维迪奇——战火洗礼的斗士 Baptism of fire for Vidic

LITTLE wonder that the bruisers of the Premier League hold few fears for Nemanja Vidic, after he spent some of his childhood dodging bombs and bullets.
The 26-year-old Manchester United defender has revealed in an interview on the club's official website that his early years were scarred by the wars which ravaged the former Yugoslavia for a decade - just as he was trying to build a career for himself as a professional footballer.
The series of conflicts started in 1991 when Vidic was just nine years old, and reached their height in 1999 when NATO planes, including some from the Royal Air Force, bombed his home town of Uzice.
And Vidic says that football played a big part in keeping up morale when the shrapnel was flying and his town's bridges and official buildings were being reduced to rubble by the precision bombing campaign.曼联在线·球迷地带4 Y4 q" C  {/ y$ v3 I. O0 x- [
"Football was very important," he said. "Even while Serbia was being bombed, people were still playing football. Red Star Belgrade still had football matches and people were still going to watch the games, even though there was a war on. It was amazing! 专业曼联球迷网站,曼联球迷的地盘,为广大球迷提供最新曼联新闻与视频资源.  e% C, ~4 m6 t  x4 E( L  @
"I remember when the bombing started and for the first month we were too scared to go out and play football because we didn't know what was happening. Nobody knew where the bombs would be.
"But after a month, people relaxed a little more and they realised the targets were military and government buildings, or bridges. 专业曼联球迷网站,曼联球迷的地盘,为广大球迷提供最新曼联新闻与视频资源.0 B$ t$ A. `, ^; R! Q7 e% M
"So then we thought it was OK to go to the stadiums and play football - we knew they wouldn't bomb there. People still wanted to lead their lives and watch football." - 专业·专注·曼联中文网站: K+ E" r( d: m5 Q
And he says that the sport also offered the Serbs - heavily criticised for the war crimes of some of their leaders - a chance to present a human face to the world:
"In the 90s football was everything. It was the best way to show the world who we were. At the time, there were a lot of bad things happening in our country - there were murders, bombings, war - and it was important that Red Star Belgrade and the national team played well to counteract the negative propaganda.
"It was the best way to show that Serbians also love football and sporting events. Today, football is still the No 1 sport in Serbia and everybody wants to play for Red Star Belgrade or one of the top clubs in Europe. 2 W' D% C: u) A, ~, r  `
"Football is a big part of life for the country's young people." - 专业·专注·曼联中文网站, J2 I: }3 t3 _
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无怪乎英超的彪形大汉们见到维迪奇都要惧怕三分，要知道他的童年可是在炸弹和枪子的威胁中度过。
26岁的曼联后卫在俱乐部官网采访中透露，他早年一直在那场在南斯拉夫燃烧了十年的战火中担惊受怕——当时他刚开始踢足球。
频繁战争冲突始于1991年，当时的维迪奇才9岁，1999年北约的轰炸机（包括英国皇家空军）袭击了他的故乡塞尔维亚共和国，使战争进入白热化。
维迪奇告诉大家，当霰弹横飞，他故乡的大桥和政付都被导弹夷为平地，足球是保持人民士气的重要手段。
他说：“足球非常重要。就算塞尔维亚被轰炸，人们也照旧踢球。即便战事在发生，贝尔格莱德红星的足球比赛仍旧举行，人们仍旧去看比赛。这真是太奇妙了！ - 专业·专注·曼联中文网站) `$ N9 O6 r9 Y6 S) u9 S
“我记得轰炸开始的第一个月，我怕得不敢出门踢球，因为我们不知道发生了什么。没人知道炸弹会在哪里出现。 - 专业·专注·曼联中文网站6 T" c, A9 E3 k' K$ n1 q
“但是一个月后，人们放松了一些，大家意识到炸弹袭击的目标只是军事基地，政付大楼和大桥。
“于是我们想到去体育场踢球应该没问题——我们知道不会攻击那里。人民一样要生活，一样要看球。”
他还说体育也为世界了解塞尔维亚人（他们被政要领导看作是战争罪人）提供了机会：
“90年代足球极度风靡，那是最好的向世界展示我们自己的机会。当时，有许多不好的事情在我们的国家发生——谋杀、轰炸、战争——但是贝尔格莱德红星和国家队的良好表现抵消了一些这种不好的形象。” - 专业·专注·曼联中文网站2 h1 n1 Y8 X, A8 K' m
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[ 本帖最后由斑丝妮于 2007-12-4 20:20 编辑 ]