导语：世界杯对于奥巴马来说是个机会，既可以推动国内足球运动，更可以施展自己的外交软实力。

This month, nearly a billion people, including millions of Americans, will tune in to the world’s most popular sporting event, the World Cup. This will be an opportunity for President Obama give a boost to the sport at home — and work a bit of soft power diplomacy abroad.

据《波士顿环球报》网站报道，本月，将会有近10亿人，包括众多美国人，收看世界最受欢迎的体育盛事——世界杯。这场盛事对于奥巴马来说是个机会，既可以推动国内体育运动发展，更可以在海外施展自己的外交软实力。

Obama is a soccer dad. Both of his daughters, Malia and Sasha, have played soccer, and Obama has cheered them from the sidelines. On official tour in Japan this April, Obama played soccer against a Japanese robot. In an interview with Univision Deportes, the president commented, “We did quite well in South Africa. I think we’ll do well in Brazil, although the US is in a really tough bracket.”

奥巴马是个爱足球的父亲。他的两个女儿玛利亚和萨沙都踢过足球，奥巴马还会在场边为她们加油。今年4月奥巴马对日本进行正式访问期间，他还与日本的机器人踢了足球。在接受Univision电视网的采访中，奥巴马评价道：“我们美国队在南非确实做的很好了。虽然这次我们在死亡小组，但我觉得我们在巴西也能表现不错。”

Political leaders have often used athletics for political and diplomatic, sometimes with good results. The World Cup in Brazil offers Obama an interesting set of choices, not without some risks.

政治领导人经常借助体育来实现自己的政治和外交目的，有时效果显著。巴西世界杯为奥巴马提供了诸多选择，尽管有些颇具风险。

Even filling out a bracket, as he has with NCAA basketball tournaments, could yield benefits. He might predict, somewhat with tongue in cheek, that the US will fell mighty Germany and end up in the finals against host country Brazil. US-Brazil relations have hit a bumpy patch, especially after revelations that the National Security Agency had listened in on conversations of Brazilian leaders. The World Cup offers Obama the opportunity to engage the host country on the terrain of sports, and repair a bit of the damage — without interjecting the United States into Brazilian domestic politics.

现在的情况是，只要奥巴马下注，就一定会有收获，就像是当年全美大学生篮球锦标赛一样。他略带嘲弄地预测美国队会打败德国，最终在决赛中遭遇东道主巴西。美巴关系时疏时近，尤其在美国国家安全局窃听巴西领导人事件被揭露后，两国关系就更加扑朔迷离。世界杯让奥巴马可以与东道国巴西一起探讨体育盛事，同时还能在保证不干预巴西内政的情况下修护两国关系。

President Obama has already announced that Vice President Joe Biden will lead the official US delegation to the World Cup. Obama seems intent on honoring the host country with his choices. We think that he should up the game and add First Lady Michelle Obama to the group, and select a number of women soccer players such as Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, both inductees into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, to accompany Biden and Michelle to Brazil. He would be signaling the importance of soccer in America’s athletic future, while showing that female athletes should be as highly respected as their male counterparts. The women’s US soccer team has won the World Cup twice, and soccer has become one of the most popular sports with young US women.

奥巴马已经宣布副总统拜登将带领美国代表团出席世界杯。奥巴马这一举措，我们可以看出他十分尊重巴西政府。我们认为他应该更加看重这次比赛，让第一夫人米歇尔也加入代表队中，并选入几名女性球员，像是进入了美国国家足球名人堂的米娅·哈姆（Mia Hamm）和朱莉·福迪（Julie Foudy），让她们与拜登和米歇尔一同赶赴巴西。他应该注意到足球在美国未来体育的重要性，同时认识到女性运动员应当受到与男性运动员相同的尊重。美国女子足球队赢得过两次世界杯冠军，足球越来越受到年轻女性的喜爱。

While the number of young boys and girls playing soccer has grown dramatically since the 1990s — it’s the fastest growing sport in the United States — in order to compete at the highest level internationally, more young and talented athletes need to opt for soccer when making early choices about what sports to participate in.

自20世纪90年代起，参与足球运动的年轻男女的数量激增，足球成为美国发展最为迅速的运动。为了可以参与最高级别的足球比赛，越来越多年轻且有天赋的运动员需要早早做出选择，参与足球训练。

During the World Cup, President Obama will have significant opportunity to promote soccer at home, while also reaching out to Brazil and most importantly to the world. It’s a sports diplomacy moment that he should seize.

世界杯对奥巴马来说是个很大的契机，他不仅可以在国内推动足球发展，也是与与巴西，更重要的是和世界接触的良机。这是他应该牢牢把握的体育外交机会。

（译者 孙喆 编辑 齐磊）