外国足球运动员放弃护照成为中国人

外国足球运动员放弃护照成为中国人

In January 2019, Nico Yennaris gave back his British passport, moved to Beijing and became a naturalized Chinese citizen. Aged 26, he adopted a new name.

2019年1月，尼克耶纳里斯归还了他的英国护照，搬到了北京，成为了中国公民。26岁时，他取了一个新名字。

From now on, he would be called Li Ke.

从现在起，他将被称为李科。

Growing up in east London, Yennaris had perhaps the most British of boyhood dreams: he wanted to become a famous soccer star. Born in David Beckham's stomping ground of Leytonstone to a Cypriot father and a Chinese mother.

耶纳里斯在伦敦东部长大，他的童年梦想可能是最具英国特色的:他想成为一名著名的足球明星。耶纳里斯出生在大卫•贝克汉姆的家乡莱顿斯通，父亲是塞浦路斯人，母亲是中国人。

Aged 7, he joined the Arsenal FC Youth Academy, and went on to play for the England national side at youth level. But after a series of injuries cost him a prestigious scholarship, Yennaris opted for another route to stardom.

7岁时，他加入了阿森纳足球俱乐部青年学院，之后他为英格兰国家青年队效力。但是在一系列的伤病让他失去了一份享有声望的奖学金，并被降级到低级联赛的更衣室之后，耶纳里斯选择了另一条通往明星之路。

He looked to China.

他瞄准了中国。

Earlier this year, Yennaris signed with Beijing Sinobo Guoan FC, a club that is now worth more than Italy's AC Milan. Within months, he became the first naturalized player to score in the Chinese Super League (CSL) and to play for China's national side, in a game against the Philippines.

今年早些时候，耶纳里斯与北京国安足球俱乐部签约，这家俱乐部现在的价值已经超过了意大利米兰的AC俱乐部。几个月后，他成为中国超级联赛首位入籍球员，并在对阵菲律宾的比赛中为中国国家队效力。

Yennaris is not alone. In January, John Hou Saeter, who also has a Chinese mother, renounced his Norwegian passport to become Chinese and join Beijing Guoan. And they could soon be joined by other foreign-born players . Two Brazilians and one Portuguese transfers are tipped to join the Chinese national squad in time for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Players who are not ethnically Chinese can play for the Chinese side under FIFA eligibility rules after five years of residency in that country.

耶纳里斯并不是一个人。今年1月，同样有一位中国母亲的侯泽特放弃了挪威护照，加入了北京国安。而且他们很快就会有其他外国出生的球员加入。两名巴西人和一名葡萄牙人有望在2022年卡塔尔世界杯之前加入中国国家队。根据国际足联(FIFA)的参赛资格规定，非华裔球员可以在中国国家队效力5年。

Their decision says as much about the rising power of a Chinese passport as it does about the nation's monied sporting landscape. Perhaps more importantly, though, for a country in the grip of a Han nationalist movement, it also raises important questions around identity.

他们的决定既反映了中国护照实力的不断增强，也反映了中国辉煌的体育前景。不过，或许更重要的是，对于一个处于汉族民族主义运动控制下的国家来说，这也引发了有关身份认同的重要问题。

The first Swedish footballer in China

首位在中国踢球的瑞典球员

In the 1990s, the Swedish game was full of part-time professionals, the pay was bad and Blohm says he was yearning for adventure. Professional football was only in its third year in China when Blohm began playing in the Jia-A season, but Blohm says the stadiums often attracted 35,000 fans, although that was short of their 55,000 capacity.

在20世纪90年代，瑞典的足球运动充斥着兼职专业人士，工资很低，布卢姆说他渴望冒险。职业足球进入中国才第三个年头，布洛姆就开始参加中国足球甲级联赛(Jia-A season)，但布洛姆表示，体育场经常吸引3.5万名球迷，尽管他们的容量不足5.5万人。

By the summer of 2008, Beijing was dropping an astonishing $40 billion on the most expensive Olympic Games ever held. Its athletes won 51 gold medals at the Games, the most of any nation in the competition. And China was now the world's third-largest economy, behind Japan and the United States.

到2008年夏天，北京投入了惊人的400亿美元，举办了有史以来最昂贵的奥运会。中国运动员在奥运会上获得51枚金牌，是所有参赛国家中获得金牌最多的。中国现在是世界第三大经济体，仅次于日本和美国。