中港球赛折射政治对抗 球迷高呼我们是香港

Before he boarded a flight to the Philippines on Monday for a meeting with other Asia-Pacific leaders, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, read a statement to reporters explaining the purpose of his trip. Bilateral talks. Trade agreements. More bilateral talks.

本周一，香港行政长官梁振英飞往菲律宾，参加与其他亚太地区领导人的会议。登机前，他向记者宣读了一份声明，解释了此行的目的。双边会谈。贸易协定。然后又是双边会谈。

Then the first question came: “Which team are you rooting for?”

然而记者提的第一个问题是：“你支持哪一队？”

Mr. Leung shifted his weight and blinked. “It’s a pity,” he said, “that when we arrive in Manila – we’ve inquired – we won’t be able to watch the game.”

梁振英挪了一下身体重心，眨了眨眼睛。“很可惜，去了马尼拉之后，我们问了一下，在那里看不到球赛，”他说。

It might have been an easy question for Mr. Leung had the game on Tuesday, a qualifier for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, not pitted his city against his country. Local media had described the match as the “Great China-Hong Kong Battle.” To many fans, it was as much a political as a sporting contest. That it ended in a scoreless draw, ensuring that Hong Kong still has a slim chance to advance, was embraced by the Hong Kong side as a victory.

本周二的这场比赛是2018年世界杯预选赛，如果比赛双方不是香港与中国，这对梁振英来说可能是一个很简单的问题。当地媒体曾形容这场比赛为“中港大战”。对于很多球迷来说，这既是体育比赛，又是政治对抗。结果双方互交白卷，平局收场，香港仍然拥有微弱的出线机会，因此被视为港方的一次胜利。

“The draw proved that Hong Kong wouldn’t take it lying down,” said Oscar Lau, a 30-year-old legal professional. “It speaks to our defiance of China both politically and athletically.”

“迫和证明香港不是好欺负的，” 30岁的法律从业人士奥斯卡·刘(Oscar Lau)说。“这代表着我们对中国的反抗，体育又好，政治上亦然。”

Political slogans were not allowed inside the stadium, but some Hong Kong fans brought signs printed with individual letters and combined them to display the message “Hong Kong is not China.”

体育场内不允许出现政治口号，但一些香港球迷带来了印有单个字母的标志，将它们组合成一句“Hong Kong is not China”（香港不是中国）。

Outside the stadium, Sammer Wong, a 36-year-old civil servant, was holding a poster featuring the same slogan.

在赛场外，36岁的公务员萨默尔·王(Sammer Wong)举着印有同样口号的海报。

“This match represents a culmination of the dissent we have with China over years,” he said, watching it in a nearby playground where fans had set up a screen.

“这场比赛代表了我们多年来对中国的不满，”他说。当时他正在附近一个运动场看球赛，球迷在那里树起了一块屏幕。

In Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory since British colonial rule ended in 1997, resentment of China has mounted since last year, when Beijing agreed to allow a popular vote for Hong Kong’s next chief executive, but only from a slate of closely vetted nominees. That set off weeks of street protests that paralyzed several sections of Hong Kong and at times erupted in clashes. In October last year, streets just a few blocks from Mong Kok Stadium, where Tuesday’s match took place, turned into a battlefield between demonstrators and the police trying to move them off the streets. Mr. Leung, who was selected in 2012 by a 1,200-member committee mostly loyal to Beijing, had adhered strictly to the Chinese government’s line, showed no sympathy for the protesters and blamed, without naming names, foreign forces for exacerbating the unrest. More than a year later, political tensions have persisted.

香港在1997年结束英国殖民统治，成为了半自治的中国领土。去年，北京同意让民众投票选举香港的下任行政长官，但候选人必须经受过仔细审查。此举导致港人对中国的不满情绪爆发，引发了一系列街头抗议，令香港几个区域出现瘫痪，并且不时有冲突发生。去年10月，在与本周二比赛场地旺角大球场相距仅几个街区的地方，警察试图将示威者赶离街道，结果爆发了肢体冲突。梁振英是2012年时由一个1200人委员会选出的行政长官，这些委员大多效忠北京。梁振英一直严格遵守中国政府的路线，没有表现出对示威者的同情，他还不指名地批评一些外国势力加剧了香港的动荡局面。一年多过去了，政治气氛依然紧张。

Soccer has not been spared. When the national anthem – “March of the Volunteers” – began ringing through the stadium Tuesday evening, many of the roughly 4,000 Hong Kong fans booed, drowning out the 500 or so fans of the Chinese national team who were singing the lyrics.

足球场上也不例外。当中国国歌《义勇军进行曲》本周二晚上在球场上响起时，约4000名香港球迷中有很多人发出了嘘声，淹没了500名左右的中国国家队球迷的合唱。

This happened despite the fine FIFA imposed last month on the Hong Kong Football Association after the Hong Kong fans had booed the anthem in three previous home games. FIFA had threatened more severe penalties, such as requiring future games to be played behind closed doors, if that happened again. It was not immediately clear whether further disciplinary actions would be taken.

由于香港球迷在之前三场主场比赛的奏国歌环节发出嘘声，国际足联(FIFA)上月已经宣布对香港足球总会处以罚款，但本周二还是发生了这样的事。国际足联曾威胁说，如果再次发生这类事情，就会处以更严厉的惩罚，比如要求以后的比赛闭门举行。目前尚不清楚国际足联是否会采取进一步的处罚。

China’s national anthem is also Hong Kong’s, though an increasing number of Hong Kong people express aversion to the song, according to a poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

中国的国歌也是香港的国歌，但香港中文大学的一项民意调查显示，越来越多香港市民表示很反感这首歌。

“It’s wishful thinking to say there’s no politics in this game,” said Billy Wong, 37, a Hong Kong fan. “It’s a manifestation of the conflict between the two places. It’s a matter of our pride.”

“说这场比实没有政治元素是自己欺骗自己，”37岁的香港球迷比利·黄(Billy Wong)说。“这是两地矛盾的展现，这关乎到我们的尊严。”

Mark Sutcliffe, chief executive of Hong Kong Football Association, who had called Tuesday’s game “the biggest and most important match to be held in Hong Kong for decades,” said he had expected the jeering.

香港足球总会(Hong Kong Football Association)行政总裁薜基辅(Mark Sutcliffe)称周二的比赛是“香港数十年来举行的最大且最重要的比赛”，他说嘲弄的场面是早有预料的。

“We’d do what we can to control it, but at the end of the day, those people were voicing their opinion,” he said in an interview. “It’s a minority of people making a political point, it’s not as if they were disrespecting another country, they’re disrespecting their own country. I think FIFA will take that into account.”

“我们将竭尽全力控制，但那些人毕竟是在表达他们的看法，”他接受采访时说。“表达政治观点的人占少数，况且他们也没有对别的国家表达不敬，他们不敬的是自己的国家。我觉得FIFA会考虑到这一点。”

The Hong Kong police planned to deploy about 1,200 officers for the night, according to local media, amid fears of clashes between fans of the two teams. The two sides were also segregated to minimize physical contact. They were kept separated by rows of empty seats and given separate entrances, food kiosks and even toilets.

据当地媒体报道，香港警方担心两队球迷爆发冲突，计划当晚部署大约1200名警力。两队球迷被隔离开来，以减少肢体接触。他们中间隔了几排空座位，使用不同的入口、食品店铺和厕所。

If the political animosities weighed on the players, it didn’t show on the field Tuesday evening. After a minute of silence to mourn the victims in the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday, the stadium erupted into chants in different languages: Cantonese, spoken by most Hong Kong people, and Mandarin, the official language of the Chinese mainland.

这种政治敌意是否令球员们感到担忧？至少他们在周二晚间的球场上没有表现出来。在为周五晚间巴黎袭击事件遇难者哀悼一分钟后，体育场爆发出各种语言的歌声：大多数香港人使用的粤语，以及中国内地的官方语言普通话。

Often, however, the Hong Kong fans shouted in English. “We are Hong Kong,” they called out repeatedly through the game.

但香港球迷通常用英语喊话。他们在比赛期间多次大喊“We are Hong Kong”（我们是香港）。

While the Hong Kong fans dominated the sound waves, the Chinese team set the pace of the game, getting more shots on goal than their Hong Kong counterparts. The first half ended with goals saved by the crossbar more often than by the goalkeeper of either team. Hong Kong reinforced its defense as China made a few last-ditch rushes upfield 10 minutes before the end of the match.

虽然香港球迷在声音上占据优势，但中国队控制了比赛的节奏，射门次数多于香港队。上半场结束时，球门横梁挡出的球比两队守门员各自的扑救还要多。在距离比赛结束还有10分钟的时候，香港队加强防守，中国队孤注一掷，全力压向前场。

Then the whistle blew, prompting a sprint from Hong Kong players on the benches, while the mood was somber in China’s box. By the time the section with Chinese supporters had emptied, fans on the Hong Kong side were still shouting, “We are Hong Kong.”

然后终场哨响，香港队的替补队员狂奔而出，而中国队替补席内的情绪则比较阴郁。中国球迷所在区域已经撤空时，香港球迷仍在呼喊“We are Hong Kong”。

The two sides met for the first time in a World Cup qualifier in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in September, when Hong Kong, ranked 145th in FIFA’s world rankings, held 84th-ranked China to an unexpected tie.

今年9月，两队在中国南部城市深圳举办的世界杯预选赛中首次交锋，当时在FIFA排名145位的香港队出人意料地逼平了排名84位的中国队。

Only the top team from each of the eight groups in the qualifying rounds and the four best of the runner-up teams can advance to regional knockout games. Neither China nor Hong Kong, in Group C, has secured a place in the next round.

只有八个预选赛小组的第一名和四支表现最好的第二名可以进入区域淘汰赛。同在C组的中国队和香港队都没有获得进入下一轮比赛的资格。

Mr. Sutcliffe said that though it would be a “very very long shot” for Hong Kong to advance, he was pleased with Hong Kong’s performance so far.

薜基辅表示，虽然香港队小组出线的可能性“非常非常小”，但他对香港队到目前为止的表现感到满意。

“We played a team 61 places higher than us in the rankings,” he said. “We played them twice and they haven’t scored a goal.”

“我们与一个排名比我们高61名的球队比赛，”他说。“我们交手两次，他们没有射进一个球。”

Hong Kong, ranked second in the group with 14 points, has one game left to play, against Qatar, the group leader with 18 points. China is in third place with 11 points, with two games left against Qatar and the Maldives.

香港队获得14分，小组排名第二，还剩下一场与卡塔尔的比赛，卡塔尔以18分排名第一。中国以11分排名第三，还剩下与卡塔尔和马尔代夫的两场比赛。