A Chinese Prediction about the 2014 World Cup

Posted by Allen from WrittenChinese.Com

I want to share with you a very funny prediction about the 2014 World Cup that has been passing around Weibo (微博):

 

这次世界杯，意大离了，西班哑了、英格烂了、乌拉归了……(Zhè cì shìjièbēi, yì dà líle, xī bān yǎle, yīng gé lànle, wūlā guīle)

 

Translation: During this world cup,

 

意大离了 (yì dà lí le) = “Italy (意大利) will leave” (“离” means “leave” and has the same pinyin letters as “利”)

西班哑了(xī bān yǎ le)= “Spain (西班牙) will be dumb” (“哑” means “dumb” and has the same pinyin letters as “牙”)

英格烂了(yīng gé làn le)= “England (英格兰) will be broken” (“烂” means “broken” and has the same pinyin letters as “兰”)

乌拉归了(wū lā guī le) = “Uruguay (乌拉圭) will go home” (“归” means “go back” and has the same pinyin letters as “圭”)

 

Of course these are jokes, but actually all of these teams have now been eliminated. The one that shocks me the most is Spain. It’s my favorite team and they play beautiful team football. What’s more, they won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I could not imagine that such a rich, experienced team could not get through the first group. I think that can be one of the biggest “冷门 (lěng mén),” or unexpected game result, of this World Cup.

 

意大利 (yì dà lì) = Italy

For Italy, I am very sad to see that Andrea Pirlo, at 35 years old, will quit after this World Cup. If you are a football fan, you will know how well he can organize his team as a midfield player. He is like another coach in the game and every one of his teammates trusts him completely. We call him “大师 (dà shī),” which means “Master”.

英格兰 (yīng gé lán) = England

England’s team has many good players from the Premier League, possibly the best football league in the world, such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, and Steve Gerrad. Maybe it’s due to their coach’s problems or for other reasons, but England does not tend to not play well in international competitions.

乌拉圭 (wū lā guī) = Uruguay

As for Uruguay, if you pay attention to the news you can see that Giorgio Chiellini, the defender from Italy’s team, was the third victim bitten by Louis Suarez, a forward on Uruguay’s team. I don’t want to comment too much about Suarez. Technically, he is a good football player, but biting an opponent is definitely not a proper offensive skill. “That really hurt, Suarez!”

OK, the prediction continues:

1/4决赛:

哥伦比哑了，法兰熄了，比利失了，哥斯达离家了！照这思路，接下去半决赛：巴熄了，荷烂了，决赛是德国阿根廷。

(1/4 Juésài:
Gē lúnbǐ yǎle, fǎ lán xīle, bǐ lì shīle, gē sī dá lí jiāle! Zhào zhè sīlù, jiē xiàqù bàn juésài: Bā xīle, hé lànle, juésài shì déguó āgēntíng)

 

Translation: In the quarter final,

 

哥伦比哑了(gē lún bǐ yǎ le) = “Columbia (哥伦比亚) will be dumb” (“哑” means “dumb” and has the same pinyin letters as “亚”)

法兰熄了(fǎ lán xī le)= “France (法兰西) will be extinguished” (“熄” means “extinguish” and has the same pinyin letters as “西”)

比利失了(bǐ lì shī le) = “Belgium (比利时) will lose” (“失” means “lose” and has the same pinyin letters as “时”)

哥斯达离家了(gē sī dá lí jiā le) = “Costa Rica (哥斯达黎加) will leave home” (“离家” means “left home” and has the same pronunciation as “黎加”)

 

According to this thinking, the semi-final will be:

 

巴熄了(bā xī le) = “Brazil (巴西) will be extinguished” (“熄” means “extinguish” and has the same pronunciation as “西”)

荷烂了(hé lànle ) “The Netherlands (荷兰) will be broken” (“烂” means “broken” and has the same pinyin letters as “兰”).

Germany and Argentina will be the two teams left in the final.

 

哥伦比亚 (Gēlúnbǐyǎ) = Columbia

Player number 10 on Columbia’s team, James Rodriguez, is just 22 years old and this young guy’s name has become known to the whole world due to his fantastic performance on the pitch. Although his team lost 1-2 to the host team, Brazil, in the quarter final, he has received lots of respect not only from his teammates, but also his opponents. He has scored 6 goals for this tournament and is leading the scorer table now.

法兰西 (Fǎlánxī) = France

France’s team also has done not too bad this time. Lacking the most important wing player, Franck Ribery, France’s team has been playing strong and solid. The coach Deschamps has done a lot of great work to bring the team back to be the top football team in the world. People have said that this team is the best French team since they won the World Cup in 1998.

比利时 (Bǐlìshí) = Belgium

Belgium’s team has been called the “dark horse” during this World Cup. There are many young and excellent players on the team, such as the captain, Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard, and Romelu Lukaku. They are the new generation, but they lack some teamwork. In the future, I believe this team will be a main competitor in the World Cup.

Here is the final phrase of the prediction:

 

最后：德过了，阿根停了，冠军应该是德过了, 哈哈! (Zuìhòu: Déguòle, ā gēn tíngle, guànjūn yīnggāi shì déguòle, hāhā!)

 

Translation: Eventually,

德过了(Déguòle ) = “Germany (德国) will pass through” (“过” means “pass” and has the same pinyin letters as “国”)

阿根停了(ā gēn tingle) = “Argentina (阿根廷) will stop” (“停” means “stop” and has the same pronunciation as “廷”)

So Germany will be the champion, haha!

 

Between Germany and Argentina, I think that Germany will win because Germany is much more stable than Argentina, which relies too much on their superstar, Lionel Messi. In addition, Angel di Maria was injured when Argentina team played against Belgium, so I would not put too much money on Argentina’s team.

 

Some Chinese words to practice:

冷门（lěng mén）： unexpected game results

你觉得今年世界杯最大的冷门是哪场比赛？(Nǐ juédé jīnnián shìjièbēi zuìdà de lěngmén shì nǎ chǎng bǐsài) = Which game do you think has the most unexpected results?

 

大师（dà shī）：Master

想成为一名大师真不容易。(Xiǎng chéngwéi yī míng dàshī zhēn bù róngyì) = To become a master is really not very easy.

 

有才(yǒu cái): talented

你太有才了。(Nǐ tài yǒu cáile) = You are so talented.

 

决赛（jué sài): finals (of a competition)

我们这次一定要进入决赛！(Wǒmen zhè cì yīdìng yào jìnrù juésài!) = We must make it to the finals this time!

 

冠军（guàn jūn）: champion

他们是今年的卫冕冠军。(Tāmen shì jīnnián de wèimiǎn guànjūn.) = They are this year’s defending champion.