A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
6:55
世界杯小组赛：少年亚马尔打进世界杯首球奥亚萨瓦尔梅开二度，西班牙传控碾压四比零大胜沙特阿拉伯
Tiki-Taka Masterclass: Yamal and Oyarzabal Lead Spain to a 4–0 Rout of Saudi Arabia
中高级中文听力：世界杯西班牙四比零完胜沙特阿拉伯全程回顾。少年亚马尔打进世界杯首球，奥亚萨瓦尔梅开二度，乌龙球锦上添花，西班牙传控碾压尽显夺冠相。含进阶生词、语法与全文翻译。
This is an HSK 5-6 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 7 key vocabulary words such as 竞争者、统计、证明 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Spain beat Saudi Arabia 4-0, a match in which a top team showed off its own quality to the full.
For convenience of narration, below we'll abbreviate Saudi Arabia to "Saudi."
A big score like 4-0 clearly shows Spain played extremely well this match, leaving the opponent almost no chances from start to finish.
Before reviewing this match, let's first get to know the two teams.
Spain comes from Europe and is one of the universally acknowledged traditional powers of world soccer.
They've always been famous for delicate passing-and-possession soccer, with outstanding technique and seamless combination, and for years have been one of the broad mass of fans' most beloved teams.
And in this current Spain team, quite a few young stars who've begun to make their mark in recent years have also emerged, and the whole team's future is very highly rated by the outside world.
Their opponent for this match, Saudi, comes from Asia and is likewise a team with a certain quality.
However, in both fame and overall strength, there's a fairly obvious gap between Saudi and Spain.
For exactly this reason, before the match almost everyone thought Spain could win the game fairly comfortably.
However, Spain's actual performance once they got going still came as a pleasant surprise to many.
Just in the tenth minute of the match, Spain's young player Yamal scored first.
Although Yamal is still very young, he's already a much-watched rising star in world soccer today, and this goal was still his first ever at a World Cup.
For such a young player, being able to score on a stage like the World Cup was undoubtedly a moment he'll remember for life.
One to zero — Spain took the lead early.
The moment the goal went in, the Spain fans in the stands burst into loud cheers, and the whole stadium's atmosphere was utterly ignited at once.
And for Saudi, conceding a goal so early undoubtedly put them under greater psychological pressure.
After taking the lead, Spain played even more confidently, and their attack became even more fluid.
Before long, their experienced player Oyarzabal scored a second goal, stretching the score on the pitch to two to zero.
And even more astonishing, just a few more minutes later, Oyarzabal struck again, scoring another goal.
That is to say, within just a few short minutes, he had scored two goals in a row for Spain.
This kind of efficient scoring gave Saudi's entire defensive line almost no chance to catch its breath.
Three to zero — this was already his second goal of the match.
A player scoring two goals in a row in the same match has a very vivid name in Chinese: "méi kāi èr dù" (a brace).
Oyarzabal's brace was undoubtedly a rather dazzling highlight of Spain's thoroughly enjoyable big win.
And in the second half, Spain collected the fourth goal of the match.
This time, though, the goal came about in a somewhat unusual way: a Saudi player, while defending, accidentally knocked the ball into his own goal.
A goal like this is called an own goal in soccer — a player putting the ball into his own team's net.
For Saudi, this own goal was undoubtedly salt in the wound; already behind, their situation became even more passive.
But in fairness, a mistake like this is also inseparable from Spain's relentless pressure.
It was precisely because Spain kept pushing the ball forward that the opponent kept falling into a scramble in front of their own goal.
Four to zero — Spain had completely sealed the win.
So why did Saudi lose so badly today?
For one, Spain's overall form today was simply too good, holding an overwhelming advantage in both possession and attack.
For another, Saudi's attack never found an effective way either.
For most of the match, the ball was being circulated almost entirely at the feet of Spain's players.
By the relevant statistics, Spain took as many as a dozen-plus shots all match, while Saudi could hardly create any proper shooting chances — the huge gap between the two was plain to see.
This style of keeping the match firmly in their own hands is exactly what Spain is most famous for, and what gives opponents the biggest headache.
In the end, the match finished four to zero, with Spain winning both easily and beautifully.
For Spain, the meaning of this victory could be said to go without saying.
With a thoroughly enjoyable big win, they proved once again that they remain one of the strong contenders for the title at this World Cup.
Winning so effortlessly, with a young player shining on the pitch too, undoubtedly boosted the whole Spain team's confidence greatly.
And for Saudi, this was a rather difficult match.
The team they had to face is one of the strongest on the planet, so losing the match was actually no surprise.
Still, they never gave up from start to finish, working hard to win the ball and to run, and that never-say-die attitude still deserves people's recognition.
For an Asian team, being able to compete against a top side like Spain is itself a rather precious experience.
As the saying goes, only by having faced the strongest opponents can you see more clearly where exactly your own gap lies.
After the match, the discussion mostly centered on the young Yamal.
Some sincerely marveled that so young, he could already score at the World Cup, and his future achievements are surely limitless.
Others, without stinting, sent their applause to Oyarzabal for his brace, calling him the deserved biggest hero of this big win.
In fact, this is exactly one of the most captivating things about the game of soccer: top teams show off their quality here to the full, treating fans worldwide to a feast for the eyes.
And the young player's shining display makes people look forward, with boundless anticipation, to this Spain team's future.
Of course, Spain themselves know very well that the further it goes, the stronger the opponents will be, and this kind of effortless ease today won't last forever.
The truly tough battles and tests often don't arrive until the knockout phase, when they meet equally strong opponents.
But in any case, being able to open their own World Cup campaign with such a big win has already added plenty of belief and confidence to this team.
Alright, that's the whole story of the Spain versus Saudi match; see you next time.
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
考纲词. 西班牙依然是夺冠的有力竞争者。
HSK 1-4. statistics / to count.
HSK 1-4. to prove.
HSK 1-4. tradition.
开始显出才能、引人注意。这支西班牙队涌现出不少崭露头角的新星。
受到很多人关注。亚马尔是备受瞩目的新星。
强到几乎无法抵抗。西班牙占据压倒性的优势。
* beyond level超纲词
也就是说，…
'That is to say, …' restates a point more plainly.
也就是说，短短几分钟内，他就连进两球。
正是因为…，才…
'It is precisely because …, that …' ties cause to effect.
正是因为西班牙一直施压，才让对方频频慌乱。
并不会一直持续
'Will not last forever' — warns a current state is temporary.
这样的轻松，并不会一直持续下去。
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