新闻周刊:改善俄罗斯形象的2018世界杯:伊斯兰国曾扬言恐袭(6)

With all the talk around the tournament of jihadis and geopolitics, it's sometimes easy to forget that this is a sporting event.

说了这么多圣战分子和地缘政治，有时很容易忘记这是一篇体育报道。

Russians are excited that the world's top soccer stars will perform in their country, but there is almost zero chance their national team win.

俄罗斯人喜闻乐见世界顶级足球明星来到他们国家比赛，但是俄罗斯队夺冠几无可能。

Russia is one of the lowest-ranked squads¹ taking part in the World Cup,

俄罗斯队是进入世界杯的球队里面排名最末的。

and it has not progressed past the event's initial group stages since the collapse² of the Soviet³ Union.

自苏联解体以来，一直没能突破小组赛。

"Who are you going to support when Russia gets knocked out?" is a popular joke among soccer fans in Moscow.

“俄罗斯队淘汰了你会支持哪只球队？”这个问题成为莫斯科足球迷们很流行的玩笑话。

The Kremlin can't influence events on the field, but with a little help from FIFA, it is leaving nothing to chance elsewhere.

俄罗斯政府无法影响现场赛事，但是在国际足球联合会的一些帮助下，所有事情都可以做得周到齐全。

Even the minor⁴ details are being taken care of.

即使微不足道的细节问题也会被处理好。

One example? That promotional video of Putin and Infantino, the FIFA president, kicking a ball around.

举个例子就是普京和国际足联主席因凡蒂诺传球的宣传视频。

While Infantino's soccer skills were impressive, some suggested that clever video editing had greatly exaggerated Putin's abilities.

尽管因凡蒂诺的足球技能令人印象深刻，但是仍有些人认为投机取巧的视频编辑很大程度上夸大了普京的能力。

(FIFA did not respond to a request for comment about the video.)

（尽管因凡蒂诺的足球技能令人印象深刻，但是仍有些人认为投机取巧的视频编辑很大程度上夸大了普京的能力。）

"This is all about proving to the world that Russia can stage successfully an event of this magnitude,"

“这都是为了向世界证明俄罗斯可以成功举办这个级别的赛事，”

says Viktor Shenderovich, a well-known Russian writer and soccer fan.

俄罗斯著名作家兼足球迷维克多·申德罗维奇说。

"The soccer is of secondary importance. For Putin, the propaganda comes first."

“足球第二重要，宣传第一重要。”

1 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。