(单词翻译:单击)
Nigerian players also threatened to boycott their first match after their national federation denied them bonuses.
尼日利亚女足球员也威胁要抵制首场比赛，此前，尼日利亚足协拒绝向她们发放奖金。
“I have been very frustrated with the Nigerian soccer federation and the lack of support,” Nigerian head coach Randy Waldrum told the “Sounding Off on Soccer” podcast in June.
“我对尼日利亚足协感到失望，对缺乏支持感到沮丧，”尼日利亚主教练兰迪·瓦尔德鲁姆6月在“Sounding Off on Soccer”播客上说。
“We have less days than a college preseason to prepare for the World Cup, and it blows my mind.”
“我们准备世界杯的时间比大学季前赛还短，这让我很震惊。”
At the World Cup itself, however, the African teams have seemed unflustered.
然而，对于世界杯本身，非洲球队似乎并不慌张。
Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco all defeated higher-ranked teams to secure their spots in the knockout round.
尼日利亚、南非和摩洛哥都击败了排名较高的球队，确保了拿到淘汰赛的席位。
By chance, all three ended up facing off in round of 16 matches against a nation that had once colonized their country – South Africa against the Netherlands, Nigeria against England, and Morocco against France.
巧合的是，在16强比赛中，这三个国家的球队最终都对阵的是曾经殖民过他们国家的球队——南非对阵荷兰，尼日利亚对阵英格兰，摩洛哥对阵法国。
Even Zambia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament at 77th, stormed to a 3-1 victory over 36th-ranked Costa Rica in its final group match.
就连比赛中排名倒数、位列第77名的赞比亚队，也在小组赛最后一场比赛中以3-1击败了排名第36位的哥斯达黎加队。
There were other victories, too – such as Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina becoming the first player in soccer history to wear a hijab during a World Cup match.
也取得了其他方面的胜利，比如摩洛哥的努哈伊拉·本齐纳成为足球历史上第一位在世界杯比赛中佩戴头巾的球员。
When Nigeria was finally eliminated 4-2 on penalty kicks in its round of 16 match against England on Monday, defender Ashleigh Plumptre said she hoped the team’s thunderous performance would help tell a new and different story about African women’s soccer.
在周一的16强比赛中，尼日利亚队最终在点球大战中以2比4被英格兰队淘汰，当时，尼日利亚队后卫阿什利·普拉姆特雷说，她希望球队的出色表现能帮助讲述一个全新的、不同的非洲女足故事。
“I think everybody counted us out against England,” she said in a post-match interview with The Athletic.
“我想每个人都认为我们输给了英格兰，”她在赛后接受《The Athletic》采访时说。
Instead, the team came within an inch of unseating the European champions on the world’s largest stage.
然而，在这个世界最大的舞台上，这支球队距离击败欧洲冠军只有一步之遥。
“We made a statement here,” she added. “We won’t be forgotten for what we’ve done, and this will just be the foundation moving forward.”
“我们在这里发表声明，”她补充说。“我们的比赛不会被遗忘，这只是向前发展的基础。”
