Lippi leaves town

It’s time to say “ciao”.
是时候说“再见”（ciao在意大利语中意思是“你好、再见”）了。

After China’s men’s soccer team lost a World Cup qualifying match to Syria 2-1, Marcello Lippi announced his resignation as head coach of the national squad.
在世界杯预选赛国足1:2憾负叙利亚之后，中国男足主教练马尔切洛·里皮宣布辞职。

The defeat was painful. China now sits second in Asia Qualifying Group A with seven points in four games. That’s five points behind group leader Syria. With only eight group winners and the four highest-scoring runners-up progressing to the next round of the Asian qualification process, the Chinese side is now in real danger of missing out on yet another tournament.
这场失利是痛苦的。四场比赛过后，中国队积7分，位居亚洲区预选赛预赛阶段A组的第二位，落后小组第一的叙利亚队5分。由于只有8个小组的小组头名以及4个成绩最好的小组第二名才能进入下一阶段的亚洲区预选赛，中国队如今面临着又一场大赛出局的危险。

“A team should try its best to execute their coach’s directions,” the 71-year-old Italian said at a brief post-match news conference. “We won over weak teams like the Maldives and Guam, but we got a draw against a team that was a little stronger like the Philippines. Today Syria was better than us. I’m earning a very high salary. I take the full responsibility. I will resign.”
“一支球队应该全力以赴执行主教练的部署，”这位71岁的意大利老帅在赛后一场简短的新闻发布会上说道。“虽然我们战胜了关岛、马尔代夫这两个弱队，但是碰到稍微强一点的队伍，比如菲律宾，我们踢平了，今天叙利亚队比我们踢得更好。我的年薪非常高，这场输球我承担全部责任，我将辞职，不再担任中国队主教练。”

This is not the first time Lippi has stepped aside after a loss. In January, he quit after a disappointing Asian Cup campaign concluded in a 3-0 quarterfinal exit to Iran. The legendary coach, who is known for leading Italy to its 2006 World Cup victory, returned in May, however, with the aim of taking China to the tournament.
这并非里皮第一次在输球后辞职了。今年1月，中国队在亚洲杯四分之一决赛中0比3负于伊朗队，遗憾出局，赛后里皮宣布辞职。但这位曾带领意大利队夺得2006年世界杯冠军的传奇教练于今年5月再度回归掌帅，带领国足出征世界杯预选赛。

As it turned out, his second spell didn’t last long. Fans online greeted the team’s latest defeat with a mixture of anger and despair. Some criticized Lippi for failing to take responsibility when results didn’t go China’s way. But there has also been some sympathy for Lippi, with an acceptance that he had a squad of limited ability. “What’s the value of the squad now? What’s the value of the coach that we hired by paying him generously?” renowned sports commentator Han Qiaosheng wrote on Sina Weibo. “Maybe Lippi himself cannot answer this question, so the only thing he can do is to resign.”
里皮重掌帅印，但最终也并不长久。国足最近的这场失利令网上的球迷们感到愤怒又绝望。一些人在国足输球后批评里皮未能尽到责任。但也有同情里皮的声音，认为他所带的球队能力不足。“国足如今的价值在哪里？我们如此高薪请来的教练价值在哪里？”著名体育评论员韩乔生在微博上写道，“也许里皮也无法回答这个问题，里皮最终只能选择辞职！”

There was a time when we would attribute the loss to multiple factors. “But when we hired a World Cup champion coach, reformed the management system, provided the best backup support and even started a seemingly impossible naturalization process, the result still failed us,” Xinhua News Agency noted.
我们曾将比赛失利归结于多个因素。“但当我们请来了世界杯冠军主教练，国家队管理采用主教练负责制，给予了国际一流的后勤支持，更破天荒地开启了‘归化’大门时，结果却仍然让人失望。”新华社评论指出。

Compared to China’s women’s soccer team and the country’s other medal-winning programs, the men’s soccer team is a perennial underperformer. In such a situation, saying goodbye is shattering for Lippi, but returns can also bring heartbreak.
和中国女足以及其他获得奖牌的体育项目相比，中国男足长年表现不佳。面对如此情况，里皮的辞职令人震惊，但他的回归也令人失望。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高三698期