权利更迭：拉美球队意气风发 碾压欧洲对手

Amid all the goals, thrills and English inquests, a wider pattern is unfolding in Brazil that might yet develop into the World Cup’s most significant narrative.

据英国《每日电讯报》报道，在球员的进球，球迷的尖叫及英国人对失败的追问中，一种新的模式在巴西席卷开来。也许，这种模式会成为本届世界杯最最具意义的阐述。

Just take a look at the various results and standings. Brazil and Mexicolead Group A. Having so stylishly seen off the defending champions, Chile are already through in Group B. Columbia lead Group C. Uruguay have eliminated England from Group D and now have the chance to progress with Costa Rica.

让我们一起来看看各组比赛的结果和依然立足的球队。巴西和墨西哥领跑A组。用新式打法击败卫冕冠军西班牙后，智利得以出线B组。哥伦比亚领衔C组。乌拉圭使英格兰从D组淘汰，并为自己同哥斯达黎加一同晋级创造了机会。

Ecuador are second behind France in Group E while Argentina are making their expected progress in Group F.

在E组中，厄瓜多尔紧随法国位列第二。而阿根廷则不负众望在领跑F组。

That is potentially eight Latin America teams into the last 16 of the tournament. It would be a feat unprecedented in World Cup history but also the continuation of a surprising wider trend that has seen countries from this region steadily increase their participation in the knockout phase from three in 2002, to four in 2006 and then six in 2010.

晋级淘汰赛的16支球队中就很可能有8支拉美球队。这在世界杯历史上将是一场史无前例的盛事但这也同时继续了拉美球队在世界杯中稳步成长的趋势。他们晋级淘汰赛的数量已由2002年的3支增加到2003年的4支再到2010年的6支。

That this should be happening amid the backdrop of an ever widening gap between the resources in Latin America football and the riches in the major European leagues is especially striking. It certainly begs many questions. In what is the first World Cup to be played in Latin America since 1986, are we again destined for a winner from that same continent?

这种趋势在拉美球队同欧洲联队日益扩大的鸿沟——拉美球队的足球资源和欧洲联队的资金——背景下越发突出。这也的确产生了很多问题。其中一个问题就是在拉丁美洲自1986年首次举行世界杯后，我们还要将世界杯的奖杯拱手让给拉美球队吗？

And, for all Europe’s money, structures, academies and 10-year plans, are we discovering that the best footballers are still those who spent their childhoods honing their technical skills and temperament away from formal coaching and in fiercely competitive street matches.

尽管欧洲投入了大量的资金，做了各种精心的组织，进行了各种研究以及做了10年的计划，但我们最后还是发现最佳的球员依然是那些在童年时就磨练球技远离正规训练却参与到激烈地街头球赛中的拉美球员。

It is no secret that Arsène Wenger is searching for a striker while working in Brazil for French television and, for what is the most technically challenging position on the pitch, his eyes are trained on South America.

温格在为法国电视台在巴西工作时顺便寻找出色的前锋已经早已不是秘密。前锋是一个在球场上最具技术挑战性的职位。而温格的眼睛就一直盯在南美球队的球员身上。

“I have said many times that Europe still produces many fantastic football players but, if you look well, we do not produce strikers well,” Wenger said. “Very few. All of the big strikers come from South America. Last summer, you had Radamel Falcao going to Monaco, Edinson Cavani going to PSG in a big transfer, Luis Suárez, everybody wanted to buy him. Gonzalo Higuain has gone to Napoli for a lot of money, but in Europe that is an area where it is difficult to find.

“我已经说过很多次，欧洲依然盛产很多优秀的球员，但是，如果你仔细观察就会发现我们并不盛产优秀的前锋，”温格说：“我们优秀的前锋数量很少。世界上知名的前锋大多来自南美洲。去年夏天， 拉达梅尔·法尔考去了摩纳哥， 埃丁森·卡瓦尼则以高价转到巴黎圣日耳曼，而苏亚雷斯，每个球队都想买到他。伊瓜因以高价转到那不勒斯。但是在欧洲，很难发现身价很高的前锋。”

“In Germany, I can remember in every club you had a big striker, they produced some fantastic ones, but they do not produce young strikers. Is that a result of the way we coach? Of modern life? I don’t know.”

“在德国，我能记得每个俱乐部的前锋，他们的确培养出了一些很棒的球员，但他们没有培养出一流的前锋。我不知道是我们指导的方式有问题还是现代的生活不适合球员技术的提高？”

It was certainly hard not to watch Chile outplay England at Wembley last year – and then so brilliantly dispatch Spain earlier this week – and not sense an inherent technical superiority. Any team with Alexis Sanchez in attack and Arturo Vidal in midfield should always be pleasing on the eye and they will face Holland tomorrow in a fixture that will tell us more about whether players who their coach, Jorge Sampaoli, calls the “rebels of football” can mount a realistic World Cup challenge.

从英格兰去年在温布利球场完败智利到一周前西班牙惨烈出局世界杯，人们还没感受到连续的球技。任何一支球队，只要有阿莱克西斯·桑切斯作前锋，阿图罗·比达尔作中场，都会乐在心中。智利队明天将会在球场上对阵荷兰队，这场球赛将会告诉我们桑保利所称做的足球叛逃者是否能够对世界杯发起一场现实的挑战。

Similarly, it is the flair players of Uruguay, Costa Rica, Argentina and Columbia that are excelling. “We are on the rise, we have lots of confidence but we mustn’t lose sight of our objective which is to play good football,” says Teó Gutiérrez, the Columbia striker.

同样地，有天分的乌拉圭，哥斯达黎加，阿根廷和哥伦比亚球员在此超越了自我。“我们还处于上升期，我们很有信心，但我们不能忘记我们的目标是踢好球。”哥伦比亚的前锋，特奥菲罗·古铁雷斯说道。

For all the obvious quality of the Latin America players, there does also seem to have been something more at work in Brazil over these past 10 days. Spain, after all, could not dissect a Chile back three that comprised two midfielders relegated with Cardiff and Osasuna and a centre-back released by Nottingham Forest.

除了拉美球员的特质外，似乎还有什么在巴西过去的十天中发挥着重要作用。毕竟，西班牙队不能抗衡由两名降级俱乐部球员组成的中场和一名被俱乐部开除的中后卫似乎有点说不过去。

In the expressions of Suárez as he waited on the bench for the full-time whistle against England, it was also impossible not to sense a particular motivation at participating in Latin America’s first World Cup for almost 30 years. Even before the tournament, Costa Rica manager Jorge Luis Pinto summed up the attitude of his team at being drawn against England and Italy. “We love the group,” he said. “The braver the bull, the better the bullfight.”

在对阵英格兰的比赛中，当苏亚雷斯坐在板凳上静等终场哨声时，我们能感受到他在参加这场由近30年来南美洲举办的球赛时所散发出的强烈斗志和动机。甚至在比赛前，哥斯达黎加的教练平托总结他的球队在对阵意大利和英格兰的态度时说：“我们喜欢这样的分组，斗牛越是凶猛，斗牛表演就越精彩。”

Pride is also at stake and it has been noticeable in Brazil that, even in matches not involving their teams, most South American fans here are supporting countries from their continent. The one predictable exception is explained by the intensity in the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina.

士气也同样至关重要，很显然在巴西的比赛中，尽管当场比赛中没有他们国家的球队，很多南美粉丝也会支持来自南美的国家。只有一个例外是劲敌巴西和阿根廷。

The climatic conditions must also be factored in when you consider that Latin American teams have won the tournament on all six of the previous occasions that it has been hosted in the region. Yes, England’s loss to Uruguay might have played in autumnal English conditions but, in their sluggish performance, you had to wonder what the match in Manaus five days earlier had taken out of them.

气候状况也是重要的因素。拉美球队在早先的六场比赛中都赢得了比赛，是因为他们是主场作战。是的，英格兰输给乌拉圭是在像英国秋天一样的天气中举行的，但是，通过他们在场上迟钝的表现，人们不禁会想五天前在玛瑙斯的比赛夺走了他们的状态。

The same also seemed true as Italy so struggled in the searing heat against Costa Rica on Friday. “I think the one main obstacle that the European sides will have to overcome is the climate – or, more accurately, the changes in climate the teams could face,” says Ioan Lupescu Uefa’s chief technical officer.

同样地，意大利在周五对阵哥斯达黎加时似乎也挣扎于这股热浪。”我认为欧洲球队需要克服的主要障碍就是气候——或者，更准确地说，球队所面对的气候变化，” 欧足联的技术官员说。

“Playing in different parts of such a big country could be like playing in three different seasons depending on a team’s schedule. Tactics may be very different from one game to the next because of this. If the European teams can negotiate this problem, they have a great chance.

“根据球队的计划，在这个大国的不同地方踢球就好像在三个不同的季节踢球。因此，技术也可能每场都不相同。如果欧洲球队能闯过这个难关，他们就有可能取得胜利。”

“Two European teams contested the last World Cup final which took place outside Europe so I think that particular ‘mental block’ has now been removed and going to a different continent does not hold the uncertainties that it maybe once did.”

“在上届世界杯中，两支欧洲球队在欧洲以外的球场上为争夺冠军进行了巅峰对决，所以我认为气候状况这一‘心理障碍’可以被移除。尽管以前曾是，但现在去其他的大陆作战并不能作为不确定因素。”

Lupesca, of course, is right and the strong early showing from Latin America still offers few guarantees for the final outcome. For all that improved representation in the knockout phase, the last two World Cup finals have ultimately ended with an all-European final.

当然，欧足联的说法是对的，拉美球队早期的强势并不能保证决赛结果。要知道，上两届世界杯，在淘汰赛中改进了表现后，最后进入决赛的都是欧洲球队。

The initial signs, however, are that the balance may very well be redressed this year. Uruguay, Colombia and Chile have rarely looked better equipped to compete with the traditional local powerhouses of Brazil and Argentina to provide an all Latin America final. The last time that happened? Back in 1950, on the only previous occasion that Rio’s Maracana has staged the World Cup final.

然而，本届世界杯释放的最初的信号是这种平衡在今年可能会略有调整。乌拉圭，哥伦比亚和智利很少能像现在这样做好准备同传统强队巴西和阿根廷作战，并一同进入总决赛。最后一次出现这种情况的是1950年，里约热内卢的马拉卡纳球场举行了这场世界杯总决赛。