2014-10-18

【Aiden in English】

        Soccer is awesome and so are Saturdays. Even better is 140 minutes of soccer on a Saturday with pizza, cookies, cupcakes, chips, and Gatorade.

        This day was kicked off with a win over the Montreal Impact. They probably have the worst record in the league and today, we Philadelphia Union made it worse. The ending score was 8-2. Boy, I was one bored defender. However, this day was just getting started. Here came to the Columbus Crew, the team we almost lost to in the Union's first game this season. The anticipation to this match was huge, and everyone was pumped to get a rematch against the Crew. The only thing we weren't counting on was letting in two goals in a matter of minutes. That blasted the Union's confidence to smothering, which was quite impressive. And something told me this game was not gonna go the way we wanted.

        It turned out that I was correct about my feeling. After the half, the Crew scored another goal. Soon something clicked. It seemed as if we were given adrenaline and flipped a switch. Suddenly, we ran faster and played stronger without hesitation. Just in a blink of an eye, it was 2-3. As the adrenaline ran out, we grew slow and tired. Everyone felt the same way except for me. I was the only reason we lost 2-3, not 2-6. I was a roadblock, stealing and booting the ball up the field as hard as I could.

        The next twist of the day was its finale. It was the Philadelphia Union again the Chicago Fire. Last time we played them and we ran laps around them. Today, it seemed like the other way around. They dominated the game. Occasionally making a mistake, but they were a solid team, especially their "commander". He controlled the game by sending up fast guys and passing the ball. I thought he was just a loud mouth, but his strategy seemed to be working since we lost 2-4.

        Today we learned an important lesson. As good as we are, we aren't good enough. We need to improve or else we will be overwhelmed for sure.

【红霞译文】

        踢足球好玩得要命，星期六因此令人心向往之。如果有这么一个星期六在140分钟足球赛中敞开享用比萨饼、点心、蛋糕、薯片、佳得乐，那么感觉定将妙不可言。

        今天首场对“蒙特利尔冲击队”的足球比赛，我们“费城工会队”以八比二赢得开门红，让“冲击队”在联赛中脸面全无。哎，作为后卫队员，我实在闲得无聊。然而这仅仅是开始，接下来轮到“费城工会队”迎战“哥伦布机员队”，两队曾在本赛季第一场球赛中有过交锋，当时我们险些输给他们。这次再度相遇，双方针尖对麦芒，火药味十足，而我们本身热切期待重展雄姿。比赛拉开序幕不久，对方连进两球，打得我们措手不及，信心逐渐丧失殆尽，简直太不可思议了。我隐约觉得，这场球赛搞不好事与愿违。

        事实证明我的预感没错，半场过后，“机员队”又踢进一球。可就在这个时候，奇迹出现了。我的队友好像注射了肾上腺素，犹如离弦的弓箭一触即发。说时迟，那时快，我们跑动迅速，不顾一切地玩命拼抢。转眼之间，比分一度被追成二比三。兴奋劲一过，大家疲惫不堪，节奏又变得缓慢起来，唯有我还能恪守阵地，如果没我独挡一面，恐怕比分不是二比三，而是二比六。我坚如路墩子，拼抢进攻一点也不含糊。

        最后第三场“费城工会队”对“芝加哥火焰队”的比赛仍然不尽人意。记得上次两队交手时，我们斗志旺盛，始终压着对方半场打。如今时过境迁，“火焰队”生龙活虎，主宰场上局势。当然，他们的确实力不错，其“指挥官”格外出色。他运筹帷幄，善于调兵遣将，极大地发挥个人特长。起先我觉得他大嘴巴瞎嚷嚷，但后来才意识到他指挥有方，战略战术运用得相当成功，致使我们二比四输掉了这场球赛。

        今天足球循环赛给我们这些不知天高地厚自以为了不起的愣头青当头一棒，强中更有强中手，我们需要戒骄戒躁不断努力，否则必有难堪的时候。