世界杯決賽：為克魯伊夫正名

Validation For A Soccer Genius

Somewhere in Catalonia, a Dutchman is smiling.
在西班牙加泰隆尼亞的某個地方，一位荷蘭人正在微笑。
His name is Johan Cruyff, and since before the Beatles broke up he has been fighting on behalf of an attack-intensive brand of soccer, a stylish game of short passes and zig-zag dashes that brought pleasure to tens of millions of fans but never produced a world champion.
他的名字叫約翰•克魯伊夫(Johan Cruyff)，從披頭士(Beatles)還沒有流行起來的時候開始，他就一直在代表一支進攻型足球隊而戰(zhàn)斗。這是一支以短傳和迂回突破見長的有風格的球隊，給億萬球迷帶來了快樂，但從未贏得一次世界冠軍。

約翰•克魯伊夫(Johan Cruyff)

Over 40 years, he imposed his vision on two national teams, as a player for the Netherlands in the 1970s and as a coach in Spain since 1988, the year he took over FC Barcelona and began selling his style of soccer to the Spanish and their national team.
40年里，他在兩支國家隊身上施展了自己的抱負，一是在20世紀70年代給荷蘭隊踢球的時候，一是1988年以來在西班牙擔任教練的時候。1988年，他接過了巴塞羅那俱樂部(FC Barcelona)的帥印，開始向西班牙人和他們的國家隊推銷自己的足球風格。

On Sunday, the Netherlands and Spain will meet in a World Cup final that is a vindication for the thoroughly unfashionable Mr. Cruyff. In Europe and nearly everywhere else, defensive soccer has been ascendant for nearly two decades. But whichever team hoists the trophy Sunday will bear the offense-first imprint of Mr. Cruyff.
荷蘭隊和西班牙隊將于周日在世界杯決賽中相遇。這可以為已經過氣的克魯伊夫正名。在歐洲和幾乎世界各個角落，防守型足球風格占據上風已經接近20年，但在周日，不管是哪支球隊舉起獎杯，它都烙有克魯伊夫進攻第一的風格。

'What you are seeing is a victory for attacking football,' said Ruud Gullit, a star of the Dutch teams of the 1980s. 'It's what people like to see.'
上世紀80年代的荷蘭隊球星古利特(Ruud Gullit)說，你看到的是一場攻勢足球的勝利，這是人們愿意看到的。

This is particularly true of the Spanish. Their devotion to Cruyff-style offensive strategies has earned accolades from each opponent they vanquished, and of course from Mr. Cruyff.
這在西班牙身上體現得特別明顯。他們謹守克魯伊夫式進攻策略，已經贏得了他們所征服的每一個對手的贊譽，當然也贏得了克魯伊夫本人的贊譽。

'They are the masters of the game,' German coach Joachim Low said after falling to La Furia Roja on Wednesday night. 'You can see it with every pass.'
德國隊教練勒夫(Joachim Low)在周三夜間輸給紅色西班牙之后說，他們是足球大師，每一個傳球都看得出來。

The Oranje of the Netherlands are less loyal to their former star. While they remain a possession-oriented, quick-passing team, they have shifted away from the teachings of the prophet Mr. Cruyff, garnering a tongue-lashing from him for playing a more structured, less free-flowing style. Yet it has succeeded: The Dutch are playing in World Cup final for the first time since 1978.
橙色荷蘭隊就不那么忠實于他們曾經的球星。雖然他們仍然是一支控球優(yōu)先、快速傳球的隊伍，但已經背離了先知克魯伊夫的教導，并因為踢出一種更加結構化、更少流暢性的風格而受到他的批評。但他們照樣取得了成功：現在是荷蘭隊自1978年以來第一次打進世界杯決賽。

The final becomes a test of Mr. Cruyff's philosophy: Can his style win in its purest form, or must it be adapted to the modern game? Mr. Cruyff, who lives in Catalonia, declined to be interviewed.
這場決賽成了對克魯伊夫理念的一種檢驗：他的風格能以最純粹的形式取勝嗎？亦或必須跟隨比賽的現代化而與時俱進？居住在加泰隆尼亞的克魯伊夫拒絕接受采訪。

Over the past three decades, the Dutch appeared to come to terms with their place in soccer's natural order. They were the purists who would play the game their way -- Mr. Cruyff's way. They would suffer for their art by being knocked out of tournaments but could always tell themselves that they were beaten by less talented teams, or teams that were willing to sacrifice style for success.
在過去30年里，荷蘭隊顯得已經接受了他們在足球世界自然秩序中的位置。他們曾按自己的方式、亦即克魯伊夫的方式踢球的純粹主義者，并且會因為這種方式而被淘汰，但總是能對自己說，打敗他們的都是些不夠有天賦、愿意為了成功而犧牲風格的球隊。

Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk this week called Mr. Cruyff 'the best footballer ever.' But earlier in the tournament he also said, 'If we can win playing beautiful football that's great, but two years ago when I became coach, I said you have to be able to win ugly games.'
荷蘭隊教練范馬爾維克(Bert Van Marwijk)本周把克魯伊夫叫做“史上最優(yōu)秀的足球人”。但在世界杯期間的早些時候他也曾說，如果我們可以靠踢漂亮足球而取勝，那將再好不過，但當兩年前我當上教練時，我說你們必須能夠贏得難看的比賽。

In true Cruyff style, Spain tries to avoid that at all costs, even if coach Vicente del Bosque stopped short of crediting the Dutch and Mr. Cruyff for his team's current success and style.
西班牙不惜一切地避免出現這種情況，體現出了真正的克魯伊夫風格，盡管教練博斯克(Vicente del Bosque)并沒有把當前的成功與風格歸功于荷蘭人和克魯伊夫。

'I don't know if it looks like the Dutch style,' he said after defeating Germany. 'It is always based on quality of the people in the midfield. If you have order, you can showcase a lot of talent. We have great players, good order and that makes everything much easier.'
博斯克在打敗德國隊之后說，我不知道我們看起來像不像荷蘭風格；中場球員的質量始終是基礎；如果有章法，你可以展示出大量才能；我們擁有優(yōu)秀的球員，良好的章法，這樣一切都容易多了。

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But Spain's key midfield trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all play for Barcelona in a style that evokes the Dutch of the 1970s. Their special awareness, speed of thought and crisp passing are the backbone of the Spanish team.
但西班牙的中場三巨頭哈維(Xavi)、伊涅斯塔(Andres Iniesta)和布斯克茨(Sergio Busquets)在巴塞羅那俱樂部踢出的風格，都讓人不由得想起70年代的荷蘭。他們警覺性之特別，思維之敏捷和傳球之干脆，是西班牙隊的靈魂。

Mr. Cruyff's captain during much of his time at Barcelona was Pep Guardiola, the current manager of Barcelona, who provided six of Spain's starting 11 against Germany in the semi-final.
西班牙在半決賽中對陣德國時，最初11位上場球員中有六位都是來自巴塞羅那俱樂部。而該俱樂部現任經理瓜迪奧拉(Pep Guardiola)，曾在克魯伊夫執(zhí)教巴塞羅那期間長時間擔任隊長。

As a result, unlike the much-anticipated clash between Germany and the Netherlands, this final won't be about two historic rivals settling old scores on the field. For two countries separated by roughly 500 miles that have been among the best in European soccer for half a generation, Spain and the Netherlands have never played a game with a major title on the line.
總之，這場決賽不是許多人預計的德國對陣荷蘭，不是兩支宿敵在球場上解決昔日恩怨。西班牙和荷蘭這兩個國家中間間隔大約500英里，它們幾十年來在歐洲足球中都處于頂尖位置，但卻從來沒有在大賽中為冠軍而爭奪過。

Some 400 years ago, Spain and the Netherlands were rivals. But a series of 17th century peace treaties brought peace between the two countries. The two sides are 4-4-1 since 1920, their most recent meeting a 1-0 win for the Netherlands in 2002.
約400年前，西班牙和荷蘭是敵國，但17世紀的一系列休兵條約給這兩個國家?guī)砹撕推健Ｗ?920年以來，兩國之間是四勝四負一平，最近的相遇是在2002年，荷蘭隊以1比0的比分贏得了比賽。

This Dutch team is formidable, having won all six of its World Cup games in South Africa. Since 1958, when the three-match group-play format was instituted, three teams have entered the World Cup final having won all their matches, and all three won the championship.
這是一支強大的荷蘭隊，南非世界杯期間的所有六場比賽它都打贏了。自1958年推出三輪小組賽的賽制以來，共有三支進入世界杯決賽的球隊一場未輸，而這三支球隊最后都摘得了桂冠。