Wei Guoqiang has been following Chinese football for more than 20 years but reasons to celebrate have been few and far between。
20年來，魏國強(音譯)的目光一直沒有離開過中國足球，但值得慶祝的理由卻是少之又少。
"It's like the Chinese saying; 'you always think your children are the most beautiful no matter how ugly they are,'" the 30-year-old education specialist told CNN in Beijing。
“中國有句俗話：‘母不嫌子丑，狗不嫌家貧，’ 我對中國足球也是這樣的心情。” 這位30歲的教育專家在北京接受CNN采訪時說。
Dogged by poor performances on the pitch and corruption scandals off it, the Chinese game has been far from beautiful。
綠茵場上球員的欠佳表現(xiàn)和一些貪腐丑聞，中國足球一直不被看好。
But die-hard soccer fans like Wei finally have something to cheer about。
但是像魏先生這樣的死忠球迷終于等到了這樣一個歡呼雀躍的時刻。
Guangzhou Evergrande, a soccer team based in the southern city of Guangzhou, became Asian champions on Saturday, beating South Korea's FC Seoul to claim China's first continental title in 23 years in a stadium packed to capacity with fans wearing the team's blood-red colors。
11月9日星期六，來自南方城市廣州的俱樂部球隊廣州恒大，在坐無虛席、盡是恒大鮮紅球迷的主場擊敗韓國首爾FC，榮獲亞冠聯(lián)賽冠軍，這也是中國足球在23年以來奪得第一個亞洲冠軍。
"They are persistent and never surrender," said Wei, who watched the match on television at home。
“他們堅持不懈，從不言棄，” 魏先生說，他在家中的電視機前觀看了比賽直播。
Evergrande will now play in the FIFA Club World Cup in December, pitting the team against the likes of German giants and reigning European champions Bayern Munich. Previous winners of the tournament include Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona。
今年12月恒大還將出征國際足聯(lián)世界俱樂部杯，有機會與歐冠強隊、德國勁旅拜仁慕尼黑場上較量。世俱杯之前的冠軍得主有切爾西、曼聯(lián)和巴塞羅那等。
China last tasted international success at club level in 1990 when Liaoning lifted the trophy of the now expired Asian Club Championship. Its national team has also punched below the country's weight。
中國最近一次品嘗國際俱樂部級的成功是在1990年，遼寧隊舉起了亞洲足球俱樂部冠軍聯(lián)賽(現(xiàn)已停辦)的獎杯。國家隊一直沒有令人矚目的表現(xiàn)。
Despite being one of the country's most popular sports -- President Xi Jinping is said to be a big fan -- China failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and did not enter the running for the 2018 tournament。
盡管足球是中國最受歡迎的體育項目之一——據(jù)說國家主席習近平也是足球迷——但中國沒有打入2014世界杯，也沒有入圍2018年世界杯承辦權的角逐。
Evergrande's rise to the top of Asian football has been fast and furious and some say it could be Asia's first "superclub."
恒大以迅雷不及掩耳之勢躍居亞洲足球之冠，有人說，它可能成為亞洲第一家“超級俱樂部”。
In early 2010, the team was bought by Xu Jiayin, the boss of property developer Evergrande Real Estate Group and China's 13th richest man, according to Forbes。
2010年初，福布斯中國富人榜名列13的恒大地產(chǎn)集團老板許家印出手買下這支球隊。
He paid 100 million yuan ($16.4 million) for the club, shocking many as the team had recently been relegated to the second division of China's league. In 2011, they won the Chinese Super League and claimed the league title for the third time this year。
他為俱樂部投入1億人民幣(合1千4百萬美元)，這樣的大手筆讓許多人吃驚不小，因為這支球隊當時剛被降級中甲。2011年，他們重返中超奪冠，并在今年第三次蟬聯(lián)冠軍。
Dong Jianzheng, an editor at the Chinese-language World Soccer Magazine, credits Xu's deep pockets as the main reason for the team's success。
《足球世界》雜志中文版編輯董建崢將該球隊的成功歸功于許家印的經(jīng)濟實力。
The club has spent at least 1.5 billion yuan ($250 million) in the past three years, according to The China Daily, recruiting domestic stars and foreign players like Brazilian striker Muriqui. The team is led by Marcello Lippi, who coached the Italian team that won the 2006 World Cup。
根據(jù)《中國日報》的報道，恒大在過去的3年里至少花掉15億元人民幣(合2億5千萬美元)，招募國內(nèi)球星和巴西中鋒穆里奇等外援。該隊的主教練馬爾切洛·里皮曾率意大利隊問鼎2006年世界杯。
"The Evergrande model is similar to Chelsea and Manchester, where they win simply because they invest," Dong told CNN。
“恒大模式類似于切爾西和曼聯(lián)，他們贏，只因為舍得下本錢投資，” 董先生接受CNN采訪時說。
"They have a strong team and a large number of foreign players. They are good because they dare to throw in their money." But he said Evergrande's success doesn't represent the big picture。
“他們有實力強大的球隊，有很多外援加盟。他們之所以出色，因為敢于砸錢投資。但是，他說恒大的成功并不代表大環(huán)境。
A bribery investigation that led to several players, referees and managers serving jail terms has left many fans disillusioned with the Chinese game。
中國足球貪污受賄案將一些球員、裁判和經(jīng)理人送進監(jiān)獄，導致許多粉絲不再對中國足球抱有幻想。
Rowan Simons, the author of "Bamboo Goalposts: One man's quest to teach the People's Republic of China to love football", says corruption reaches down to the sport's grassroots, which suffer from a lack of investment。
《足球無疆》的作者羅文·西蒙斯說，足球投資匱乏，腐敗侵蝕到了足球運動的根基。
"Parents will bribe the coach to get (their child) into the team, teams will bribe the referee to win the game," said Simons, who has lived and played football in China for more than 20 years。
“父母向教練行賄，這樣他們的孩子才能進球隊，球隊行賄裁判贏球，” 住在中國與中國足球打了20多年交道的西蒙斯說。
Hopes are high that Evergrande's arrival on the international soccer stage will give a much-needed boost to the country's football system。
恒大登上國際足球舞臺將給予中國足球體制亟待的推動，人們對此寄予厚望。
The president of the Asian Football Confederation, which runs the region's premier tournament, said that Evergrande's win would infuse new life into Chinese football and spread the game to a wider audience。
亞洲足聯(lián)主席表示，恒大的成功將為中國足球注入新活力，吸引更多的觀眾。亞足聯(lián)主要負責舉辦地區(qū)性的重要足球賽事。
"I am confident that this will benefit not only the Chinese Super League but also the national team in a big way," said Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim。
“我相信，這一成功不僅對中超而且對國家隊都極為有利，” 亞足聯(lián)主席謝赫薩爾曼·本·易卜拉欣說。
But they will have a hard time convincing fans like Cui, an engineer, who spends his spare time glued to the English Premier League, Europe's UEFA Champions League and Spain's La Liga。
但是他們想擁有像崔工程師一樣的球迷還有很長一段路要走，崔先生把業(yè)余時間都花在看英超聯(lián)賽、歐冠比賽和西甲聯(lián)賽上。
He says he won't make the effort to watch Evergrande's FIFA Club World Cup match against Egyptian side Al Ahly in December. "The time difference is a challenge, but I still choose foreign matches because they are much more professional," he told CNN。
他說，他對12月的俱樂部世界杯恒大對埃及阿赫利的比賽興趣不大。“盡管時差是一大挑戰(zhàn)，但是我仍然選擇外國的球賽，因為他們專業(yè)得多，”他告訴CNN。
