本文节选自four four two的A new low for Germany, Croatia show their age and Japan just won't lie down: Five takeaways from day 12 of World Cup 2022，原作者为Ryan Dabbs

"Football is a simple game," Gary Lineker famously began after England went out to West Germany on penalties at Italia '90. "22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and in the end, the Germans always win."

“足球是一项很简单的运动，就是22个人在90分钟内追着一个皮球，到最后德国人取胜的游戏。”这是加里·莱因克尔谈到英格兰在1990年“意大利之夏”半决赛的点球大战中不敌西德时，一句著名的开场白。

Back then, that quote wasn't all that far from the literal truth – the Germans were a force to be reckoned with, winning that World Cup and the Euros six years later – but after their second successive group stage exit... Not so much.

在当时，这句话的意思可谓八九不离十，因为德国队确实是一支不可忽视的力量，他们赢得了那一届世界杯冠军，并在6年后登顶欧洲之巅。但在如今他们连续第二次小组出局后，再看这句话，其实也不过如此。

reckon with：认真处理; 小心对付 If you say that there is someone or something to be reckoned with, you mean that they must be dealt with and it will be difficult.

We knew before this tournament that Germany were a team in transition, but Hansi Flick's young squad contained more than enough quality to comfortably navigate a group also containing Spain, Japan and Costa Rica – or so it seemed.

本届世界杯开赛前，我们就知道德国队正处于过渡期。但至少看起来，弗里克带领的年轻阵容还是有足够的实力在拥有西班牙、日本和哥斯达黎加的小组中轻松突围的。

in transition：处于过渡期，转变中的

navigate：这里指找到正确方法，对付困难复杂的情况 to find the right way to deal with a difficult or complicated situation

Despite drawing 1-1 with with Spain on Matchday 2 and running out 4-2 winners in a helter-skelter final group clash against Costa Rica, Germany's tournament-opening 2-1 defeat to Japan ultimately did for them; they were bullied in that game, looking a shadow of the formidable German sides of years gone by.

尽管他们在第二个比赛日以1-1战平西班牙，并在最后一场小组赛的乱战中以4-2击败哥斯达黎加，然而，在揭幕战1-2不敌日本还是让他们最终失去了晋级希望。他们在那场比赛中被日本暴击，仿佛多年前那支强大德国队的纤弱影子。

helter-skelter：忙乱的; 杂乱无章的 You use helter-skelter to describe something that is hurried and disorganized, especially when things happen very quickly, one after the other.

They also paid the price for wastefulness in front of goal: Germany had a (so far) tournament-high 17 big chances – and scored with only six of them.

他们也为多次在门前浪费机会付出了代价。到目前为止，德国创造了17次必进球机会，甚至比排名第二的法国多5次，但只从中获得了6粒进球。

wastefulness：这里指浪费得分机会

big chance：必进球。昨天卢卡库浪费的也是这种big chance