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China
亚洲中国
Football
足球
Keepy uppy
逆袭
Chinese football fans at last have something to cheer about
中国球迷终于可以庆祝一次了
ALTHOUGH they excel at gymnastics and table tennis, the sport many Chinese really want to win at is football.
尽管在体操与乒乓领域都堪称王者，但好多中国人真心想拿下的还是足球。
And yet, mired in match-fixing scandals and with little infrastructure to encourage schoolchildren, football has struggled.
不过如今的足球发展得很挣扎，首先联赛深陷假球丑闻，其次学生们也没什么场地踢球。
In November, though, Guangzhou Evergrande beat FC Seoul to become the first Chinese team to win the Asian Champions League.
但在11月，广州恒大击败了首尔FC，成为了首支赢得亚冠联赛的中国球队。
Could its success have a broader impact?
恒大的成功能带来更广的影响吗？
The team, previously known as Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, had been relegated to the second division because of match-fixing before it was acquired in 2010 by the Evergrande Real Estate Group.
在2010年恒大地产接手这家俱乐部前，恒大的前身广州广药已经因假球而降入二级联赛。
Since then, it has won the Super League, China's equivalent of England's Premier League, three times.
自那以后，恒大已先后三次问鼎中超联赛。
On December 7th it narrowly failed to clinch the treble, beaten in the final of the Chinese FA Cup.
12月7日足协杯决赛恒大败北，与三冠王失之交臂。
A revolutionary slogan has been reworked on the internet to celebrate the team's success: only real estate can save China.
网民们改编了革命口号来热捧恒大的成功：只有恒大才能救中国。
The team's route to the top would be familiar to English fans.
英国球迷对于恒大登顶的方式很熟悉。
Evergrande, headed by Xu Jiayin, a billionaire member of the Communist Party, paid $15m for the club.
作为一名共产党员，亿万富翁许家印领导着俱乐部，收购俱乐部花了他1500万美元。
In 2012, it hired Marcello Lippi, a World Cup-winning Italian coach, for 16m a year.
2012年，恒大签下了世界杯冠军教头马塞洛·里皮，他的年薪是1600万美元。
The club also procured three South American stars and many Chinese national-team members.
同时恒大还签下了三位南美球星以及一干中国国脚。
Rowan Simons, chairman of China ClubFootball, which promotes the game, says this is just the start of such big spending.
致力于推广足球运动的北京万国群星足球俱乐部主席罗文·西蒙斯称，这只是大笔烧钱的开始。
Evergrande's model may not boost the sport at lower levels, however. Relatively few young people play organised football because of lack of facilities and encouragement.
但恒大模式或许不会让这项运动从基层得到发展，由于缺少基础设施与资助，所以相对来说少有年轻人组队踢球。
Parents prefer academic success to wasting time on sport.
家长们更希望孩子学业有成，而非在体育上浪费时间。
The recent visit of Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, brought some assistance.
英国首相戴维·卡梅隆最近访问了中国，带来了一些帮助。
The English Premier League agreed to support a coaching programme that aims to reach more than 1.2m Chinese students by 2016.
英超联赛愿意支持一项培训计划，目标在2016年前接受120万名中国学生参加培训。
The initiatives are a good start, says Mr Simons, but a stricter line on match-fixing and more grassroots support will be needed before Chinese football can become world class.
西蒙斯表示，有积极性是一个好的开始，但是中国的足球要到达世界级水准，那还需要严控假球，以及更多的草根支持。
