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本文节选自Sports Illustrated的 Messi’s Mastery of the Moment Breathes New Life Into Argentina’s World Cup 一文，原作者为 Jonathan Wilson
The dream for Lionel Messi and Argentina, for now at least, lives on. Lionel Scaloni’s side will have to play an awful lot better than this if Messi is to win the World Cup at his fifth attempt. But the most important thing against Mexico on Saturday was simply to win, to get this World Cup campaign up and running and to claim three points that mean victory over Poland in four days will secure progress to the last 16.
梅西和阿根廷队的梦想目前至少还在继续。如果梅西想要第五次赢得世界杯，那么斯卡洛尼的球队必须要比现在踢得更好。但在对阵墨西哥之战中最重要的就是拿下了比赛，让世界杯之旅重回正轨，拿到三分。这意味着他们如果在四天后战胜波兰，就能确保挺进16强。
up and running：在使用中；运行正常的；重回正轨
It was, of course, Messi who turned the game, a 2–0 triumph at the stadium that will host the World Cup final three weeks from Sunday. There is something elegiac about watching him now, knowing that every match could be his last at a World Cup. He is 35, his body beginning to fail him. He will surely not be at the World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in four years. Every game is played with a sword hanging over him. Had Argentina lost here, had it been eliminated, would he even have turned out against Poland? Rumors persist about his calf strain.
扭转局面的自然是梅西。在这座将于三周后举行世界杯决赛的体育场，阿根廷以2-0的比分获胜。令人伤感的是，我们都知道现在看梅西的每一场世界杯表演，都有可能是他的世界杯绝唱。他35岁了，身体开始跟不上了。四年后，他肯定不会出现在美加墨世界杯上。每一场比赛他头上都仿佛悬着一把剑。如果阿根廷在这场比赛输球被淘汰，他还会出现在对阵波兰的比赛中吗？而且关于他小腿拉伤的传闻不绝于耳。
elegiac：哀伤的 Something that is elegiac expresses or shows sadness.
eliminate：这里指淘汰 When a person or team is eliminated from a competition, they are defeated and so stop participating in the competition.
And this could easily have been a draw, if not outright defeat, and after losing to Saudi Arabia, that latter scenario would have put Argentina out after just two games. For the first half, Argentina was wretched—and it was fortunate Mexico was not much better. That Scaloni had made five changes from the opening game, albeit a couple of them forced by injury, suggested just how rattled he was, which, after a run of 36 games unbeaten, seemed remarkable. All the talk of stability and balance that dominated the optimistic build-up to the tournament gone in one slightly freakish four-minute spell against the Saudis.
如果这场比赛阿根廷没有一败涂地，也有可能会收获一场平局。在输给沙特之后，如果阿根廷打平，那么他们前两场比赛就会断定出局。上半场阿根廷的表现很糟糕，而幸运的是墨西哥也好不到哪里去。斯卡洛尼在首场比赛的基础上做出了5处调整，尽管其中有几次是由于伤病而被迫做出的，这足以表明他的紧张。在连续36场比赛保持不败之后，这样的表现也似乎很不寻常。在对阵沙特的比赛中，赛前所有关于阿根廷“稳定平衡”的乐观论调都在魔幻的四分钟内消失了。
outright defeat：彻底的失败
wretched：极坏的 extremely bad or unpleasant
rattled：紧张的，担忧的
freakish：反常的，不自然的 Something that is freakish is remarkable because it is not normal or natural.
（中间有删减，一直到梅西进球后）
The emotional release was profound. Messi’s arms were going up in celebration even as the ball left his foot. He sprinted to a pocket of Argentina fans in the corner, fists pumping, eyes streaming, passion etched on his face. If it turns out to be his last World Cup goal, it was a brilliant one and, yet again, it got Argentina out of difficulty. Again and again, he has to sort out these messes himself.
梅西将激动之情尽情释放。当球离开他的脚时，他就已经举起双臂庆祝。他冲向角球区旁的阿根廷球迷，挥舞着拳头，热泪盈眶，脸上洋溢着激动。如果这是他在世界杯上的最后一粒进球，那将是一粒辉煌的进球，是一粒帮助阿根廷又一次脱离苦海的进球。救球队于水火，还得靠梅西。
a pocket of：这里指一堆（球迷）
etch：这里的意思为“铭刻” If something is etched on your memory, you remember it very clearly, usually because it has some special importance for you.