This is Portugal playing Morocco at the 2018 World Cup.
这是2018年世界杯葡萄牙对战摩洛哥的那场比赛。
Portugal was the heavy favorite and won the game 1-0.
相比之下,葡萄牙有着明显的优势,最终以1:0胜出。
The result wasn’t all that interesting, but this photo is.
结果虽然没有那么有趣,但这张照片有。
This Portugal player wasn’t born in Portugal and these two Morocco players weren’t born in Morocco.
因为这位葡萄牙球员并不是在葡萄牙出生的,而这两名摩洛哥球员也不是在摩洛哥出生的。
See, soccer’s regulating body, FIFA, allows athletes to play for any nation they have a clear connection to,
原来,足球的监管机构国际足联允许运动员为任何一个和他们有明显联系的国家踢球,
including the country a player’s parents or grandparents are from.
比如球员父母或祖父母的祖国。
In this year’s World Cup, 82 players are playing for countries that they weren’t born in.
在今年的世界杯上,有82名球员效力的都不是他们出生的那个国家。
So… where are they coming from?
那么问题来了......这些球员都是哪个国家的呢?
If we plot it on a map, one country stands out.
如果我们在地图上标出他们的国籍,有一个国家就脱颖而出了。
France is where the largest number of all World Cup players were born.
法国是诞生世界杯球员最多的国家。
Brazil has the next highest total but it’s not even close.
巴西位居世界第二,但跟法国比起来还是差远了。
France has had the most native players and coaches in the last 4 World Cups and their dominance has been on the rise.
在过去4届世界杯上,本土球员和本土教练最多的是法国队,而且,这种趋势还在继续上涨。
So, what’s so special about France?
法国队何以独秀一枝呢?
At the end of World War II, much of France was destroyed.
二战结束时,法国大部分地区都被摧毁了。
The government began recruiting laborers, from southern and eastern Europe as well as colonies in northern Africa, to rebuild the country during the late 1940s and 1950s.
为了重建,20世纪40年代末到50年代,法国开始从南欧、东欧以及非洲北部的殖民地引进劳动力。
During that time France brought in more immigrants than any other European country.
那期间,法国引进的移民数量超过任何其他欧洲国家。
And in the 1960s and early 70s France’s economy grew rapidly and a labor shortage led to another wave of immigrants -
20世纪60年代到70年代初,法国的经济得到了迅速的发展,劳动力的短缺带动了又一次移民浪潮 -
with even more arrivals from French colonies throughout Africa and the Caribbean.
这一次,来自非洲和加勒比地区法属殖民地的人更多了。
Many of them settled in major housing developments just outside of the major cities.
其中很多人都投入了大城市周边的房地产开发行业。
At the same time, France was also in a sports crisis. Especially the national football team.
那时的法国还陷入了体育危机,特别是国家足球队。
Between 1960 and 1974, France failed to qualify for three world cups and three European championships.
1960年到1974年,三次世界杯和三次欧洲锦标赛法国都没能拿到参赛资格。
The French Football Federation decided the way to get better was to create a national structure for developing talent,
法国足球联合会认为,要改变就要建立一个培养人才的国家系统,
so it established one of Europe's first football academy systems.
于是,法国率先成立了欧洲的第一批足球学院。
In 1972, a national training center was opened in Vichy,
1972年,法国又在维希开设了一个国家培训中心,
and four years later, the Federation worked with top French football clubs to set up a wider network of academies to recruit and train local youth.
四年后,联合会与法国顶级足球俱乐部合作,成立了更大的学院网络,招募和培训当地青年。
In 1988, the national training center moved to a forested suburb south of Paris called Clairefontaine
1988年,国家培训中心搬到了巴黎南部一个叫克莱枫丹的森林茂密的郊区
and by the early 1990s, this French soccer system was one of the best in the world - developing talented players from all over France.
到了20世纪90年代初,法国的这一足球体系已经成了世界上最好的足球体系之一 - 汇聚了来自法国各地的优秀球员。
And the system delivered results.
这一体系奏效了。