What football really provides is a residual area of confrontation that allows for the controlled expression of animosity, leaving the most important areas of interaction between countries unaffected. France and Germany will soon have a common army – they already have a common currency – yet the survival of national teams channels, within a strictly limited framework, lingering rivalry between the two countries.
足球真正提供的是一个残余的对抗领域，人们可以借此有节制地表达敌意，而国家间最重要的交流领域则不受影响。法国和德国很快就会建立共同的军队——他们已经有了共同的货币——而国家队的继续存在将在一个严格限制的框架内发泄两国间残留的敌意。