时隔28年再次打入半决赛，英格兰还不够自信？

《卫报》是怎么看待英格兰队的表现的呢？一大波足球英文词汇袭来…

At thefinal whistle, the players in red converged on one another.

终场哨吹响之后，红衣球员们拥在了一起。

Englandhad booked their place in a WorldCup semi-final and it has been so long coming –over a quarter of a century since the last occasion。

英格兰争得了世界杯半决赛的一席。再次走到半决赛，英格兰等了好久，上一次还是在28年前。（原文用的是超过了四分之一个世纪）。

If wewere to be picky, a legitimate argument could be made that, yes, England willneed to play with more finesse if they really are to harbour the most seriousof ambitions in this tournament.

如果我们还要挑挑毛病，可以说，是的，如果英格兰在本届杯赛上有志于问鼎，那么还应该踢得更好。

Theywill have to pass the ball with greater efficiency and maybe, in possession, showa touch more arrogance, in the manner of a side that really believes they cando it. France, forexample. Or Belgium.

他们就应当更有效地传球，可能在控球的时候还应当显示出一丝傲慢，这种傲慢是那些相信自己可以笑到最后的球队所特有的，比如说法国队，或者比利时队。

Why notbe confident, after all, when England have now scored as many goals, 11, as AlfRamsey’s team did to win the competition in 1966?

为什么不自信呢？毕竟英格兰在本届世界杯上已进了11个球，追平了1966年AlfRamsey所带球队的进球记录，而那届世界杯上英格兰可是夺得了冠军。

Eight of them, astonishingly, have come from set-plays,the latest being the header from Harry Maguire to swing this game in England’sfavour from a corner on the half-hour mark.

在本届进的11个球中，居然8个来自定位球，最近的一个定位球进球是这场比赛30分钟时哈里·马奎尔接角球助攻后头球破门，使英格兰占据上风。

To becritical for a moment, there is a school of thought that says England arestraying close to being too reliant on set-piece goals. A better argument,perhaps, is that Southgate’s players have discovered a useful weapon to helpoutscore opponents.

如果我们要挑剔一点，有一种观点认为英格兰过于依赖定位球，有点跑偏。但更恰当的说法恐怕是，索斯盖特手下的球员们发现了一个克敌制胜的有力武器。

Andbesides, it is not as though England are incapable of putting together scoringopportunities through open play.

此外，并不是英格兰无法在运动战中找到得分机会。

Theirsecond goal here was the case in point, featuring a concerted spell ofattack-minded possession, a pass played back by Trippier, the cross fromLingard and, finally, Alli with a header at the far post.

他们这场球的第二个进球就证明了这一点。这个球是一次很有组织的进攻。 特里皮尔回传给林加德，林加德斜传助攻，阿里在远端头球入网。

这篇文章最后也不忘调侃一下斯特林。 Forall his many qualities, Sterling turns to slush too often and he will need noreminding that his England record has now stretched to two goals from 41appearances.

尽管斯特林有很多特质，他经常踢臭球，已经不需要提醒他，他在国家队的记录变为了出场41次只进2球了。

最后作者写到：

Southgate’s team will be at fullstrength in Moscow. Anything, as he says, is possible.

索斯盖特的球队在莫斯科将达到最佳状态，就像他说的，什么都是有可能的。