【Perez公器私用練英文052】
Thank God for Football 為足球感謝上蒼【2】閃耀藍月，鬥士登頂
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| Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty |
- (1)嶄露頭角 (童年~比利亞雷亞爾時期)：文章連結
- (2)閃耀藍月，鬥牛士登頂 (馬競~曼城三冠王~西班牙歐國杯冠軍)
原文網址：https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/rodri-premier-league-manchester-city-soccer-spain
時間：2024/09/04
作者：Rodri
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| David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty |
When I moved back home to Atlético for one season, I learned what competitiveness really means. When I was at Villarreal, I was very good with the ball at my feet, but I was still a bit soft. Under Diego Simeone, I learned what it means to be the bad guy. To be a bit of a bastard on the pitch. To really tackle. To make the other team miserable for 90 minutes. That was another important piece.
當我回到馬德里的家，為馬競效力那個球季，我才學到「競爭」的真諦。當我在比利亞雷亞爾，我善於控制腳邊的球，但我的風格偏軟。在狄亞哥西蒙尼麾下，我學到了成為惡漢意義何在。在球場上要更王八蛋一點點。做到真正的逼搶、做到讓其他隊伍的90分鐘如同愁雲慘霧。這對我來說是另一個重要的人生拼圖。
When I had the chance to move to City the next summer, it was a dream for me. I had spoken to Sergio Busquets before I agreed to the move, and he told me, “Pep? He is going to make you a better player. But he is never, never, never going to stop pushing you. You will never be finished.”
當我有機會在下個賽季轉到曼城時，那可是我的夢想啊。我在同意轉會跟 Sergio Busquets聊過，他跟我說：「佩普？他會把你變成一個更好的球員。但他絕不、絕不、絕不會停下它督促你的角度，你的修行會永無止盡。」
Sergio had the same role with Pep, and he achieved so many great things, so I put a lot of trust in his words. And he was completely right. To me, the unique thing about Pep is that he is always one step ahead. He is always evolving before the game around him can evolve. He is never satisfied with keeping things exactly as we played last season, because your competition is always going to be analyzing last season. You don’t win four Premier League titles in a row by standing still. You either reinvent yourself or you die.
Sergio在佩普旗下也是相同的角色，並且他成就了許多輝煌，所以我十分相信他的言詞。他也完全正確。對我來說，佩普最獨特的一點在於，他的思維永遠更先行。他總是在他能謀求進步的比賽前持續進步。他也從不滿足於與上季依樣畫葫蘆，因為你的對手也總是會分析你上一季的打法。你不可能一成不變的獲得四座英超獎盃。你不是改造自己，就是坐以待斃。
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| Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty |
You know, when I reference Pep, I always have to talk with my hands. I have to find a table, or a board or something and I have to start moving around coffee cups like a chess board, like he does.
你知道，當我會面佩普時，我總是需要靠著我的雙手一起闡述想法。我得找張桌子、或是張板子或是任何東西充當棋盤，然後我得拿咖啡杯充當棋子，讓棋子開始前行後跳，如同他一如往常做的。
“He will go here, then he will go there, and then bang — you move here. Into the space. Bang.”
「他會到這邊、他會跑到那邊，然後，砰——你就要跑動到這邊。進到這個區域，砰。」
For me, he added that final mental piece of the puzzle. “Seeing” the game in a different way. “Feeling” it — when to move into space, when to hold back. When to press, when to ease off. His confidence was so important to me, because you have to remember, when I came here in 2019, I was walking into a changing room with Fernandinho, Agüero, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne. Legends. When I was 12 years old, I used to go and watch Agüero on the training ground when he was at Atlético. He was one of my heroes. Now I’m sitting right next to him in the changing room? It was amazing.
對我來說，他補上了我最後一塊的的心靈拼圖。讓我「看球」的方式更不一樣。要去「感受」它——什麼時候要跑進哪個位置、什麼時候又要Hold住自己。什麼時候要去壓迫、什麼時候要讓它經過。他的信心對我來說非常重要，因為你知道我得記得，當我2019年加入這裡時，我跟著費南迪尼諾、阿奎羅、大衛席爾瓦、KDB這些響鐺鐺的球員一起走進更衣室；但當我12歲時，我以前是會去看馬競時期的阿奎羅在訓練場訓練的。他是我的英雄之一，而現在我坐他更衣室右邊？這太驚奇了。
Agüero and Otamendi actually used to make fun of me all the time — not just for my clothes, but because I used to get on the bus after every match and FaceTime my missus. Since I’m a footballer and she is a doctor, we had to get used to being long-distance for many years. What do you do when you’re long-distance? You FaceTime. I’d call her after every game, win or lose. When we won, it was no problem, because the boys would be rowdy and celebrating and they wouldn’t notice. But when we lost, I was still just my normal self. I had no filter. When I speak to my missus, it’s like my brain flips back to being in uni. I become Rodrigo again. So it would be dead silent on the bus, everyone with their heads down, all depressed, and I’d be talking loudly, saying, “Yeah, we were a bit s*** today, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, we drew. Yeah, I’m pissed…. Anyway, how was your day?”
阿奎羅跟奧塔門笛成天會開我玩笑—不只是衣服的玩笑，更因為我之前會在每場比賽後上巴士時跟我太太FaceTime。自從我是足球員，而她成為醫生後，我們多年來都在談遠距離戀愛。你在遠距離戀愛時會做什麼？那就是Facetime了。我每場比賽後都會打給她，無論輸贏。贏了自然不會有問題，因為這群男孩子們會鼓譟、慶祝、無暇注意我。但當輸了比賽，我還是會保持平常心，不受影響。當我跟我太太說話時，我的腦袋會就像回到了大學時候，我重新變回了「Rodrigo」。所以當在巴士上一片死寂，眾人垂頭喪氣、感到消沈，我還是會中氣十足的說話，講說比如：「對啦，誠實的說，我們今天踢得有點史。對、對、我們平手、對、我嚇到尿褲子...管他的，你今天怎麼樣？」
The first time, Agüero and Otamendi pulled me aside and they said, “Man, you can’t be talking like that on the bus! Pep can hear you! Everyone can hear you!”
第一次這樣做的時候，阿奎羅跟奧塔門笛把我拉到一邊跟我說：「老兄，你不能這樣在巴士上講話！Pep聽得到你在講什麼！大家都聽得到！」
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| Jean Catuffe/Getty |
But after every match, I would call her. No filter.
但每場比賽後，我都會打給她。不被影響。
“Yeah, it was OK today. We won, but I played kind of s***. Are you watching Netflix? What are you eating?”
「對啊，今天還OK啦。我們贏了，但我踢得跟史一樣。你有在看Netflix？你吃了什麼？」
Hahahah. We were like two teenagers. Everyone was so annoyed. They would be trying to grab the phone from me: “He will call you back! Rodri, hang up the phone! He has to go now! Bye-bye!”
哈哈哈。我們像是兩個青少年。大家都在喧鬧，會想要試著從我這裡搶我電話：「他晚點再打給你啦～羅德里～掛電話！他要走哩！拜拜！」
They wanted to kill me, but I didn’t care. When I leave the pitch, my goal is to always make sure that my feet are on the floor. I think sometimes people misunderstand that part of me. Obviously, as footballers, there is so much marketing and media that you become a kind of character. For me, it’s “the nerd.” I remember I had to do a photo shoot one time, and they said, “Hey, you know what would be cool? Put these books under your arm. Pretend that you’re going to the library.”
我們想要我在女友前面社死，但我不在乎，當我離開球場，我的目標就是確認我自己腳踏實地。我想有些人會誤解那一部分的我。基本上作為足球員，有著太多的市場行銷跟媒體會讓你產生某種人設。以我而言，大概是「阿宅」。我記得有一次我要拍照的時候，拍攝團隊說：「嘿，你知道怎麼樣比較酷媽？把書夾在你的腋下。假裝你要去圖書館。」
When the photos came out, I had my friends from school texting me, “Come onnnn, man. Are you serious? What is this s***? You don’t even like to read! You’re not a real nerd!”
而當照片成品出來時，我就收到我學生時期朋友們的訊息：「拜託託託，老兄。你認真？這什麼爛東西？你甚至不愛看書椰！不是真的是個阿宅好嗎！」
Don’t always believe what you see on social media! Reality is always more complicated.
不要永遠相信你在社群媒體看到的！事實總會更複雜的。
We have been very blessed the last few years with City, but it’s not real life. In the good moments, you don’t learn, you just enjoy. In the bad moments, when you truly suffer, that’s when you really grow. I remember after the ’21 Champions League final against Chelsea, I walked back into the little family area, and when I saw my parents and my brothers, I literally couldn’t speak. It was like I was 10 years old again, at the kitchen table. I couldn’t say a word. I just thought: I never want to feel this feeling again. I have to work harder. I have to find a way to be better.
近幾年跟著曼城我們風風火火，但這不是真實生活。在狀況好的時候，你沒有在進步，純粹是在享受。但不好的時候、當你真正受苦的時候，才是你真正成長之時。我記得在21年跟切爾西的歐冠決賽之後，我回到我小小的家庭舒適圈，並且當我看到我父母跟兄弟，我真的無法吐出隻字片語。我腦中冒出的只有：「我再也不要體驗這種感覺了，我得更努力，我要找到更進步的方法。」
Now that we are champions, and we are on top of the world, no one asks me about that moment back in ’21. But it’s probably one of the most important in my life. Behind every good moment, there is a lifetime of struggle and experience.
如今我們是冠軍了，我們立足世界之巔，21年的經驗已經無人問津。但這可能是我生活中最重要的時光之一。在每個美好的瞬間，都會有一生之長的掙扎前行與苦澀經驗。
Even when I scored the goal in the Champions League final in 2023, it was not a “calculation.” It was a feeling, from 20 years of football, since I was playing in the garden. The second before Bernardo put in the cross, I was actually very far away from the play. On the TV replay, you can’t even see me. There was really no chance of the ball coming to me. I should have stayed still. But I took one step forward toward the box. I don’t know why. I wasn’t thinking about it. Because nine times out of 10 — maybe 99 times out of 100 — when Bernardo crosses the ball, it’s not going to come my way.
即使是我在23年歐冠決賽射入唯一進球，那也不是「規劃出來」的。那就是一種感覺，從我小時候在花園踢球累積的20年足球經驗。在B席將球推傳的前一秒，我實際上還在這波進攻的極遠之處，你甚至在電視重播上看不到我入鏡。看起來球真的不會有跑來我面前的機會，我應該好好站在原地應變。但我就是毫無緣由的，自然向禁區踏前了一步，我自己都始料未及，因為十之八九—甚至可以說是99%—當B席傳球的時候，球不會往我的方向打來。
But this voice told me, “This time is going to be the one time.”
但有個聲音告訴我：「那一次，就是這一次。」
I took a step forward. The ball was deflected. If I don’t take that one step, it’s already too late.
我踏前一步。球同時折射過來。當我沒有踏出那一步，那就錯過它了。
I saw the ball bouncing toward me.
我看到球朝我的方向彈過來。
And I can tell you everything that flashed through my mind:
我可以告訴我當下腦袋裡一閃而過的所有念頭：
It’s here. What do I do?
Hit it hard — boomba
OK, but wait. You will probably have one chance all game.
Just get it on target.
You’re out in the garden.
Just pass the ball into the net.
It’s here. Pass it.
「它來了，我要做什麼？」
「大力射門—砰—吧—」
「好，但是等一下，你這場比賽可能就這個機會了。」
「就求射正就好。」
「你已經不是在花園裡踢球了。」
「就把球傳進球門中吧。」
「它來了，傳進去吧。」
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| Marvin Ibo Guengoer/GES Sportfoto via Getty |
It happened just like that, in a flash. When the ball went in, I ran off and did a knee slide in front of our fans, and then I remember my first thought after that was: 20 minutes. 20 more minutes. F****** hell. Long way.
這些念頭如此瞬息閃過。進球霎那，我奔馳而出，在我們的球迷前滑跪慶祝，而後我記得我第一個冒出來的念頭是：20分鐘。超過二十分鐘。幹他的地獄，漫漫長路。
That’s the mind of a No. 6.
這就是六號球員的思維。
We suffered for those 20 minutes, and then the whistle blew. That’s the feeling that I have been chasing all my life. The joy that I felt was not at all about scoring the goal. It was about suffering for 90 minutes as a team and winning. It was about securing the treble for our fans — who have supported me from the day that I came here. It was about seeing the smiles on the faces of the kids in City scarves. Hugging my family and saying, “We f****** did it.”
我們在那二十分鐘飽經磨難，而後終場哨終於想起。那是我追逐了一輩子的感受：完全不是關於「我進球了」的喜悅；是90分鐘後的掙扎前行之後獲得團隊的勝利；是為我們—從我來的第一天起就支持我的—球迷保下了三冠王；是那些穿著曼城裝束的孩子臉上的笑容。抱著我的家人說道：「我們幹他的做到了。」
That is the drug. That is why you play football.
這如同魔藥。這就是踢球的原因。
At the Euros, it was the same. It was poetic in a way for me, because I had to watch the second half of the final from the sidelines. For once, I was not in control. Before the tournament started, I challenged myself to be more of a leader. I am not the oldest guy in the dressing room, but we have some young (Very young! Scary young!) guys from a new generation, and I felt that I could help them with the pressures of such a big moment. When I think about what Lamine and Nico achieved this summer, it makes me so happy. To step up in a moment like that with your whole country watching — at 17, at 22 — it’s unbelievable. If they knew how I was living at their age, their minds would probably explode.
歐洲杯時，也是相同的感覺。它從我的眼中別具詩意，因為我得在休息區看著我們的下半場決賽。第一次，我無法對比賽做出任何掌控。在這屆大賽開始前，我對我自己下了要更像個領導者的挑戰。我不是更衣室最年長的球員，但我們許多新世代的青年才俊(超青的！青到發瘋！)，而我想我能夠在這樣的一個承受龐大壓力的重要時刻提供幫助。當我想及拉明或尼克這個夏天成就的事情，就讓我感到無比歡欣。在全國國民的注視下登頂這樣的時刻—還是在17歲跟22歲的時候—不可置信。如果他們知道我在他們那個年紀我在過什麼樣的人生，他們的腦袋大概會爆炸。
When I was on the sidelines for the second half of the final, the only sensation that I can compare it to is being in a car driving 200 kilometers per hour. When your hands are at the wheel and you’re in control, you feel nothing. But when you’re in the passenger’s seat, you feel like you’re on a rollercoaster.
當我在休息區邊線看著下半場決賽時，我唯一能與之相比的感覺，大概是飆著時速兩百公里的快車。我作為駕駛，手放在方向盤上，有著主控權而視若繁常。但當你在乘客席時，你會覺得像是搭著雲霄飛車似的。
When we scored the goal in the 85th minute, I think I ran faster down to Mikel Oyarzabal than I ran when I was on the pitch in the first half.
當我們在第85分鐘進球時，我想我奔到了Mikel Oyarzabal跟前，甚至比我上半場在球場跑得還要快。
When you win for your country, it is a different kind of emotion. I was taken back to my roots, when I was playing in the pool, then playing in the garden, then back in the pool again. When I was taking my bike onto the tram to go to training. When I was running around the woods in Connecticut crying tears of joy when we won the World Cup.
當你為你的國家博取到勝利，那是種渾然不同的情緒。我的意識被拉回我的起源之地，我在水池、花園、再次回到水池玩耍的時候；牽著我的腳踏車在轉運站前往訓練的時候；我在康乃狄格州的森林間因為我們國家贏得世界盃而喜極而泣的時候。
You realize that you have not just made a city happy, but an entire country. So many different people. So many different generations. A whole new generation, experiencing that joy for the first time. How many of those kids ran around like crazy the night that Lamine scored against France? Or when Mikel scored against England? Thousands. Millions.
你知道你不只是讓一座城市沸騰，而是整個國家。太多不同的人、太多不同的世代，還有一整個全新的世代，第一次感受這般的喜悅。有多少那樣的孩子瘋了般急奔，在拉明對法國進球的那個晚上？或是Mikel對英格蘭進球的那時候？數以千計，數以百萬計。
“¡¡¡¡¡jajajajajajajaja!!!! ¡Viva España!”
「哈哈哈哈哈！！萬歲西班牙牙牙牙！」
I know the feeling. Pure joy.
我知道這種感覺，純然的喜悅。
With all due respect to books and economics and accounting…. There is only one thing that touches the heart like that. Only football can do it.
帶著對書本、經濟學、會計學的全然尊敬......只有一項事物能夠如此我們的心，只有足球做得到。
Thank God for our parents for making us study, eh?
感謝上蒼讓我們父母督促我們讀書，嗎？
Thank God for football for making us dream.
感謝上蒼創造了為我們圓夢的足球。
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