David Beckham, the soccer star and one of the most famous athletes in the world, announced his retirement from the sport Thursday.
足球明星、全球最知名的运动员之一贝克汉姆(David Beckham)周四宣布自己将退役。
'I think I'm ready,' said the 38-year-old Beckham, arguably the world's most famous active athlete, in an interview with Sky Sports in Paris on Thursday. 'Obviously, it's a difficult decision because I still feel like I can play at the top level and still have done over the last six months. But I always particularly said to myself that I want to go out at the top.'
现年38岁的贝克汉姆可以说是全球最有名的现役运动员，他周四在巴黎接受了天空体育台(Sky Sports)的采访。贝克汉姆说，我想我准备好了；显然，这是个艰难的决定，因为我仍觉得自己能够以最高水平踢球，过去六个月我也是这样做的；但我一直说，特别是对自己说，我希望在自己巅峰的时候退役。
Beckham's career will last two more games, concluding with Paris Saint-Germain's home game against Brest on Saturday and its trip to Lorient next week. The price of tickets for Saturday's game had already tripled by Thursday afternoon, according to the Internet ticket resale site Viagogo. The cheapest ones on Viagogo for Lorient were already $250.
贝克汉姆还将再参加两场比赛，一场是他效力的巴黎圣日耳曼队(Paris Saint-Germain)周六主场对阵布雷斯特队(Brest)的比赛，另一场是下周赴洛里昂(Lorient)的比赛。据票务网站Viagogo的数据显示，截至周四下午，周六比赛的票价已经涨了两倍，Viagogo网站上洛里昂比赛的最低票价已达250美元。
Beckham is ending his career after helping his two most recent teams win championships. The Los Angeles Galaxy won its second consecutive Major League Soccer title with him last fall. Then he spent the spring playing for Paris Saint-Germain, which won France's Ligue 1.
贝克汉姆结束自己的足球职业生涯之前，曾帮助自己的最后两个东家夺冠。去年秋季，他效力的洛杉矶银河队(Los Angeles Galaxy)在美国职业足球大联盟(MLS)中连续第二次夺冠。今年春季，他效力于巴黎日耳曼队。该球队赢得了法国足球甲级联赛的冠军。
Beckham also played important minutes for PSG during its Champions League games, proving to much of the soccer world that he still had some gas in his tank and could help a major club after spending six years playing in the far less competitive MLS.
此外，在欧洲冠军联赛(Champions League)巴黎圣日耳曼的比赛中，贝克汉姆在关键时刻上场，向足球界证明，在竞争远不如欧冠联赛激烈的美国职业足球大联盟中踢了六年球后，他仍宝刀未老，可以为一个主要俱乐部贡献力量。
A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the British leader viewed Beckham as an 'outstanding footballer throughout his career. But not only that, he has been a brilliant ambassador for this country岸not least if we remember all the work he did in helping us win London 2012. The prime minister's message would simply be to say congratulations on a fantastic career.'
英国首相卡梅伦(David Cameron)的发言人说，卡梅伦首相认为贝克汉姆在整个职业生涯中都是一位杰出的足球运动员；而且还不止如此，他一直是英国的一位出色大使──其中包括他为帮助英国赢得2012年奥运会申办权做出的各种努力；卡梅伦首相要说的就是向他非凡的职业生涯表示祝贺。
The decision didn't come without some angst. 'I'll always feel like I could do more,' Beckham said. 'That's the problem.'
贝克汉姆做出退役的决定并不轻松。贝克汉姆说，我会一直觉得我本可以做得更多，这是问题所在。
While he was never a prolific goal scorer, Beckham became known as an other-worldly passer who could put a ball on a sprinting wing's feet from 60 yards away. A native of Leytonstone, Beckham was a product of the Manchester United youth academy and broke into the senior team in 1994. He won over a dozen major trophies over the next nine years.
尽管贝克汉姆进球从来都不是很多，但他超凡脱俗的传球却众所周知。他可以在60码（约合55米）开外将球传到飞奔的边线球员脚下。贝克汉姆是雷顿斯通(Leytonstone)人，参加过曼联青训学院(Manchester United youth academy)，1994年加入曼联。在接下来的九年中，他赢得了10多个主要赛事的冠军。
His perfectly aimed set pieces also earned him accolades, though perhaps not as many as the runway good looks. Already a world-wide sports star, he became a crossover phenomenon with the release of the 2002 comedy film 'Bend It Like Beckham,' in which a British-born Indian girl dreams of playing with her hero.
他在比赛中射出的精准的定位球同样为他赢得了赞誉，不过这可能比不上他在走秀台上的风采。2002年，已经是一位世界级体育明星的贝克汉姆因为喜剧电影《我爱贝克汉姆》(Bend It Like Beckham)的上映成为了一个跨界明星。这部电影讲的是一个在英国出生的印度女孩梦想着和她的偶像一起比赛的故事。
Though only his image appears in the movie, the film made Beckham as popular in Hollywood and New York as he was in Europe, and since then his image has been used to sell everything from watches to underwear. In 2007 he moved to MLS in a groundbreaking deal to help the struggling U.S. league establish credibility. The exposure and his marriage to Victoria Adams, also known as the pop star Posh Spice, turned him into a lightning rod for criticism of whether he was more interested in fame than sport.
尽管电影里只出现了他的照片，这部电影却为他在好莱坞和纽约赢得了在欧洲一样的名气，此后，他的形象出现在了从手表到内衣的各种产品的广告宣传中。2007年，他转会到了美国职业足球大联盟的球队，这是一次轰动一时的交易，他帮助这支困境中的美国球队建立了信誉。媒体上的频繁露面以及与维多利亚•亚当斯(Victoria Adams，也即流行明星辣妹)的婚姻让他成为了批评的焦点，人们认为他对名利的兴趣超过了对体育的兴趣。
At the international level, Beckham made 115 appearances for England and had a stint as the side's captain. His last major tournament was the 2006 World Cup.
贝克汉姆代表英国在国际上共露面115次，并完成了作为英国足球队队长的一个任期。他最后一次参加全球重大赛事是2006年的世界杯比赛。
A true global icon, Beckham recently signed on as an ambassador for China's professional soccer league and will be making his second trip of the year there soon.
贝克汉姆是真正的全球偶像，他最近还签约成为中超大使，不久将对中国进行本年度的第二次访问。