“我会是你们见过的意志最强的人”

“妈妈往牛奶里掺了水”

\\

I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke. I can still picture my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face.

我至今记得那一刻，我意识到我们家已穷得一无所有。我依然能想起妈妈站在冰箱前的样子，和她脸上的神情。

I was six years old, and I came home for lunch during our break at school. My mum had the same thing on the menu every single day: Bread and milk. When you’re a kid, you don’t even think about it. But I guess that’s what we could afford.

我当时6岁，中午放了学就回家吃饭。每天妈妈都准备同样的午餐：面包和牛奶。我当时还小，从没多想。现在我猜那大概是我们唯一吃得起的东西。

Then this one day I came home, and I walked into the kitchen, and I saw my mum at the refrigerator with the box of milk, like normal. But this time she was mixing something in with it. She was shaking it all up, you know? I didn’t understand what was going on. Then she brought my lunch over to me, and she was smiling like everything was cool. But I realized right away what was going on.

那天，我回到家，走进厨房，看到妈妈正站在冰箱前，手里拿着一盒牛奶，和往常一样。但不同的是，她这次掺了什么东西进去，还用力地摇着。我不懂她在干嘛。然后她把午饭端给我，面带微笑，仿佛一切安好。但我立刻明白了是怎么回事。

She was mixing water in with the milk. We didn’t have enough money to make it last the whole week. We were broke. Not just poor, but broke.

她把水掺进了牛奶里。我们的钱已不足以维持整个星期，我们没钱了。不止是穷，是身无分文。

My father had been a pro footballer, but he was at the end of his career and the money was all gone. The first thing to go was the cable TV. No more football. No more Match of the Day. No signal.

我父亲曾是一名职业足球运动员，但他的职业生涯已经走到尽头，钱也花完了。家里少的第一件东西就是有线电视，从此再也看不到足球，再也没有《今日比赛》（BBC的老牌体育节目），再无信号。

Then I'd come home at night and the lights would be shut off. No electricity for two, three weeks at a time.

接下来，我晚上回家时，发现灯也灭了，家里常常一连两三个星期没有电。

Then I’d want to take a bath, and there would be no hot water. My mum would heat up a kettle on the stove, and I’d stand in the shower splashing the warm water on top of my head with a cup.

再后来，我想洗澡却没有热水。妈妈只能在炉子上烧锅热水，我就站在浴室里，用杯子从头上浇温水来洗澡。

There were even times when my mum had to “borrow” bread from the bakery down the street. The bakers knew me and my little brother, so they’d let her take a loaf of bread on Monday and pay them back on Friday.

甚至有时候，妈妈迫不得已要找街口的面包店“借”面包。面包师认得我和弟弟，所以会让妈妈周一赊账拿一条面包，周五再给钱。

I knew we were struggling. But when she was mixing in water with the milk, I realized it was over, you know what I mean? This was our life.

我一直知道我们过得很艰苦，但当她往牛奶里掺水的时候，我意识到，一切都完了，你知道我是什么意思么？这就是我们的生活啊。

I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want her to stress. I just ate my lunch. But I swear to God, I made a promise to myself that day. It was like somebody snapped their fingers and woke me up. I knew exactly what I had to do, and what I was going to do.

我什么都没说，不想让她有压力。我只是安静地吃饭，但那天，我暗暗对自己做了承诺。这就像是有人一个响指，把我叫醒了。我明明白白地知道自己要做什么，也知道自己接下来要怎么办。

I couldn’t see my mother living like that. Nah, nah, nah. I couldn’t have that.

我不能看着妈妈继续过这样的生活。不行，不行，不行，我不允许这样。

People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet. Because I remember sitting in the dark with my brother and my mom, saying our prayers, and thinking, believing, knowing … it’s going to happen.

踢球的人都爱说精神力量，其实，我会是你们见过的意志最坚强的人。因为我记得黑暗中和弟弟、妈妈坐在一起，我们祈祷着、思考着、相信着，也清楚地知道……一切会改变的。

I kept my promise to myself for a while. But then some days I’d come home from school and find my mum crying. So I finally told her one day, “Mum, it’s gonna change. You’ll see. I’m going to play football for Anderlecht, and it’s going to happen soon. We’ll be good. You won’t have to worry anymore.”

一开始我把承诺深埋于心，但过了些日子，我放学回家发现妈妈在哭。所以，终于有一天，我对她说：“妈妈，一切都会变好的。你就看着吧。我会去安德莱赫特踢球，不久就能实现的。我们会好起来的，你再也不用担心了。”

I was six.

我当时6岁。

I asked my father, “When can you start playing professional football?”

我问我爸爸：“一个人什么时候才可以开始踢职业足球呢？”

He said, “Sixteen.”

他说：“16岁”。

I said, “O.K. sixteen then.”

我说：“好，那就16岁。”

It was going to happen.

这会实现的。

“这个孩子多大了？他身份证呢？”

\\

Let me tell you something — every game I ever played was a Final. When I played in the park, it was a Final. When I played during break in kindergarten, it was a Final. I’m dead-ass serious. I used to try to tear the cover off the ball every time I shot it. Full power. We weren’t hitting R1, bro. No finesse shot. I didn’t have the new FIFA. I didn’t have a Playstation. I wasn’t playing around. I was trying to kill you.

我来告诉你们——我把每场球赛都当决赛在踢。我在公园踢球，那是决赛；我在幼儿园踢球，那也是决赛。我是特别特别认真的。过去每次射门我都全力以赴，像是要踢碎皮球。我们不是在打R1，兄弟，不是技巧射门。我没有新的FIFA游戏，也没有游戏机，我不是在闹着玩，我是真的要击败你们。

When I started growing taller, some of the teachers and the parents would be stressing me. I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of the adults say, “Hey, how old are you? What year were you born?”

我开始长个了，一些老师和家长会为难我。我永远不会忘记第一次听到有大人们说，“嘿，你多大了？哪年出生的？”

I’m like, What? Are you serious?

我心想，什么？你们是认真的吗？

When I was 11 years old, I was playing for the Lièrse youth team, and one of the parents from the other team literally tried to stop me from going on the pitch. He was like, “How old is this kid? Where is his I.D.? Where is he from?”

11岁的时候，我在利亚斯青年队踢球。对方球队的一位家长真的想要阻止我上场。他说：“这孩子多大了？他身份证呢？哪的人呢？”

I thought, Where am I from? What? I was born in Antwerp. I’m from Belgium.

我就想啊，什么我是哪来的？我生于安特卫普，我是比利时人啊。

My dad wasn’t there, because he didn’t have a car to drive to my away games. I was all alone, and I had to stand up for myself. I went and got my I.D. from my bag and showed it to all the parents, and they were passing it around inspecting it, and I remember the blood just rushing through me … and I thought, “Oh, I’m gonna kill your son even more now. I was already going to kill him, but now I’m gonna destroy him. You’re gonna drive the boy home crying now.”

我爸爸不在现场，因为他没车可开，看不了我客场的比赛。我只有一个人，必须要捍卫自己。我从包里拿来身份证，给所有的家长看。他们传看着，检查着，我记得一股热血在我身体里翻滚……我想，“嗯，我更想击败你的儿子了，我已经准备好要打败他了，但现在我先要摧毁他，你就载着你哭唧唧的孩子回家吧。”

I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. That was my goal. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of a lot of things … because of the rats running around in our apartment … because I couldn’t watch the Champions League … because of how the other parents used to look at me.

我想成为比利时史上最棒的足球运动员，那是我的目标。不是好球员，也不是厉害的球员，是最好的球员。我是带着怒火在踢球的，因为很多事情……因为满公寓乱窜的老鼠，因为我看不了欧冠比赛，因为其他家长看我的眼神。

I was on a mission.

我带着使命而来。

When I was 12, I scored 76 goals in 34 games.

12岁的时候，我在34场比赛中打入了76粒进球。

I scored them all wearing my dad’s shoes. Once our feet got to be the same size, we used to share.

这些球，都是我穿着爸爸的球鞋踢进去的。我的脚长到和他的脚一样大的时候，我们曾共穿一双鞋。

“你能帮我照顾我女儿吗，拜托了。”

\\

One day I called up my grandfather — my mum’s dad. He was one of the most important people in my life. He was my connection back to Congo, where my mum and dad are from. So I was on the phone with him one day, and I said, “Yeah, I’m doing really well. I scored 76 goals, and we won the league. The big teams are noticing me.”

有一天我打电话给外公，他是我生命中最重要的人之一，是连接我和刚果的纽带，刚果是我父母的故乡。我在电话里对他说：“我干得不错，进了76球，我们赢得了联赛冠军，那些大球队都注意到我了。”

And usually, he always wanted to hear about my football. But this time it was strange. He said, “Yeah, Rom. Yeah, that’s great. But can you do me a favor?”

以往，外公总爱听我聊足球，但那次却很奇怪。他说：“是啊，小罗，真棒。不过你能帮我个忙吗?

I said, “Yeah, what is it?”

我说：“好呀，什么忙呢?”

He said, “Can you look after my daughter, please?”

他说：“你能帮我照顾下我的女儿吗，拜托了。”

I remember being so confused. Like, what’s Granddad on about?

我记得当时很困惑，心想，外公在说什么呢。

I said, “Mum? Yeah, we’re cool. We’re O.K.”

我说：“妈妈？嗯，我们挺好的，我们过得不错。”

He said, “No, promise me. Can you promise me? Just look after my daughter. Just look after her for me, O.K.?”

外公说：“不，答应我。你可以答应我吗？为了我照顾好我的女儿，照顾好她，可以吗？”

I said, “Yeah, Granddad. I got it. I promise you.”

我说：“好的外公，放心吧。我向你保证。”

Five days later he passed away. And then I understood what he really meant.

五天后，他去世了，我才明白那通电话的意思。

It makes me so sad to think about, because I just wish that he could have lived another four years to see me play for Anderlecht. To see that I kept my promise, you know? To see that everything was going to be O.K.

想起这些，我都会伤心不已，真希望他能多活四年，这样他就能亲眼看到我在安德莱赫特踢球，看到我如何信守了诺言，看到一切都变得好起来。

I told my mum that I would make it at 16.

我告诉我母亲，我会在16岁的时候实现这个目标。

I was late by 11 days.

我晚了11天兑现这一承诺。

“别和饿着肚皮的孩子开玩笑”

\\

May 24, 2009.

2009年5月24日。

The playoff final. Anderlecht vs. Standard Liège.

季后赛决赛，安德莱赫特对阵标准列日。

That was the craziest day of my life. But we have to back up for a minute. Because at the start of the season, I was barely playing for the Anderlecht U-19s. The coach had me coming off the bench. I’m like, “How the hell am I going to sign a pro contract on my 16th birthday if I’m still on the bench for the U-19s?”

那是我一生中最疯狂的日子，但容我先往回倒一下。因为在赛季开始的时候，我很少上场为安德莱赫特U19打比赛，教练让我坐在替补席。我就想，“如果我一直在U19的替补席上，那怎样才能在我16岁生日的时候签下一份职业合同呢?”

So I made a bet with our coach.

于是我就和教练打了一个赌。

I told him, “I’ll guarantee you something. If you actually play me, I’m going to score 25 goals by December.”

我告诉他：“我向你保证，如果你真的让我上场踢球，我会在12月之前打进25球。”

He laughed. He literally laughed at me.

教练笑了，他真的是在嘲笑我。

I said, “Let’s make a bet then.”

我说：“打个赌吧。”

He said, “O.K., but if you don’t score 25 by December, you’re going to the bench.”

他说：“可以啊，但如果你12月之前进不了25球，那就回替补席。”

I said, “Fine, but if I win, you’re going to clean all the minivans that take the players home from training.”

我说：“一言为定，但如果我赢了，你要把所有接送球员通勤的小巴清洗干净。”

He said, “O.K., it’s a deal.”

他说：“可以，成交。”

I said, “And one more thing. You have to make pancakes for us every day.”

我说：“还有一件事，你要每天给我们煎薄饼。”

He said, “O.K., fine.”

他说：“好，没问题。”

That was the dumbest bet that man ever made.

那可能是他打过的最傻的赌了。

I had 25 by November. We were eating pancakes before Christmas, bro.

我到11月就进了25球，老兄，我们在圣诞节前吃上了薄饼。

Let that be a lesson. You don’t play around with a boy who’s hungry!

此事给人的教训就是：不要和饿着肚皮的孩子开玩笑！

“老铁，去安德莱赫特啊！”

\\

I signed my pro contract with Anderlecht on my birthday, May 13. Went straight out and bought the new FIFA and a cable package. It was already the end of the season, so I was at home chilling. But the Belgian league was crazy that year, because Anderlecht and Standard Liege had finished tied on points. So there was a two-leg playoff to decide the title.

5月13日生日当天，我和安德莱赫特签下了职业合同。我径直跑出去买了新的FIFA游戏和有线电视服务包，当时已经是赛季末了，我在家休息。但当年的比利时联赛太疯狂了，安德莱赫特和标准列日在赛季结束时积分打平，所以要增加两回合附加赛决定冠军归属。

During the first leg, I’m at home watching on TV like a fan.

第一回合的比赛，我在家像球迷一样在电视上看球。

Then the day before the second leg, I get a phone call from the coach of the reserves.

第二回合比赛前一天，我接到了预备队教练的电话。

“Hello?”

“你好？”

“Hello, Rom. What are you doing?”

”你好，罗梅卢，你在干什么？”

“About to go play football in the park.”

“准备去公园踢足球。”

“No, no, no, no, no. Pack your bags. Right now.”

“不不不不，马上收拾行李！”

“What? What did I do?”

“什么？我怎么了？”

“No, no, no. You need to get to the stadium right now. The first team wants you now.”

“不，你必须马上来体育馆，一队现在需要你。”

“Yo …. What?! Me?!”

“你……什么？我？！”

“Yeah, you. Come now.”

“没错，就是你，现在赶紧过来。”

I literally sprinted into my dad’s bedroom and was like, “Yo! Get your ass up right now! We gotta go, man!”

我真的是冲进了爸爸的卧室：“赶紧起来，我们要走了！”

He’s like, “Huh? What? Go where?”

他的反应是：“啊？咋了？去哪儿？”

I’m like, “ANDERLECHT, MAN.”

我说：“安德莱赫特啊，老铁。”

“那天，我16岁零11天”

\\

I’ll never forget, I showed up to the stadium, and I like pretty much ran into the dressing room and the kitman said, “O.K., kid, what number do you want?”

我永远不会忘记，到了体育馆后，我基本是飞奔向更衣室。装备员问我：“小子，你要多少号球衣?”

And I said, “Give me number 10.”

我说：“给我10号吧。”

Hahahaha! I don’t know. I was too young to be scared I guess.

哈哈哈哈，我不知道，那时候真是初生牛犊不怕虎。

He was like, “Academy players have to take 30 and above.”

他说：“青训学院球员只能拿30以上的号码。”

I said, “O.K., well, three plus six equals nine, and that’s a cool number, so give me 36.”

我说：“好吧，3+6等于9，这是个很酷的数字，那给我36吧！”

That night at the hotel, the senior players made me sing a song for them at dinner. I can’t even remember what I picked. My head was spinning.

当晚在酒店吃饭时，老球员们让我唱一首歌，我不记得自己选了什么歌，脑袋嗡嗡转着。

The next morning, my friend literally knocked on the door of my house to see if I wanted to play football and my mum was like, “He’s out playing.” 

第二天早上，我朋友敲门找我去踢足球，我妈妈说：“他出去比赛了。”

My friend said, “Playing where?”

我朋友说：“在哪比赛?”

She said, “The final.”

我妈妈说：“决赛。”

We got off the bus at the stadium, and every single player walked in wearing a cool suit. Except me. I came off the bus wearing a terrible tracksuit, and all the TV cameras were right in my face. The walk to the locker room was like 300 meters. Maybe a three-minute walk. As soon as I put my foot in the locker room, my phone starts blowing up. Everybody had seen me on TV. I had 25 messages in three minutes. My friends were going crazy.

我们坐大巴到了体育馆，每位球员都穿着很酷的西装，除了我。我下车的时候穿着一件很糟糕的运动服，所有电视镜头都朝着我的脸。到更衣室的距离大概300米，大约要走个3分钟。在我踏进更衣室的一瞬间，我的电话炸了。人们都在电视上看到了我，3分钟内我收到了25条信息，我的朋友们都疯了。

“Bro?! WHY ARE YOU AT THE GAME?!”

“兄弟，你怎么在比赛里了？！”

“Rom, what is happening? WHY ARE YOU ON TV?”

“罗梅卢。什么情况？你咋上电视了？”

The only person I texted back was my best friend. I said, “Bro, I don’t know if I’m gonna play. I don’t know what’s going on. But just keep watching the TV.”

我只回复了最好的朋友，“兄弟，我不知道自己会不会上场，也不知道接下来会发生什么，但你一直看着电视就好了。”

In the 63rd minute, the manager subbed me on.

第63分钟，教练把我换上场了。

I ran out onto the field for Anderlecht at 16 years and 11 days old.

我跑进安德莱赫特的球场，那天，我16岁零11天。

We lost the final that day, but I was already in heaven. I made good on my promise to my mother and to my grandad. That was the moment I knew we were gonna be O.K.

那天我们输掉了比赛，但我感觉自己已身在天堂。我实现了自己对妈妈和外公的承诺，就在那一刻，我知道一切都会好的。

The next season, I was still finishing up my last year of high school and playing in the Europa League at the same time. I used to have to take a big bag to school so I could catch a flight in the afternoon. We won the league by a mile, and I finished second for African Player of the Year. It was just … crazy.

接下来的赛季中，我一边读高中最后一年，一边在欧洲联赛踢球。我常背着大书包去学校，这样才能赶上下午的飞机。我们大比分领衔联赛，我也在年度“最佳非裔球员”评选中位列第二，真的，太疯狂了。

I actually expected all that to happen, but maybe not so fast. All of sudden, the media was building me up, and putting all these expectations on me. Especially with the national team. For whatever reason, I just wasn’t playing well for Belgium. It wasn’t working out.

我其实预料到了这一切会发生，但没想到来得这么快。一瞬间，所有媒体都在夸赞我，对我寄予厚望，尤其是我在国家队的表现。但出于某种原因，我在比利时国家队的表现并不好。事情进展不太顺利。

But, yo — come on. I was 17! 18! 19!

但是，拜托，我才17岁，18岁，19岁！

“你们可以不喜欢我，但我生在这里！”

\\

When things were going well, I was reading newspapers articles and they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker.

当我表现好的时候，我读新闻文章看到他们这么说：罗梅卢·卢卡库，比利时前锋。

When things weren’t going well, they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent.

当我表现不好的时候，他们说：罗梅卢·卢卡库，刚果血统的比利时前锋。

If you don’t like the way I play, that’s fine. But I was born here. I grew up in Antwerp, and Liège and Brussels. I dreamed of playing for Anderlecht. I dreamed of being Vincent Kompany. I’ll start a sentence in French and finish it in Dutch, and I’ll throw in some Spanish or Portuguese or Lingala, depending on what neighborhood we’re in.

你可以不喜欢我踢球，没关系。但我出生在这里，我在安特卫普、列日和布鲁塞尔长大。我梦想着为安德莱赫特效力，我梦想着成为孔帕尼。我说话可以用法语开头用荷兰语结尾，也可以夹杂一些西班牙语、葡萄牙语、林加拉语，这取决于我们在哪个社区。

I’m Belgian.

我是比利时人。

We’re all Belgian. That’s what makes this country cool, right?

我们都是比利时人，这才是这个国家够酷的原因，对吧?

I don’t know why some people in my own country want to see me fail. I really don’t. When I went to Chelsea and I wasn’t playing, I heard them laughing at me. When I got loaned out to West Brom, I heard them laughing at me.

我不知道为什么一些国人希望看见我失败，我真的不知道。我去切尔西上不了场的时候，他们在嘲笑我。我租借去西布朗的时候，他们又在嘲笑我。

But it’s cool. Those people weren’t with me when we were pouring water in our cereal. If you weren’t with me when I had nothing, then you can’t really understand me.

不过没关系，这些人在我们低谷的时候没有支持我们。如果在我一无所有的时候，你们没有支持过我，那你们一定不会真正懂我。

“12年后，我站在了世界杯的赛场上。”

\\

You know what’s funny? I missed 10 years of Champions League football when I was a kid. We never could afford it. I would come into school and all the kids would be talking about the final, and I’d have no idea what happened. I remember back in 2002, when Madrid played Leverkusen, everybody was like, “The volley! Oh my God, the volley!” I had to pretend like I knew what they were talking about.

你知道最有趣的是什么吗？小时候，我有10年看不了欧冠比赛，因为家里没钱付电视费。我去学校的时候，所有的小孩都在谈论决赛，我根本不知道发生了什么。我还记得2002年，皇马对阵勒沃库森，每个孩子都说：“天外飞仙！天呐，天外飞仙哎！”我只能假装明白他们在聊什么。

Two weeks later, we were sitting in computer class, and one of my friends downloaded the video off the Internet, and I finally saw Zidane smash it into the top corner with his left.

两周后电脑课上，朋友下载了那场比赛的视频，我才看到了齐达内左脚凌空抽射，皮球飞入球门死角的画面。

That summer, I went over to his house so I could watch Ronaldo Fenomeno in the World Cup Final. Everything else from that tournament is just a story I heard from the kids at school.

那个夏天，我跑到了朋友家看了罗纳尔多的世界杯决赛。对我来说，那年世界杯其他故事，都是从学校其他孩子们口中听来的。

Ha! I remember I had holes in my shoes in 2002. Big holes.

哈哈！还记得2002年我的球鞋破了个洞，一个大洞。

Twelve years later, I was playing in the World Cup.

12年后，我站在了世界杯的赛场上。

“他们不会再查我身份证了”

\\

Now I’m about to play in another World Cup, and you know what? I’m going to remember to have fun this time. Life is too short for the stress and the drama. People can say whatever they want about our team, and about me.

如今，我又要登上世界杯赛场了，这次我提醒自己，要享受比赛。生命短暂，哪有那么多功夫考虑压力和乱七八糟的事儿。对于球队，对于我，人们愿意说什么随他们去吧。

Man, listen — when we were kids, we couldn’t even afford to watch Thierry Henry on Match of the Day! Now I’m learning from him every day with the national team. I’m standing with the legend, in the flesh, and he’s telling me all about how to run into space like he used to do. Thierry might be the only guy in the world who watches more football than me. We debate everything. We’re sitting around and having debates about German second division football.

听着，当我还是个孩子的时候，都付不起看亨利上《今日比赛》的电视费。如今，我在国家队每天都在向他学习。我站在一个活生生的传奇的身边，而他告诉我应该如何像他一样跑位。亨利可能是唯一一个比我看过更多比赛的人了。我们什么都讨论，坐在一起讨论德国二级联赛。

I’m like, “Thierry, have you seen the Fortuna Düsseldorf setup, though?”

我说：“亨利，你看了杜塞尔多夫的逆转了吗?”

He’s like, “Don’t be silly. Yes, of course.” That’s the coolest thing in the world, to me.

他会说：“别傻了，当然看了。对我来说，那可是世界上最酷的事了。”

I just really, really wish my grandad was around to witness this.

我真的真的希望外公还活着，能见证这一切。

I’m not talking about the Premier League.

我说的不是英超。

Not Manchester United.

不是曼联。

Not the Champions League.

不是欧冠联赛。

Not the World Cups.

也不是世界杯。

That’s not what I mean. I just wish he was around to see the life we have now. I wish I could have one more phone call with him, and I could let him know …

我想说的不是这些。我只是希望他还活着，能看看我们现在的生活。我多希望能再和他通一个电话，让他知道……

“See? I told you. Your daughter is OK. No more rats in the apartment. No more sleeping on the floor. No more stress. We’re good now. We’re good …

“看到了吗？我答应过你。你的女儿现在的生活很好。现在我们的公寓里没有老鼠了，也不用睡在地板上了。没什么压力了，我们都好着呢，一切都好……”

… They don’t have to check the I.D. any more. They know our name.”

“他们再也不会查我的身份证了。他们知道我们是谁。”

编辑：唐晓敏 左卓

英文来源：The Players' Tribune

译文部分参考：微博网友@Chow-Lienry 和@听雨轩说球

注：本文转载自中国日报双语新闻

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