Great expectations for football
Photos by Zheng Xiaodong
Picture by Zhu Lijun

足球的最初雏形在中国,称之为"蹴鞠",汉代便已在民间兴起,到宋时达到鼎盛. 从皇帝重臣到市井小民,无不为之痴迷,野史上便有了以蹴鞠代替战争的记载. 但足球运动的真正起源却在英格兰,和骑马一样属于贵族运动,一向文质彬彬的英国绅士也只有踢起足球来方显出男人本应该有的原始血性来,也只有这时候,戴着蕾丝帽绑着勒死人的束腰的淑女才可以毫不顾忌地惊呼尖叫或开怀大笑. 足球传入中国也就是几十年的时间,而与经济的接轨时间就更短,所以在这样的情况下去强求足球能够立足世界笑傲江湖未免太过苛求. 国人的眼中,足球究竟代表了什么呢? 本期英语沙龙特别邀请四位男士畅谈这颗改变世界的球.

Football: the "Third Person"



Su is a first-year graduate in Xia Da. Being an ardent lover of football, he is looking forward to exchanging ideas about this popular sport.

Just name one thing that can make the most honest husband disloyal to his wife and sneak off the bed in the dead hour of the night. A charming club-girl? No, the answer is football.

Nicknamed by housewives as "the most destructive third-person", football arrests millions of male fans' attention: you don't need to bother to look too far to find such addicted fans swarming into stadiums to support their host teams, or diving to a TV set for a live match. They may come late for a date with their sweethearts, but they would never afford to miss an important match. For them, football has become an indispensable part of their lives.

Or maybe even more than that, Luoxi, a dedicated football fan from Liaoning Province, would rather pursue his love of the sport at the price of his divorce. Luo devoted too much time and energy to football, leaving his wife alone all the time. Finally they split up. When interviewed by Sports Weekly, the super fan didn't feel regretful, "I have no other choice", Luo explained, "Football is where my whole life is".

However, football is not always destructive in the eyes of wives. In some cases it does help to cement a couple's love. Its magic contribution to lovers' harmony is nowhere better demonstrated than in an England population statistic, which saw a sudden upsurge of newly born babies in July 2002. Why? Experts moved 10 months back and found that on September 1 England's football team won a decisive victory over Germany. Just on that very night thousands of babies were conceived as a result of their parents' lingering enthusiasm and excitement!

Fantastic football



Future Yin, a member of Common Talk English Club. He is pleased to share his experience about football with readers.

Football is a popular sport around the world. It is so popular that more than one billion people watch the World Cup football match every year. Why do people like football so much? What does football include?

Strength and art. Football players are so strong. Football players run on the game field for 90 minutes. In the game, the players always fight for control of the ball and shoot successfully. And the players learn and use lots of skills. They play football with many different positions of the feet and head. They control the speed and route of the football. They put the football in the right place at the right time. When the players shoot, they make all kinds of movements. They make overhead kicks, flying headers, corner balls and so on. It is wonderful and full of art.

Men and women. Some regard football as the activity of men. It is not the truth. Lots of women also like football. Some of them become faithful fans. They are happy with the victory of the team, sad with the failure. Some of them are even members of women football teams. They run, kick and shoot just as male football players. Maybe they lack the strength of men. But the women football matches also show the beauty of football. The women football players are wonderful and popular.

Ethics and benefit. As everything in the world, football is in company with justice and benefit. Some investors of football teams care about nothing but benefit. Abandoning professional ethics, some football players have the strong demand for money. For benefit, some football players and referees are bribed in the football game. People can get money from football but it should be properly.

Wisdom and bravery. The football game is full of wisdom and bravery, the wisdom and bravery of the players and the coach. With wisdom and bravery, the coach finds the right strategy and then leads the team to success. With wisdom and bravery, the team can defeat the opponent in the game. They can come from behind to win the game.

Why does Chinese football fall back? Why is the Chinese football team so weak? What are they short of? Chinese football fans always ask these three questions. The answer is that they are short of wisdom, bravery and ethics. Chinese love football. Chinese love healthy football.

Football is everything



Richer: First I'm Chinese. Second, I'm an international Chinese.

What is football? Is it only a ball you can kick through two posts and some rules added to it? Almost everybody will shake their heads to this question. So, what is football?

When you enjoy the perfect locus of the ball, the wonderful match the players have or the best rhythm they hold, you can find it easily-Football is a kind of art.

Can you see the pictures printed on the cola tin? There are some football stars. You will also notice that your friend's new hair style that looks something like a hill or cockscomb is just a style like Beckham's. My classmates' new clothes were printed with the word "Manchester". And what's that on the side of the bus? Oh, it's the advertisement for "Euro 2004".

When a friend of mine won the football lottery she told me with much excitement: "Football is business!"

When class is over, my classmates shout to me: "Let's do some exercises, go and play football!"

I've heard a mother ask her son: "Would you like to be a football player or a referee?" Hey, football is also a respectable occupation.

I should say: "Football is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you'll get next!"

Figo, my hero



Neptune: I'm a big boy in No. 1 Middle School and I've liked all kinds of sports since I was a little child. I can play football very well.

We can't play football successfully without power, technology and unity, which is the most important reason I love it. But I don't have many chances to watch football matches unless the World Cup or the European Cup comes on. I don't like Copa America. Perhaps the super stars of American football consider league matches more fun.

The Euro 2004 has become history. I can't see my favorite football player Figo perform for the Portuguese team any longer. How I wished that Portugal would win the cup. When I turned on the TV set that night Greece had won the gold. The Portuguese players weren't young any more, most of whom can't run as fast as before. But they did their best and performed energetically, Figo in particular. Every hero will be old one day. Naturally Figo's place will be taken one day, too. But once a man becomes your hero, others can never take the place in your heart.