貝克漢姆引爆東南亞球迷熱情
After helping lead his Major League Soccer team to a national championship in the U.S., English football star David Beckham is on another continent this week, promoting the sport in Southeast Asia with the rest of his teammates from the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Associated Press貝克漢姆在雅加達的足球訓練營上指導印尼兒童。英國足球巨星大衛•貝克漢姆(David Beckham)在幫助其所在的美國職業足球大聯盟(Major League Soccer)球隊洛杉磯銀河隊(Los Angeles Galaxy)贏得全美冠軍後，又轉戰另一片大陸，與隊友一起在東南亞推廣足球運動。
Ticket sales for Wednesday's exhibition match between the Galaxy and a team of Indonesia's top local players have skyrocketed after a slow start. Some were worried last week that Gelora Bung Karno Stadium might be empty for the match, but the minute Becks hit the tarmac and televisions across Jakarta, ticket sales took off. Around 50,000 tickets were sold by Wednesday morning, with the event's promoters expecting to sell another 20,000.
洛杉磯銀河隊與印尼頂尖球員組成的明星隊之間的表演賽於11月30日舉行，球票銷售在經過一個平緩的啓動期後，變得極爲火爆。本來有人擔心比賽當天印尼雅加達的格羅拉邦卡諾球場(Gelora Bung Karno Stadium)可能沒什麼觀衆，但貝克漢姆的身影一抵達雅加達機場，出現在當地電視屏幕上，球票銷售立即扶搖而上。
The Galaxy won America's Major Soccer League championship on Nov. 20, the franchise's first championship with Mr. Beckham, who has been on the roster for the last five years. Mr. Beckham's contract with the Galaxy is now finished and he is expected to return to Europe, so these exhibition matches could be his last with the team.
2011年11月20日，洛杉磯銀河隊贏得美國大聯盟足球賽的冠軍，這是貝克漢姆加盟五年來該球隊獲得的首個冠軍。貝克漢姆與銀河隊的合約現已結束，他計劃返回歐洲，因此這幾場表演賽可能是他在銀河隊的收官之作。
"As soon as people learned David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy had arrived, the tickets sales really got going," said Hasani Abdul Gani, president director of the event's sponsor, Mahaka Sports. "People want to watch world-class football. They're excited to see famous soccer players like Beckham and (Landon) Donovan that they usually only get to see on television."
該賽事贊助商馬哈卡體育公司(Mahaka Sports)的總經理哈沙尼(Hasani Abdul Gani)說，“當人們得知貝克漢姆和洛杉磯銀河隊抵達雅加達時，球票馬上火起來了。大家都想看到世界一流水平的比賽，爲能見到貝克漢姆和多諾萬(Landon Donovan)這樣的著名球員而激動不已，因爲以前只能在電視上看到他們。
Mr. Gani said there would be no repeat of the crowd-control problems that claimed the lives of two football fans in the same stadium during the finals of the Southeast Asian Games last week. He said there would be fewer tickets sold and stronger barricades in place to manage fans.
哈沙尼說，雖然在11月21日於同一球場舉辦的東南亞運動會(Southeast Asian Games)足球決賽上，發生的踩踏事件奪走了兩名球迷的生命，但這種事情不會再次發生。這次發售的球票數量有所減少，還會放置更牢固的護 以防止球迷騷亂。
On Tuesday, Mr. Beckham and other Galaxy players held a football clinic for more than 100 local children. Some of the mothers were yelling for Becks to take off his shirt, according to one local newspaper.
11月29日，貝克漢姆與隊友一起，爲100多名當地兒童舉辦了一場足球培訓課。據當地報紙稱，一些孩子的媽媽在旁邊大聲呼喊，希望貝克漢姆脫掉上衣。
After playing in Indonesia, the Galaxy will head to Manila, where it will play the national team Saturday, and then to Australia for a friendly match with the Melbourne Victory.
結束印尼的比賽後，銀河隊前往菲律賓首都馬尼拉，12月3日與菲律賓國家隊進行比賽，然後前往澳大利亞，12月6日與墨爾本勝利隊(Melbourne Victory)舉行友誼賽。
Indonesia's booming economy is giving it the big bucks needed to bring more big names of football to the archipelago.
經濟的繁榮使印尼這個羣島之國擁有足夠的財力，將更多的足球明星吸引到這裏。
"Indonesia is a huge and exciting market for football. We have the most fanatic and devoted fans," said Mr. Gani, adding that he hopes to attract more international teams including Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal as well as the national teams from Argentine and Brazil to play here.
哈沙尼說，“印尼的足球市場規模大，人氣旺，我們擁有最激情和最執着的球迷。”他希望能吸引更多的國際球隊來這裏舉行比賽，包括利物浦隊(Liverpool)、切爾西隊(Chelsea)、阿森納隊(Arsenal)，以及阿根廷和巴西的國家隊等。
