Asia Still Has a Long Way to Go女明星素颜照片
亚冠挑战欧冠仍长路漫漫
The backdrop was all there. A sellout crowd of 55, 847, most of them clad in the blood red of the home team. A world-wide television audience. Dario Conca, one of the highest paid players in the world, reportedly checking in at $12.5 million a year. Marcello Lippi, a legendary coach whose résumé includes winning both the UEFA Champions' League and the World Cup. Two clubs from China and South Korea: one country a massive economic juggernaut, the other an established soccer power at the international level, having qualified for every World Cup since 1986.
亚洲冠军联赛决赛第二回合的比赛是在这样的背景下拉开帷幕的：55,847名球迷令现场座无虚席，大多数球迷都身着主队的红球衣；全球都有观众在通过电视观看比赛；当今球坛薪酬最高的足球运动员之一孔卡(Dario Conca)，据称他以每年1,250万美元加盟恒大；传奇教练里皮(Marcello Lippi)，曾带队赢得欧洲冠军杯和世界杯；决赛队伍分别来自中国和韩国——一个是经济大国，另一个国家则已经在国际足球上占有一席之地，自炎亚纶喜欢夏天1986年以来每次都
晋级世界杯。
It was the second leg of the 2013 Asian Champions League final. It finished 1-1, meaning China's Guangzhou Evergrande was crowned Asian champion on the away-goals rule since the away leg against South Korea's FC Seoul had ended 2-2.
这场比赛最终以1-1的比分收场，由于在第一回合的比赛中客场对阵首尔FC(FC Seoul)的比分为2-2，中国广州恒大队凭借客场进球优势赢得亚冠冠军。
The silver-haired 65-year-old Lippi-long considered a Paul Newman look-alike-was triumphantly lifted into the air by his players three times. In 18 months at the club he had delivered two Chinese league titles, the Chinese FA Cup and now he had helped Guangzhou become champion of Asia. In doing so, he became the first manager ever to win the major continental club competition of two different confederations. (His success in Europe's elite tournament had come with Juventus back in 1996.)
65岁的银发教练里皮一直被认为长得像保罗·纽曼(Paul Newman)。比赛结束后，他被球员
三次抛向空中庆祝胜利。里皮在广州恒大执教18个月，已经带队夺得两次中超联赛冠军和一次中国足协杯冠军，如今又帮助广州恒大成为亚洲之冠。他也由此成为历史上首位在亚洲和欧洲都带队赢得俱乐部联赛冠军的教练。1996年里皮曾带领尤文图斯刘橙橙(Juventus)多的欧冠冠军。
'Except for Berlin, today is as great a day as any other I've enjoyed in my coaching career, ' he said, referring back to the venue of his 2006 World Cup triumph with Italy. 'Honestly this is equal to winning the [UEFA] Champions' League.'
里皮说，除了柏林之外，今天是我执教生涯中伟大的一天，与赢得欧洲冠军联赛时一样。他所说的柏林指的是2006年世界杯时他带领意大利国家队夺冠。
Many would suggest that it obviously isn't. And that Lippi was simply being gracious. The UEFA Champions' League includes the best teams from the best leagues in the world. It has an unparalleled global audience and is hugely attractive to sponsors and broadcasters, an appeal that shows no sign of abating. Indeed, on the day of the Asian Champions' League final it was announced that the British broadcaster BT Sport had paid
a whopping $1.4 billion for the 2015 to 2018 U.K. rights, more than doubling the $640 million shelled out by the current rights holders.
很多人认为亚冠显然与欧冠不一样，并认为里皮只是在说场面话。欧冠囊括了全世界最优秀联赛中最好的球队。欧冠在全球的观众规模是无与伦比的，并且极大地吸引着赞助商和广播电视公司，这种吸引力丝毫没有褪迹象。事实上，在亚冠联赛决赛当天就有消息说，英国体育频道BT Sport豪掷14亿美元获得2015年至陈坤电影2018年欧冠联赛在英国的转播权，比当前持有转播权的公司花费的6.40亿美元高出一倍以上。
But it does raise the question whether any continent-or, to use FIFA parlance, confederation-could ever produce a club competition to challenge the UEFA Champions' League.
但这也确实带来一个问题：会不会有哪个大洲（或用国际足联(FIFA)的说法，哪个联赛）有可能打造一个能与欧冠联赛媲美的俱乐部赛事？
On paper, for the foreseeable future, it could only be Asia. The Copa Libertadores in Sout
h America is of a very high standard, but for historical and geographical reasons is contested by just 10 nations-and Brazil supplies half the population.
理论上，在可预见的未来，只有亚洲有这种可能。南美洲的南美解放者杯(Copa Libertadores)浮躁 王菲联赛已经具有很高水准，但由于历史以及地缘政治原因，该联赛只有10个国家参与，其中半数球员来自巴西。
Concacaf is home to the U.S., Canada, Mexico and their tiny rivals in Central America and the Caribbean. Even if the general level did improve, the imbalance of power is such that it seems unrealistic that they could ever compete. Africa has the critical mass in terms of population and competitiveness but the gap in wealth with the other confederations is so vast that it won't be closed for generations. As for Oceania, it's tiny and noncompetitive.
中北美洲及加勒比海联赛冠军杯(Concacaf)包括了美国、加拿大、墨西哥以及中美洲和加勒比海的一些小国。即使这个联赛的整体水平能够上升，各国的实力也还是太过悬殊，与欧冠分庭抗礼似乎是不太可能的。非洲在人口和竞争性方面都达到了相应的条件，但财力
与其他联赛的差距太大，再过几十年都无法赶上。至于大洋洲本身就很小，没有竞争性。
Size, obviously, isn't an issue for Asia. Nor is economic might, given that no fewer than seven G-20 nations are part of the Asian confederation. Crucially, in addition to larger economies, you have smaller ones like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, packed with the kind of uber-wealthy soccer-loving men who have driven soccer success elsewhere. Throw in strong, mature economies like South Korea, Japan and Australia (which, in the soccer universe, is part of Asia) plus the potential of giant, soccer-crazed countries like Iran and China and you're halfway there.
很显然，对于亚洲来讲“规模”不成问题。 且不说经济多么庞大，单看二十国集团雪梨老公是干什么的(G-20)亚洲占据了七个名额之多就可以想见了。而且关键是，除了那些较大经济体之外，卡塔尔、阿联酋等小国家有着一大批富得流油的狂热球迷，他们曾经推动过足球在世界其他地方的成功。亚洲这片土壤上不仅有韩国、日本、澳大利亚（在足球世界里姑且算作亚洲国家）等发达经济体，也不乏伊朗、中国这样的潜力巨大同时痴迷于足球的国家。