Forget the politics and protests. For these young Russians, the World Cup is about one thing only, football.
忘掉政治和抗议吧,对这些年轻的俄罗斯人来说,世界杯只关乎一件事,那就是足球。
I am absolutely thrilled, because the World Cup is being held in Russia.
我非常激动,因为世界杯正在俄罗斯举行。
I would like our national team to reach at least the quarterfinal and ideally win the World Cup.
我希望我们的国家队至少打入四分之一决赛,最好能赢得世界杯。
That may be a little too much to hope for,
这可能有点难以实现,
but the visit of soccer superstars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has set many young hearts racing.
但像梅西和C罗等足球巨星的到来足以让很多年轻人心驰神往。
Because they are famous and they invented so many tricks.
因为他们很有名,他们创造了许多绝技。
Dmitry Kholnov heads the soccer school in the outskirts of Moscow.
德米特里·科霍尔诺夫是莫斯科郊区一所足球学校的校长。
There is a golden phrase: Sport is beyond politics.
有一句名言即体育超越政治。
I very much want to believe that people throughout the world feel the same way. There are plenty who disagree.
我非常想相信全世界的人们都有同样的感受。很多人不同意这一点。
The cost of hosting this World Cup is estimated at about 14 billion dollars.
举办此次世界杯的费用估计约140亿美元。
The most expensive ever in a country with huge wealth inequality.
在一个贫富差距巨大的国家里,这是有史以来最昂贵的一笔钱。
That money has bought new infrastructure and several huge stadiums.
这笔钱已经购买了一些新的基础设施和建设几个大型体育场馆。
St. Petersburg's Krestovsky arena was completed eight years behind schedule and four times over budget.
圣彼得堡的克列斯托夫斯基体育场比计划完工时间晚了8年,花费比预算多了4倍。
A local official was charged with taking a 351,000-dollar bribe during construction.
一名当地官员被指控在施工期间收受了35.1万美金贿赂。
City authority say the end result is worth it. From my point of view, it's the best European stadium at the moment.
市政当局说最终的结果是值得的,在我看来,这是目前整个欧洲最好的体育馆。
Nizhny Novgorod, the birthplace of writer Maxim Gorky has a new 45,000 seats stadium.
作家马克西姆·高尔基的出生地下诺夫哥罗德建成了一座可容纳4.5万人的新体育场。
There are not 40,000 soccer fans in Nizhny Novgorod. There is no real soccer team, either. Why do we need a stadium like this?
下诺夫哥罗德没有4万球迷,也没有真正的足球队,为什么我们需要这样的体育场?
The World Cup organizing body FIFA itself mired in historical corruption cases has praised Russia's preparations.
世界杯组织机构国际足联深陷腐败泥潭,它对俄罗斯的准备工作表示赞赏。
Sports journalist Alexey Matveev says FIFA has willfully ignored rampant criminality.
体育记者亚历克斯·马特维耶夫说国际足联故意无视猖獗的犯罪行为。
Corruption in football, theft even outright murder in the field of sports, none of these are investigated.
足球界的腐败,偷盗甚至体育界彻头彻尾的谋杀,没人调查这些事情。
I mean that is just the Russian reality. Nobody here does anything.
这些事情俄罗斯就存在,但没人采取行动。
I'm still quite amazed if not, outraged about how it was possible to give the World Cup to Russia with such a corrupt football industry.
我仍觉得十分惊奇,把世界杯举办权交给俄罗斯这样一个足球业如此腐败的国家怎么会不愤怒。
Moscow rejects such accusations and hopes the politics will be forgotten after the opening kick-off Thursday
莫斯科方面拒不接受这样的指责,并希望在周四的开幕式之后能把政治抛在脑后。
when the host take on Saudi Arabia in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium watched over by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
东道主将在莫斯科卢日尼基体育场迎来沙特队,届时总统普京将亲临现场。
With so much economic and political capital invested, the Kremlin is banking on a successful tournament.
由于投入了如此多的经济和政治资本,政府指望举办一场成功的足球赛事。
Henry Ridgwell for VOA News London.
VOA记者亨利·里奇维尔伦敦播报。