“神级马尾”、毒品丑闻和奥杰·辛普森追逐案：回顾1994年美国世界杯
The ‘Divine Ponytail’, drug scandals and the OJ Simpson…
The soccer was superb but the 1994 World Cup in the US is also remembered for multiple controversies.
这场足球比赛非常精彩，但1994年美国世界杯也因诸多争议而被人们铭记。
As the world prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – to be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States throughout June and July – many sports fans have been looking back to 1994, the last time it was hosted in North America.
随着世界为2026年国际足联世界杯的到来做准备——该赛事将在加拿大、墨西哥和美国于六月和七月举行——许多体育迷回顾了1994年，那是它最后一次在北美举办。
The 1994 World Cup was spectacular, chaotic and ultimately, a great success.
1994年世界杯是壮观的、混乱的，但最终却取得了巨大的成功。
Its opening day was also one of the craziest days in world sports history – but that’s only part of the story.
它的开幕日也是世界体育史上最疯狂的日子之一——但这只是故事的一部分。
A controversial host
备受争议的东道主
The US was chosen as host in 1988, ahead of Brazil and Morocco.
美国于1988年被选为东道国，领先巴西和摩洛哥。
The decision was controversial: soccer was not a popular national sport in the US, it did not have a professional league, and hadn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1950.
这个决定充满争议：足球在美国并非流行的国家运动，它没有职业联赛，而且自1950年以来就没有参加过世界杯。
A national poll taken three weeks before the first game indicated 71% of Americans were not aware the tournament was about to happen.
在第一场比赛前三周进行的一项全国民意调查显示，有71%的美国人不知道即将举行这项赛事。
The draw
抽签
The draw, to decide which countries would play each other in the group stage, was held in Las Vegas in December 1993.
为了决定小组赛中哪些国家会互相比赛，抽签仪式于1993年12月在拉斯维加斯举行。
It was attended by famous actors, musicians, supermodels and athletes, and was intended to gain as much attention as possible.
参加者包括著名的演员、音乐家、超级模特和运动员，其目的是尽可能地吸引眼球。
The late Robin Williams stole the spotlight with his improvisation, jokes at the expense of FIFA officials and enthusiasm for speaking gibberish to foreign dignitaries instead of their own languages.
已故的罗宾·威廉姆斯凭借其即兴发挥、嘲讽国际足联官员的玩笑以及对向外国贵宾说胡言乱语的热情（而非使用他们的母语），抢尽了风头。
Opening ceremony
开幕式
The star-studded opening ceremony was held in Chicago in front of a sold-out crowd of 67,000, with another 750 million watching on television around the world.
这场星光熠熠的开幕式在芝加哥举行，现场座无虚席，有67,000名观众到场观看，全球还有另外7.5亿人通过电视收看。
It was hosted by Oprah Winfrey (who fell off the stage) , and featured famous musicians such as Richard Marx and Diana Ross (who missed a penalty from five metres as part of a choreographed stunt) .
活动由奥普拉·温弗瑞主持（她曾从舞台上跌落），并邀请了理查德·马克斯和黛安娜·罗斯等著名音乐家（后者在一段编排的特技表演中错失了一个五米罚点球）。
Then-president Bill Clinton officially opened the tournament.
时任总统比尔·克林顿正式宣布了比赛开幕。
A wild first day
一个疯狂的第一天
The first day of the World Cup – June 17 1994 – was one of the craziest days in US sports history. Along with the opening ceremony and games, other sporting events to occur on this date included:
1994年6月17日世界杯的第一天，是美国体育史上最疯狂的日子之一。除了开幕式和比赛之外，当天还包括了其他体育赛事：
game 5 of the NBA finals between the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets
纽约尼克斯队对阵休斯顿火箭队的NBA总决赛第五场比赛
a tickertape parade for the New York Rangers after they broke a 54-year drought to win ice hockey’s Stanley Cup
纽约游骑兵队在打破了长达54年的冠军荒后，赢得冰球斯坦利杯后的彩带游行
golfing great Arnold Palmer played the last US Open of his career at 64 years old
高尔夫巨星阿诺德·帕尔默在64岁时参加了他职业生涯的最后一场美国公开赛
Ken Griffey tying Babe Ruth’s record for 30 home runs in the first half of a Major League Baseball season.
肯·格里菲打出30支全垒打，追平了贝布·鲁斯在职业棒球大联盟赛季前半程的纪录。
Amazingly, these events were all overshadowed and interrupted by an even bigger sports-related moment: nearly 100 million people in the US tuned in to watch a car chase across southern California involving former American football star OJ Simpson who was arrested for murder.
令人惊讶的是，所有这些事件都被一个更大的体育相关时刻所掩盖和打断：近1亿美国人收看了一场涉及前美式橄榄球明星奥杰·辛普森的南加州车追逐案，他因谋杀罪被捕。
ESPN made a popular documentary about the events of this day titled “June 17th, 1994”.
ESPN制作了一部名为《1994年6月17日》的关于这一天事件的热门纪录片。
The on-field action
场上的战况
Once the games began, “USA 94” gave fans far more than a novelty tournament in a new market. It was a World Cup of firsts:
比赛开始后，“美国94”为球迷带来的远不止是一个新市场的噱头赛事。它是一届“首次”的世界杯：
player names appeared on shirts for the first time, helping new viewers follow the action, and more points were given for a win in group matches to encourage more attacking play
球员名字首次出现在球衣上，帮助新观众跟进比赛进程；小组赛的胜利奖励增加了积分，以鼓励更具进攻性的踢法。
the US’ 1-1 draw with Switzerland at the Pontiac Silverdome became the first World Cup match played indoors
美国与瑞士在庞蒂亚克银穹馆（Pontiac Silverdome）的1-1平局，成为首个在室内举行的世界杯比赛。
the Brazil-Italy final finished 0-0 after extra time and became the first World Cup final decided by penalties.
巴西对阵意大利的决赛加时赛战成0-0平局，并成为首届通过点球决胜的世界杯决赛。
The host nation also gave its new audience something to cheer about. The US reached the knockout stage, then faced Brazil on July 4: Independence Day. Brazil won 1-0, but the symbolism was hard to miss – the underdog host had pushed one of football’s great powers on the country’s biggest national holiday.
东道主国家也给新观众带来了值得欢呼的时刻。美国进入淘汰赛阶段，随后在7月4日独立日迎战巴西。尽管巴西以1-0获胜，但其象征意义不容忽视——挑战者东道国在国家最大的节日里击败了足球强队之一。
There were bigger shocks elsewhere. Bulgaria became the tournament’s great surprise story, beating defending champions Germany and reaching the semi-finals. Romania, led by Gheorghe Hagi, knocked out Argentina in a 3-2 thriller.
其他地方则出现了更大的震撼。保加利亚成为本届赛事最大的惊喜故事，他们击败了卫冕冠军德国并进入了半决赛。罗马尼亚由格奥尔吉·哈吉带领，在一场3-2的惊心刺激的比赛中淘汰了阿根廷。
Saudi Arabia produced one of the goals of the tournament when Saeed Al-Owairan ran from deep inside his own half to score against Belgium.
沙特阿拉伯在赛场上贡献了一个进球，当时赛义德·阿尔-欧瓦兰（Saeed Al-Owairan）从自己半场的深处冲到禁区攻入了比利时队的球门。
For a World Cup sometimes remembered through scandal and celebrity, the football itself delivered.
对于一个有时会被世人铭记为丑闻和名人的世界杯来说，足球本身才是最出色的。
In the end, Brazil won the final after extra time, but not as the carefree entertainers many people expected. This Brazil was organised, tough and powered by Romário and Bebeto.
最终，巴西在加时赛后赢得了决赛冠军，但他们并非像许多人预期的那样是轻松的表演者。这支巴西队是有组织、有韧性，并且由罗马里奥（Romário）和贝贝托（Bebeto）驱动的。
Then came the image that still defines the tournament: Roberto Baggio, Italy’s famous “Divine Ponytail”, sending the final kick over the bar and handing Brazil its fourth men’s World Cup title.
随后出现的画面定义了整个赛事：意大利著名的“神之发辫”罗伯托·巴乔（Roberto Baggio），将最后一脚射门踢过了横梁，捧起了巴西队第四届男子世界杯冠军奖杯。
Other notable incidents
其他值得注意的事件
One of soccer’s greatest players, Argentina’s Diego Maradona, scored a goal against Greece, but failed a drug test after his next game.
足球史上最伟大的球员之一，阿根廷人迭戈·马拉多纳（Diego Maradona），曾为希腊队进球，但在下一场比赛后因兴奋剂检测失败。
He was withdrawn from the tournament before he could be banned but stayed in the US as a commentator.
在他被禁赛之前，他从锦标赛中退出，但随后在美国作为评论员留了下来。
The goalposts collapsed during the Romania vs Mexico match, causing a lengthy delay.
在罗马尼亚对阵墨西哥的比赛中，球门立柱倒塌，造成了长时间的延误。
To appease European broadcasters, most games started around midday US time. As a result, some fixtures were played in extreme temperatures.
为了安抚欧洲广播公司，大多数比赛都在美国当地时间中午左右开始。结果，一些场次是在极端温度下进行的。
Colombia defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal against US that resulted in his team being knocked out of the competition. When he returned to Colombia, he was shot dead by gangsters amid speculation his error had cost drug barons millions in gambling losses.
哥伦比亚后卫安德烈斯·埃斯科巴（Andres Escobar）对美国队打进了一粒乌龙球，导致他的球队出局。当他返回哥伦比亚时，被帮派分子枪杀身亡，据传闻是由于他的失误让毒枭们在赌博中损失了数百万美元。
The legacy of ‘USA 94’
“美国94年”的遗产
The 1994 World Cup’s lasting legacy was soccer becoming more popular in the US.
1994年世界杯的持久影响是足球在美国变得更加流行。
A successful professional soccer league (Major League Soccer) was set up after the event.
在该赛事之后，成立了一个成功的职业足球联赛（美国职业足球大联盟）。
The US also hosted, and won, the women’s soccer World Cup in 1999.
美国还于1999年主办并赢得了女子足球世界杯。
In the end, the 1994 tournament exceeded expectations.
最终，1994年的赛事超出了所有人的预期。
More than 3.5 million spectators attended it, an average of nearly 70,000 a match: still records 32 years and seven world cups later.
超过350万人观看了比赛，平均每场近7万名观众：即使在过了32年和七届世界杯之后，这一数字仍是创纪录的。
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
作者不为任何可能从本文受益的公司或组织工作、提供咨询、拥有股份或接受资金，并且除了其学术任职之外，未披露任何相关的隶属关系。
