抛开每场比赛的结果来说，其实世界杯期间有很多有趣的“幕后”故事，让我们那颗被赛事牵动的心得到一丝丝慰藉。
The debate over the two greatest football players of this age – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo never seems to end, even when they are both bidding us farewell after the two teams, Argentina and Portugal, got ousted from the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
当地时间6月28日，当阿根廷队抵达喀山入住酒店时，出现了略显尴尬的一幕——酒店旁边的墙上，赫然出现了一幅巨型C罗壁画。更戏剧性的是，梅西有可能从他的房间里直接“观赏”到这幅壁画。你可以想象此刻阿根廷人的心理阴影面积了。
When Argentine officials came to Kazan, Russia ahead of the last-16 clash against France, they were left red-faced when they saw a giant mural of the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo showing up near the Ramada Hotel where they were going to stay at.
这家位于喀山的Ramada Hotel是阿根廷队的唯一选择，因为全市仅有2家酒店有资格接待世界杯决赛队伍，而另一家酒店已经在小组赛时早早被法国队预定。
The three-floor-high portrait featuring a winking Ronaldo was painted on a building near the Ramada Hotel by local artists last year, to welcome the Portugal team who were based there for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Awkwardly, Kazan city officials had no idea that because the only other alternative hotel was secured by the French national team, Argentina had no choice but to stay at exactly the same hotel that Ronaldo did a year ago.
然而，尴尬的可不仅仅是阿根廷人，还有莫名躺枪的喀山官员——他们自然也没有料到怎么偏偏阿根廷队就凑巧要住在这么一家被刻上了巨型C罗“Logo”的酒店。为了避免在“谁是世界上最好的前锋”这个永恒话题中选边站，喀山市委托艺术家们连夜在C罗壁画的旁边，赶出了一幅梅西侧脸壁画，尽最快速度缓解了这一尴尬局面。
那么，这幅C罗壁画又是从何而来呢？
去年夏天，葡萄牙国家队赴俄罗斯参加2017年联合会杯足球赛时，入住的正是这家Ramada酒店。当地艺术家们突发奇想，创作了三层楼高的C罗壁画，以此欢迎他们的到来。只是当地人并没有料想到，世界杯之年看到这幅巨作的并非C罗，而是梅西。
Lionel Messi, the Argentina football star, had certainly no idea either that he would have to spend the days before the game in a hotel looking at a massive mural of his biggest competitor – Cristiano Ronaldo.
In order to save the host city from embarrassment and stay out of the trouble of picking sides over the two forwards, local artists were called upon to work overnight, creating another mural of Argentina’s Lionel Messi to match the Ronaldo one on a building opposite.
值得注意的是，就在最近，一位C罗支持者在其壁画的上方留下了一句话，给原本的尴尬局面又增添了一丝火药味——“我进了4个球了。你能超过我吗，里奥？”
However, an anonymous Ronaldo fan challenged Messi not long after by adding a phrase to the mural, which reads: “I scored 4 goals, can you beat that, Leo?” adding fuel to the already existing controversy.
“
壁画笑谈引热议——
强（墙）强（墙）对话（画）
”
这场“壁画大戏”持续发酵，引发网友热议。
Jokes quickly spread through social media on how Argentina had to deal with the unexpected view from their hotel windows.
中国网友在微博上玩起了文字游戏：
就连BBC体育记者也忍不住在Twitter上调侃两句。
BBC Sports News Correspondent @RichardConway tweeted:
“所以现在梅西是无处可逃了吗？这就是他和阿根廷队在酒店房间外看到的风景。还有来自C罗的刺激：“我进了4个球了。你能超过我吗，里奥？”
早在阿根廷队抵达喀山之前，粉丝们就已经聚集在酒店门口，等着一睹巨星风采了。然而，
当大家畅想若阿根廷和葡萄牙同时晋级，则有幸看到两位足球传奇一较高下时，比赛结果却将人们狠狠地拉回现实。Fans were already gathering outside the hotel before the arrival of Messi and his compatriots. The excitement was taken to the next level with the knowledge that they would have a chance to see two of the greatest footballers competing against each other if both of the teams win their respective last-16 matches on Saturday.
But that will probably never happen now.
“
如今壁画依旧，主人却不见
”
在昨天结束的1/8决赛的两场比赛中，阿根廷3-4不敌法国，葡萄牙1-2败给乌拉圭。两队先后被淘汰出局。
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were both sent packing from the 2018 FIFA World Cup as France edged a 4-3 thriller over Argentina and Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1.
值得一提的是，顶着1.8亿天价身价、4分钟连入两球的法国19岁天才少年基利安·姆巴佩（Kylian Mbappé）曾是C罗的忠实粉丝。
Kylian Mbappé – perhaps a lot of people remembered this name after the Argentina vs France game. The 19-year-old French star rose to prominence on the biggest football stage as he became the first teenager since Pele in 1958 to score at least twice in a World Cup match. It’s worth mentioning that he was a huge fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and once covered his bedroom walls with tons of pictures of Ronaldo when he was younger. At the age of 14, he even got a chance to take a picture with the Portugal star striker. And within just 5 years, he became the brightest star as he flew the flag for a new generation in Russia.
也许很久以后，人们仍会记得喀山酒店外墙的壁画。然而，壁画的两位主人公——31岁的梅西和33岁的C罗，在黯然神伤过后，是感叹一声经历过最好已然无憾，还是留取丹心涅槃重生，只有时间才能给出答案了。
While the two murals outside the hotel walls in Kazan may still be talked about in the future, the heroes of the stories about 31-year-old Lionel Messi and 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo are left to time to tell if their era has come to an end or if there is a chance that they could come back stronger.
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