足球场上极具竞争力的小国家

 

Belgium, for example, has less than a tenth of the population of Russia, its rival in the group stage, but is regarded as a far greater threat. And then there is Uruguay, which despite fewer than 4 million citizens -- barely a sixth of the population of greater São Paulo -- is one of the teams Brazil would least like to meet on its way to the final. How is this so?

 

In Belgium's case, the reasons are more readily apparent. A nation sewn largely from a patchwork³（拼缀物） of three peoples, the Flemish, Walloons, and Germans, its football team nevertheless features several stars of African descent. Currently, Belgians of Moroccan descent -- including midfielder Marouane Fellaini and winger Nacer Chadli -- make up the biggest non-European group; for many Moroccans, French is a second language. Like France with its North African and Caribbean contingents⁴ and Germany with its Turks, Belgium's national team has benefited from multiple populations: one from Western Europe, one from Africa, and one from Eastern Europe.

 

Over time, this ethnic⁵ blend has led to an uncommon⁶ harmony among the current squad⁷, whose young players -- notably⁸ Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea, and Adnan Januzaj of Manchester United -- are the envy of many of their competitors.

 

Uruguay represents a more curious case, in that its players are footballing aristocracy disguised as minnows（小鱼）. Like Belgium, it is a relatively⁹ young nation, yet on the field of play the Uruguayans are old hands. They have won the World Cup twice, first at the inaugural¹⁰（开幕的） event in 1930, and then in 1950, when Brazil hosted the tournament. The latter occasion, when Brazil succumbed¹¹（屈服，被压垮） in front of a world-record 200,000 fans or more, is referred to there as the "Maracanazo", a national tragedy still felt today.

 

Uruguay owes much of its success not just to its passion for football but also to the early inclusiveness（包容） of its culture. In that 1950 tournament, at a time when neighboring Brazil still regarded its black players with suspicion, Uruguay boasted a black captain, the brilliant Obdulio Varela. Moreover, Uruguay's victories in the World Cup's formative years established a pedigree that endures to this day, with many of its footballers -- such as Liverpool's Luis Suárez and Paris Saint-Germain's Edinson Cavani -- playing abroad for some of the world's biggest clubs.

 

Belgium and Uruguay are two diminutive¹² countries that have maximized their advantages through inclusiveness, and of which Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Germany -- the quartet of forerunners¹³ for this year's title -- will rightly be wary¹⁴. They, in the manner of Brazil's indigenous¹⁵ mosquitos and scorpions¹⁶, are a useful reminder¹⁷ that small can often be deadly.

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