World Cup Stories: Argentina-2

Buenos Aires, the Monumental Stadium. It was here that Argentina's decade of dominance began when it hosted the 1978 World Cup. But behind the confident spectacle of the opening ceremony, there was nervous expectation. Argentina had never won a World Cup. The World Cups prior to '78 Argentina had had disappointment after disappointment, a series of terrible, er, mishap¹s to the point of not even qualifying at all in 1970, not doing very well in 1974. So there was a sense that the country was due the laurels that it deserved.
The decision to hold the tournament in Argentina was controversial. The host nation was under the rule of a repressive military dictatorship.
They came to power because of a coup⁴. They weren't an elected government, and they were very aware that if Argentina won the World Cup, it was very likely people would associate footballing success with political success.
The man calling for a World Cup of peace was the head of the military junta⁵, General Jorge Videla. For the junta, the World Cup was an opportunity to unite Argentina behind their vision of national salvation⁶ after a period of instability and violence. But in an atmosphere of fear and repression⁷ there was a difference between what Videla wanted and the wishes of the Argentinian players.
We wanted to give the people some joy, we wanted them during the month of the World Cup to forget a little about what we were living through. Sure the pressure was on us, but that team had the personality to handle it.
Watching his team as they began their opening games against France and Hungary was the Argentinian coach Cesar Menotti. The military and Menotti, what an intriguing⁸ marriage of convenience. Appointed before the coup of 1976, the longhaired chain-smoking coach was known for his left wing views.
But Menotti took advantage of the junta's craving⁹ for success, demanding and getting access to the players months before the tournament started.
I think a military dictatorship lands itself quite well for this kind of preparation. Because the military wanted the tournament to be a success, and the moment they made the decision to let Menotti remain as manager and trusted him as the expert on football. They completely facilitated his work, and really didn't interfere¹⁰. So in a weird¹¹ way within this very restrained dictatorship, he had enormous freedom.
What a junta wanted from a World Cup was clear to Menotti, but he encouraged the belief amongst his players, that they were playing for the people, not a nation whose figurehead was General Jorge Videla. During 30 days of football, an extraordinary rapport¹² did develop between squad¹³ and supporters. The players could never escape the fervor¹⁴ of the fans.

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spectacle: n. 景象
mishap: n. 灾祸
laurel: n. 桂冠， 殊荣
junta: n. 小集团， 派别
figurehead: n. 领袖
rapport: n. 和谐，亲善
fervor: n. 热情，热烈

1 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

2 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

6 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

7 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

10 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

11 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

12 rapport   

n.和睦，意见一致

参考例句：

• She has an excellent rapport with her staff.她跟她职员的关系非常融洽。
• We developed a high degree of trust and a considerable personal rapport.我们发展了高度的互相信任和不错的私人融洽关系。

13 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

14 fervor   

n.热诚；热心；炽热

参考例句：

• They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
• The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。