When my driver was Ethiopian, as often happened, we would commiserate over the national team’s defeat by Nigeria in a qualifying round, then celebrate the US defeat of Ghana, and end by agreeing that in four years, or certainly in eight, the US team would be among the world’s best. In almost every case, my driver would tell me that his children were playing in local youth leagues.
比如，在华盛顿，几乎所有出租车司机都是新美国人。我常常遇上埃塞俄比亚司机，每逢此时，我们就会感叹埃塞俄比亚队在预选赛中被尼日利亚队淘汰，然后庆祝美国击败加纳，最后一致同意四年后——顶多八年——美国队将步入世界顶尖行列。几乎每一次，我的司机都会告诉我他的孩子在地区青年联赛踢球。