中國隊爲啥擠不進世界盃?(圖)

China may be the world's most populous country ,and it won the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. But its prowess at soccer is lamentable. China is ranked 84th in the sport's world standings。

中國大概是世界上人口最多的國家，也是新興體育大國——在北京奧運會上獲得最多金牌。但是中國的足球水平卻不盡如人意。其國家隊世界排名僅列第84位。

Chinese are huge soccer fans, and hundreds of millions are expected to tune in to the World Cup, with all the matches broadcast live on public TV. But the Chinese won't have their own team to root for。

中國球迷隊伍非常龐大，成千上萬的球迷都會收看世界盃所有比賽的現場直播。但是中國球迷卻沒有自己真正需要支持的球隊。

"Chinese have a reputation of being good at math, but they have trouble explaining why a population of 1.3 billion cannot produce a winning 11-member soccer team," said Xu Guoqi, a history professor at the University of Hong Kong。

香港大學歷史學教授徐國啓(音)說，“中國人或許以擅長數學著稱，但他們很難解釋爲什麼13億人口卻組建不起來一支驍勇善戰的11人球隊”。

Journalists and soccer fans offer a number of reasons, most often money issues, politics, corruption and culture, and sometimes a combination of the four。

記者和球迷給出許多理由，大多數集中在資金、政治、腐敗和文化方面，大多數也是這幾個方面構成的綜合原因。

Even though China now boasts wealthy companies and individuals who could sponsor teams, there is little support as long as Chinese teams are perceived as perennial losers. "This is a very bad circle," Ma said. "No results, no money. No money, no results."

儘管中國聲稱資金雄厚的公司和個人贊助球隊，但只要中國球隊被認爲是扶不起的阿斗，那就得不到許多贊助。“這是一個怪圈，”體育記者馬德興(音)說，“沒成績，就沒錢。沒錢，就沒成績”。

Few Chinese children are playing soccer. Some sports journalists and fans attribute the lack of interest partly to schools de-emphasizing sports in general and the lack of playing venues in the country's dense urban areas. "What can Chinese kids do?” said Fan Huiming, 61, a Chinese soccer fan who grew up watching matches at Beijing's Workers' Stadium, which was built in 1958 near his childhood home. "If they play soccer, the ball may fly directly into the glass of someone's home."

很少中國孩子踢足球，一些記者和球迷認爲，這在一定程度上是由於學校普遍不重視體育所致，另外則與中國的密集城區缺少足球場有關。“孩子們能做什麼呢？”自幼就在北京工人體育場看比賽的61歲球迷範惠明(音)說，“如果他們踢球，球可能直接飛到別人家玻璃上去了”。

For young people, soccer has largely been eclipsed by basketball, thanks in part to Chinese NBA players who are treated like rock stars. Journalists and fans say NBA's aggressive campaign of marketing and merchandise in China has helped swell the popularity of basketball. By comparison, they noted that international soccer does not even have an office in China。

對中國年輕人而言，足球與籃球相比黯然失色。在NBA打球的中國球員被像搖滾明星一樣追捧。記者和球迷表示NBA大力拓展中國市場提高了籃球普及率。相比之下，國際足聯在中國甚至沒有一個辦事處。

Rowan Simons, a Briton who came to China more than two decades ago and discovered he wasn't able to play weekend soccer, has been on a campaign to popularize the sport here. Simons said the main problem is that soccer elsewhere has traditionally started as a series of neighborhood clubs, but in China, "there's virtually no football at community level"。

20多年前來到中國的英國人西蒙斯，發現在週末都不能踢球后，就一直在中國致力於普及足球運動。他認爲主要問題是其他國家傳統上都從社區俱樂部做起，“而在中國，實際上並沒有社區基礎足球。”

"Football in China can only succeed if it's a grass-roots activity organized by the people," he said。

西蒙斯說，“只有民衆組織起草根活動後，中國足球才能夠成功”。