超級球星貝克漢姆宣佈將退役

David Beckham, the soccer star and one of the most famous athletes in the world, announced his retirement from the sport Thursday.

足球明星、全球最知名的運動員之一貝克漢姆(David Beckham)週四宣佈自己將退役。

'I think I'm ready,' said the 38-year-old Beckham, arguably the world's most famous active athlete, in an interview with Sky Sports in Paris on Thursday. 'Obviously, it's a difficult decision because I still feel like I can play at the top level and still have done over the last six months. But I always particularly said to myself that I want to go out at the top.'

現年38歲的貝克漢姆可以說是全球最有名的現役運動員，他週四在巴黎接受了天空體育臺(Sky Sports)的採訪。貝克漢姆說，我想我準備好了；顯然，這是個艱難的決定，因爲我仍覺得自己能夠以最高水平踢球，過去六個月我也是這樣做的；但我一直說，特別是對自己說，我希望在自己巔峯的時候退役。

Beckham's career will last two more games, concluding with Paris Saint-Germain's home game against Brest on Saturday and its trip to Lorient next week. The price of tickets for Saturday's game had already tripled by Thursday afternoon, according to the Internet ticket resale site Viagogo. The cheapest ones on Viagogo for Lorient were already $250.

貝克漢姆還將再參加兩場比賽，一場是他效力的巴黎聖日耳曼隊(Paris Saint-Germain)週六主場對陣佈雷斯特隊(Brest)的比賽，另一場是下週赴洛里昂(Lorient)的比賽。據票務網站Viagogo的數據顯示，截至週四下午，週六比賽的票價已經漲了兩倍，Viagogo網站上洛里昂比賽的最低票價已達250美元。

Beckham is ending his career after helping his two most recent teams win championships. The Los Angeles Galaxy won its second consecutive Major League Soccer title with him last fall. Then he spent the spring playing for Paris Saint-Germain, which won France's Ligue 1.

貝克漢姆結束自己的足球職業生涯之前，曾幫助自己的最後兩個東家奪冠。去年秋季，他效力的洛杉磯銀河隊(Los Angeles Galaxy)在美國職業足球大聯盟(MLS)中連續第二次奪冠。今年春季，他效力於巴黎日耳曼隊。該球隊贏得了法國足球甲級聯賽的冠軍。

Beckham also played important minutes for PSG during its Champions League games, proving to much of the soccer world that he still had some gas in his tank and could help a major club after spending six years playing in the far less competitive MLS.

此外，在歐洲冠軍聯賽(Champions League)巴黎聖日耳曼的比賽中，貝克漢姆在關鍵時刻上場，向足球界證明，在競爭遠不如歐冠聯賽激烈的美國職業足球大聯盟中踢了六年球后，他仍寶刀未老，可以爲一個主要俱樂部貢獻力量。

A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the British leader viewed Beckham as an 'outstanding footballer throughout his career. But not only that, he has been a brilliant ambassador for this country岸not least if we remember all the work he did in helping us win London 2012. The prime minister's message would simply be to say congratulations on a fantastic career.'

英國首相卡梅倫(David Cameron)的發言人說，卡梅倫首相認爲貝克漢姆在整個職業生涯中都是一位傑出的足球運動員；而且還不止如此，他一直是英國的一位出色大使──其中包括他爲幫助英國贏得2012年奧運會申辦權做出的各種努力；卡梅倫首相要說的就是向他非凡的職業生涯表示祝賀。

The decision didn't come without some angst. 'I'll always feel like I could do more,' Beckham said. 'That's the problem.'

貝克漢姆做出退役的決定並不輕鬆。貝克漢姆說，我會一直覺得我本可以做得更多，這是問題所在。

While he was never a prolific goal scorer, Beckham became known as an other-worldly passer who could put a ball on a sprinting wing's feet from 60 yards away. A native of Leytonstone, Beckham was a product of the Manchester United youth academy and broke into the senior team in 1994. He won over a dozen major trophies over the next nine years.

儘管貝克漢姆進球從來都不是很多，但他超凡脫俗的傳球卻衆所周知。他可以在60碼（約合55米）開外將球傳到飛奔的邊線球員腳下。貝克漢姆是雷頓斯通(Leytonstone)人，參加過曼聯青訓學院(Manchester United youth academy)，1994年加入曼聯。在接下來的九年中，他贏得了10多個主要賽事的冠軍。

His perfectly aimed set pieces also earned him accolades, though perhaps not as many as the runway good looks. Already a world-wide sports star, he became a crossover phenomenon with the release of the 2002 comedy film 'Bend It Like Beckham,' in which a British-born Indian girl dreams of playing with her hero.

他在比賽中射出的精準的定位球同樣爲他贏得了讚譽，不過這可能比不上他在走秀臺上的風采。2002年，已經是一位世界級體育明星的貝克漢姆因爲喜劇電影《我愛貝克漢姆》(Bend It Like Beckham)的上映成爲了一個跨界明星。這部電影講的是一個在英國出生的印度女孩夢想着和她的偶像一起比賽的故事。

Though only his image appears in the movie, the film made Beckham as popular in Hollywood and New York as he was in Europe, and since then his image has been used to sell everything from watches to underwear. In 2007 he moved to MLS in a groundbreaking deal to help the struggling U.S. league establish credibility. The exposure and his marriage to Victoria Adams, also known as the pop star Posh Spice, turned him into a lightning rod for criticism of whether he was more interested in fame than sport.

儘管電影裏只出現了他的照片，這部電影卻爲他在好萊塢和紐約贏得了在歐洲一樣的名氣，此後，他的形象出現在了從手錶到內衣的各種產品的廣告宣傳中。2007年，他轉會到了美國職業足球大聯盟的球隊，這是一次轟動一時的交易，他幫助這支困境中的美國球隊建立了信譽。媒體上的頻繁露面以及與維多利亞•亞當斯(Victoria Adams，也即流行明星辣妹)的婚姻讓他成爲了批評的焦點，人們認爲他對名利的興趣超過了對體育的興趣。

At the international level, Beckham made 115 appearances for England and had a stint as the side's captain. His last major tournament was the 2006 World Cup.

貝克漢姆代表英國在國際上共露面115次，並完成了作爲英國足球隊隊長的一個任期。他最後一次參加全球重大賽事是2006年的世界盃比賽。

A true global icon, Beckham recently signed on as an ambassador for China's professional soccer league and will be making his second trip of the year there soon.

貝克漢姆是真正的全球偶像，他最近還簽約成爲中超大使，不久將對中國進行本年度的第二次訪問。