After rows over everything from post boxes to the electoral system, simmering tensions between Hong Kong and China move to the football pitch on Tuesday night as their respective teams clash in the most eagerly awaited fixture here for decades.

在围绕从邮筒到选举制度等诸多话题爆发争吵后，香港与中国内地之间不断升温的矛盾在周二晚间将移师足球场。香港足球队将在这一晚对阵中国队，上演一场数十年来香港人最热切期待的赛事。

Hong Kong has called up 1,200 police officers to maintain order as the rivals face off in a tense World Cup qualifying game where there will be much more than points at stake.

香港已征调1200名警察维持秩序，两支球队将在一场紧张激烈的世界杯(World Cup)预选赛中交锋，这场比赛关系到的东西远不止是胜负得分。

Tickets for the match at the tiny, 6,000-capacity Mong Kok stadium sold out within hours after the Hong Kong football association failed to secure access to the city’s main sporting venue.

比赛将在小小的、仅能容纳6000名观众的旺角球场举行，因为香港足球总会未能争取到在香港大球场举办这场赛事。这场比赛的门票在几小时内就已售罄。

Long ignored by Hongkongers because of its poor record, the Hong Kong team has enjoyed a resurgence of interest this year as the city’s young residents used their support to demonstrate their separateness from mainland China.

长期以来，香港队由于战绩不佳一直不受香港人的重视，但今年香港人重新燃起了对这支球队的兴趣，因为香港年轻人利用他们对香港队的支持来展示他们与中国内地是分离的。

“The Hong Kong-China conflict definitely plays as a factor in the game,” said Bob Wu, a 34-year-old fan who recently travelled to the Maldives to support Hong Kong in another qualifier. “Football is always related to politics, especially when the mainland is encroaching on our society.”

“港中冲突肯定会成为这场比赛中上演的一个元素，”34岁的球迷Bob Wu说，“足球总是与政治相关，特别是在内地正侵入我们社会之际。”最近，他曾奔赴马尔代夫，在另一场世界杯预选赛中为香港队站脚助威。

Since it returned to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has been ruled semi-autonomously under the “one country, two systems” arrangement.

自1997年回归中国后，香港一直依照“一国两制”安排实行半自治。

But the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong has floundered since China refused to allow this city of 7m people free elections, sparking the Occupy protest movement last year.

但自中国拒绝让香港700万市民实行自由选举、从而在去年引发“占中”抗议运动以来，北京方面与香港的关系已陷入困境。

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition parties complain of increasing meddling in Hong Kong affairs by Beijing, while a small group of activists are even calling for the city to declare independence in order to safeguard its way of life.

香港亲民主的反对党抱怨北京方面越来越多地干预香港事务，一小撮活动人士甚至呼吁香港宣布独立、以保护其生活方式。

During previous World Cup qualifiers, Hong Kong’s fans booed their official national anthem — China’s “March of the Volunteers” — leading to a $5,000 fine from Fifa, the sport’s governing body.

在之前的世界杯预选赛中，香港球迷曾对他们正式的国歌《义勇军进行曲》发出嘘声，导致国际足联(Fifa)对香港足球总会做出罚款5000美元的决定。

“Hong Kong is part of China but Hong Kong people had little say when the city was handed over to China,” said Joel Yu, a 23-year-old Hong Kong fan who works at a university. “Now it’s unreasonable to play China’s national anthem when our team is playing. That is not our song.”

“香港是中国的一部分，但在香港主权移交给中国时，香港人几乎没有任何发言权。”在一所大学工作的23岁香港球迷Joel Yu表示，“现在，在我们的球队比赛时播放中国国歌是不合情理的。那不是我们的歌。”

But some fans believe their focus should be on trying to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia rather than pushing political agendas.

但一些球迷认为，他们的注意力应该放在努力晋级2018年俄罗斯世界杯上，而不是放在推动政治议程上。

“I don’t think the matches have to link with political issues necessarily,” said Mercury Cheng, a 23-year-old who works at a television station. “We are only supporting our own people.”

“我不认为这些比赛要与政治议题联系在一起，”在一家电视台工作的23岁球迷Mercury Cheng表示，“我们只是支持我们自己的球员。”

The two teams drew 0-0 in a qualifying match in Shenzhen in September but China remain the favourites to win on Tuesday, ranked 84th in the world compared with 145th-placed Hong Kong.

今年9月，在深圳的一场世界杯预选赛中，中国队与香港队踢成了0:0。不过，人们仍看好中国队在周二晚的比赛中胜出。中国队的全球排名为第84位，香港队排名第145位。