世界杯小组赛：英格兰射门占尽优势却颗粒无收，加纳顽强死守门将神勇零比零逼平英格兰

说它精彩，是因为处于弱势的加纳，在面对强大的英格兰时，硬是凭借着无比顽强的防守，守下了一分宝贵的积分。

What made it brilliant: the underdog Ghana, facing a strong England, defended with sheer tenacity to earn one precious point.

在回顾这场比赛之前，让我们先来认识一下这两支球队。

Before recapping the match, let's first get to know these two teams.

英格兰来自欧洲，是世界足坛公认的强队之一，多年以来，一直都是世界杯夺冠的热门球队。

England comes from Europe, one of world football's acknowledged powers, and for many years a World Cup title favourite.

他们阵中球星云集，进攻火力十分强劲，而他们的队长凯恩，更是一位经验极其丰富、进球如麻的世界级顶尖前锋，多年来一直是英格兰队最重要的得分手。

Their ranks are packed with stars and their attacking firepower is potent; their captain Kane is a world-class forward, hugely experienced and a prolific scorer, England's most important marksman for years.

而他们此役的对手加纳，则来自非洲，无论是名气，还是球队整体的实力，都不如英格兰。

Their opponents in this match, Ghana, come from Africa, behind England in both fame and overall strength.

不过，加纳的球员身体强壮、作风顽强，是一支很有韧性的球队，向来都不是一个好对付的对手。

But Ghana's players are physically strong and tenacious, a resilient team that has never been an easy opponent.

正因为如此，赛前几乎所有人都认为，英格兰能够比较轻松地拿下这场比赛。

For all these reasons, before the match almost everyone thought England could win comfortably.

然而，比赛真正踢起来，场上的局面，却完全是另外一番景象。

Yet once the match actually got going, the picture on the pitch was something else entirely.

比赛一开场，英格兰就牢牢地掌握了场上的主动权。

From the kickoff, England firmly seized the initiative.

他们将球控制在脚下，一次又一次地向加纳的球门发起猛烈的进攻。

With the ball at their feet, they launched fierce attacks at Ghana's goal again and again.

传中、远射、角球、二次进攻，英格兰几乎用尽了所有能够想到的进攻手段。

Crosses, long shots, corners, second-phase attacks — England used nearly every attacking weapon imaginable.

据相关的统计，整场比赛，英格兰的射门次数，远远多于自己的对手，控球率也占据着压倒性的优势，从场面上看，他们甚至可以说，完全压制住了加纳，

By the relevant stats, England had far more shots than their opponents all match, with an overwhelming edge in possession; on the run of play you could even say they completely dominated Ghana,

皮球在绝大部分时间里，都停留在加纳的半场。

with the ball staying in Ghana's half for the vast majority of the time.

然而，足球比赛真正算数的，永远都是进球的数量，而绝不是射门的次数。

Yet what truly counts in football is always the number of goals, never the number of shots.

面对英格兰潮水般的进攻，加纳全队上下，展现出了令人惊叹的顽强。

Facing England's tidal attacks, the whole Ghana team showed astonishing tenacity.

他们很清楚，和英格兰这样的强队，去硬拼进攻，并不是一个明智的选择。

They knew that slugging it out in attack with a strong team like England was not a wise choice.

于是，他们果断地选择了稳守反击的踢法。

So they decisively chose to sit deep and counter.

他们整体退守到本方半场，用密集的人数和无比坚定的意志，死死地守护着自己的球门，只在抓到机会的时候，才迅速发起反击，试图威胁一下对方的球门。

They dropped as a unit into their own half, guarding their goal with packed numbers and unshakeable will, only breaking quickly forward when they caught a chance to threaten the other goal.

每一名球员都拼尽了全力，封堵、解围、卡位，没有任何一个人有丝毫的松懈。

Every player gave everything — blocking, clearing, holding position — not one of them eased off in the slightest.

有那么几次，英格兰的射门已经无限接近破门，却最终都与进球擦肩而过，差的，往往就只是那么一点点。

A few times England's shots came agonisingly close to a goal, only to brush past it by the smallest of margins.

而加纳的门将，也在比赛中表现得相当出色，接连做出了好几次至关重要的扑救，一次次把英格兰的希望，挡了回去。

And Ghana's keeper also performed superbly through the match, making several vital saves in a row, repeatedly keeping out England's hopes.

就连经验丰富、嗅觉敏锐的射手凯恩，今天也始终没能找到破门的办法。

Even the experienced, sharp-instinct scorer Kane could never find a way through today.

在比赛的最后阶段，他还错过了一次相当不错的机会，让无数英格兰球迷都替他感到惋惜。

In the closing stages he also missed a rather good chance, leaving countless England fans to feel for him.

看台上的英格兰球迷，一次次满怀希望地从座位上站起，可随后，又只能一次次失望地坐了回去。

England's fans in the stands rose hopefully from their seats again and again, only to sink back down in disappointment each time.

时间一分一秒地流逝，占尽了场面优势的英格兰，却始终无法攻破对方那道顽强的球门。

Minute by minute the time slipped away, and the utterly dominant England still couldn't breach that tenacious opposing goal.

最终，比赛以零比零的比分结束，双方各取一分，握手言和。

In the end, the match finished nil-nil, both sides taking a point and shaking hands.

从结果上看，这个比分对两支球队的意义，其实并不相同。

Looking at the result, the scoreline actually meant different things to the two teams.

对英格兰来说，这个结果无疑是有些令人失望的。

For England, this result was undoubtedly somewhat disappointing.

他们全场射门次数极多，控球也占据着绝对的优势，却始终没能把这些优势，转化成哪怕一个进球。

They had a huge number of shots all match and an absolute edge in possession, yet never turned those advantages into even one goal.

而对加纳来说，这却是一场相当成功、也相当励志的比赛。

But for Ghana, this was a rather successful and rather inspiring match.

赛前几乎没有人看好他们，甚至有人担心他们会大比分落败，可他们却用一整场的拼搏与坚守，狠狠地回应了所有的质疑。

Almost no one backed them beforehand — some even feared a heavy defeat — yet they answered every doubt with a full match of fight and resolute defending.

面对强大的英格兰，他们顽强地顶住了对方一轮又一轮的猛攻，最终守住了球门，全身而退。

Facing a strong England, they tenaciously withstood wave after wave of attack, finally protecting their goal and coming through unscathed.

这一分，对加纳在小组里的出线形势，也有着相当重要的意义。

This one point also carries real weight for Ghana's qualification hopes in the group.

能够在与强队的较量中拿到分数，往往就是弱队能否走得更远的关键所在。

Taking points off strong teams is often the very key to whether an underdog can go further.

对一支以防守见长的球队来说，能够在世界杯上零封英格兰这样的强队，本身就是一种实力的最好证明。

For a team known for defending, keeping a clean sheet against a side like England is itself the best proof of quality.

所谓零封，指的就是一场比赛一个球都不丢，把对手的进攻牢牢地挡在门外。

A clean sheet means not conceding a single goal in a match, keeping the opponent's attack firmly outside the goal.

能够零封英格兰这样的强队，可绝不是一件容易的事情。

Keeping a clean sheet against a strong team like England is by no means an easy thing.

这一分，对加纳来说，可以说是来之不易，也意义重大。

This one point, for Ghana, can truly be called hard-won and deeply meaningful.

比赛结束之后，人们的讨论，也自然而然地围绕着这场比赛展开。

After the match, the discussion naturally centred on this game.

有人由衷地称赞加纳的防守又顽强又聪明，全队上下都拼到了最后一刻，而他们的门将，更是奉献了一场相当出色的表现。

Some sincerely praised Ghana's defending as both tenacious and clever, the whole team fighting to the last moment, with their keeper delivering an outstanding performance.

也有人为英格兰感到惋惜，认为他们射门那么多次，最终却没能进球，实在是有些可惜，问题主要还是出在临门一脚上。

Others felt for England, that having so many shots yet failing to score was a real pity, the problem mainly being the final touch.

其实，这恰恰正是足球这项运动既有意思、又最为残酷的地方：能不能进球，往往要比你射了多少次门，重要得多。

Actually, this is exactly what makes football both fascinating and most cruel: whether you score often matters far more than how many shots you take.

它也在提醒着所有的球队：哪怕你占尽了场上的优势，只要始终把握不住眼前的机会，那么到最后，也依然很难赢下比赛。

It also reminds every team: even if you dominate the pitch, if you keep failing to take the chances in front of you, in the end it's still hard to win.

对英格兰来说，这场平局，也是一记不大不小的警钟，作为夺冠的热门，他们需要尽快地解决进攻效率的问题。

For England, this draw is also a wake-up call of sorts; as a title favourite, they need to fix their attacking efficiency soon.

毕竟，到了世界杯的后半段，他们将会遇到越来越多像加纳这样防守稳固的对手。

After all, deeper into the World Cup they will meet more and more solidly defending opponents like Ghana.

而对加纳来说，这宝贵的一分，则给了他们继续走下去的希望和信心。

And for Ghana, this precious point gives them the hope and confidence to keep going.

而对于喜欢看球的人来说，能够看到这样一场以弱抗强、扣人心弦的防守大战，本身也是一种难得的享受。

And for those who love watching football, seeing such a gripping defensive battle of weak against strong is itself a rare treat.

它告诉我们，足球的魅力，其实并不只在于进球，有时候，那种顽强到底的防守，同样动人。

It tells us that football's appeal in fact lies not only in goals; sometimes, defending to the bitter end is just as moving.

好了，这就是英格兰对加纳这场比赛的全部故事，我们下期再见。

Okay, that's the whole story of England against Ghana, see you next time.