雖然失敗了，但是“鏗鏘玫瑰”在挑戰(zhàn)世界最高榮譽的道路上又邁出了堅實的一步。

Domanski-Lyfors' recent decision to leave the national team for personal reasons has perhaps damaged China's hopes in Beijing， but the progress made under her still promises much for the future. As she said after the defeat to Norway: \"No matter who coaches， China is a great team.\" Domanski-Lyfors' successor， Elisabeth Loisel， has now been told to aim for a podium finish and nothing less will do. With a little bit of luck and good performances from top-scorer Han Duan and defender Li Jie， there is a real chance that China will achieve this aim.

多曼斯基最近因為私人原因決定不再擔(dān)任中國女足的主教練?？此浦袊犜诒本W運會上前途黯淡，然而多曼斯基的努力依然使中國隊的未來充滿希望。中國女足在世界杯上輸給挪威以后，時任中國隊主教練的多曼斯基說：“無論誰來執(zhí)教，中國女足都是一支偉大的球隊?！倍嗦够睦^任者，伊麗莎白#8226;盧瓦澤爾被要求率領(lǐng)中國隊至少獲得奧運會的獎牌。如果中國女足的頭號射手韓端和頂尖后衛(wèi)李潔能有出色的發(fā)揮，再加上一點點運氣，中國隊還是很有希望實現(xiàn)這個目標(biāo)的。

How far the China Olympic team will go in the men's competition is far less certain， but many people are optimistic that the team will do well. This may be surprising given China's greatest only qualified for their first World Cup in 2002. In addition， no Chinese footballer can truly be described as world class， and defending champions Argentina， along with Brazil， will have far more well-known players in their teams. In spite of this， as almost everyone in China is saying， these Olympic Games could be different.

至于中國男足能在奧運會上走多遠實在很難預(yù)料，然而許多人對國奧隊的前景十分樂觀。令人感到驚奇的是中國隊還從未參加過奧運會的男足比賽，他們在2002年才第一次參加了世界杯決賽階段的比賽。中國隊陣中沒有一名可以稱得上世界級的球星，而巴西隊和衛(wèi)冕冠軍阿根廷隊則明星云集。盡管如此，幾乎所有中國人都依然認(rèn)為，中國隊在這屆奧運會上可以創(chuàng)造奇跡。

There are many reasons for optimism， in part because of the talents of Ratomir Dujkovic. He is a coach who has proven himself at the international level， notably when he led Ghana past the group stages in the 2006 World Cup. Under his guidance， the Chinese team has greatly improved and recently performed well at the prestigious Toulon Cup. The world's most promising young players attend this tournament， and China showed real quality in reaching the final. China's young stars lost to a very strong French team on that occasion， but Dujkovic's success led him to be offered the job of coaching the full national team as well. Although he said he would be interested in the position after the Olympics， Dujkovic sees the Games as his top priority at the moment. That gives people some idea of how seriously China is taking this tournament. Unlike other countries， the Chinese team has played together regularly and is completely focused on reaching the semi-finals during the upcoming Games. It will not be easy， but in playmaker Chen Tao and striker Jiang Ning， China has the quality to make real progress in this tournament for the first time.

中國有許多理由可以保持樂觀，其中一部分則來自他們天才的主教練拉托米爾#8226;杜伊科維奇。杜伊科維奇的能力已經(jīng)過世界大賽的證明，尤其是他率領(lǐng)加納隊在2006世界杯上小組出線，成功打入16強。在他的指導(dǎo)下，中國國奧隊取得了很大的進步，最近在土倫杯這樣享有聲譽的比賽中有著很好的表現(xiàn)。在這項匯集了世界上最優(yōu)秀的年輕球員的比賽中，中國隊闖入了決賽，體現(xiàn)了真正的實力。中國國奧隊在決賽中輸給了當(dāng)時無比強大的法國隊，但是杜伊科維奇在土倫杯上取得的成功讓他獲得了中國國家男足總教練的職位。杜伊稱他只會在奧運會之后才考慮接受這個職位，他把奧運會作為目前最重要的任務(wù)。由此不難看出中國對本次奧運會的確格外重視。與其它國家隊不同的是，中國國奧隊經(jīng)常進行集訓(xùn)，全力備戰(zhàn)爭取在奧運會上闖入半決賽。要實現(xiàn)這個目標(biāo)可能并不容易，不過在他們的組織核心陳濤和攻擊手姜寧的帶領(lǐng)下，中國國奧隊有望在奧運會上第一次取得實質(zhì)性的突破。

So if football is finally coming home， it would be fitting for a Chinese team to add to the silver medal won by the \"Steel Roses\" back in Atlanta. The momentum gained in recent years suggests this is a possibility. If China's enthusiastic football fans give their players another chance to prove they can compete against the world's best， a second Olympic medal in football may be just around the corner.

在北京奧運會上足球?qū)⒒氐剿陌l(fā)源地，也希望中國能夠繼“鏗鏘玫瑰”亞特蘭大奧運會奪取銀牌之后，在足球項目上獲得新的榮譽。近年來中國不斷推動足球項目的發(fā)展，使這一切都成為了可能。如果熱情的中國球迷能夠再給他們的球隊一次機會，讓他們證明自己能夠和世界上最好的球隊對抗的話，中國的第二枚奧運會足球獎牌也就并非遙不可及了。